If you want to know about RAID data recovery, it means either one of two things. You’ve maybe crashed your hard drive – or are afraid it may soon crash – and are looking into storing data using RAID’s scheme (redundant arrays of inexpensive disks, “independent” sometimes used in place of “inexpensive”).
It could also mean that you’re trying to recover files from a damaged RAID. Since the RAID system uses multiple hard disks, you can suffer either partial or whole failure.
You’d think that your database would be safe after you’ve protected it with a RAID backup. But statistics show that of total data loss in any system, approximately 44% comes from hardware failure.
RAID Data Recovery – How Safe is Safe?
How safe is your data using RAID? If your RAID is a combination of several hard disks into one unit, then the simplest answer is your data is only as safe as your weakest disk. This is not to say that you won’t be able to recover your data.
Some RAID’s though are software-hard disk combos. In these hybrids, how safe your data is depends on how you distribute it.
Ask your vendor for a RAID data recovery failure rate. The failure rate of your disk array may be higher or lower than its component hard disks and will hinge on what kind of array you purchase.
RAID Data Recovery – Who Needs It?
RAID is generally found in server computers. The disks that make up the array are usually the same size, although some aren’t.
The rationale behind RAID is the need for bigger data storage. So you’d expect only corporate IT departments or storage intensive firms to use RAID, such as audio and video editing or animation companies.
But two factors are making RAID more popular:
- Many businesses, even small, home-based ones rise and fall on the strength of vital data.
- Technology has driven hard disk prices down, making RAID more widely available so that it’s built into more motherboard chipsets, ergo, into more advance PCs.
RAID Data Recovery – How Much?
If you’re data is crucial to your business it is probably best if you call in professionals to help you when disaster strikes. If you’re thinking of recycling your hard disk and trying to salvage data yourself by running cheap software (around £50 or less), be prepared to lose everything.
There’s one thing you shouldn’t do: Don’t attempt to use software that writes stuff to the damaged hardware. There’s a good chance you can make matters worse by overwriting data that you would have been able to recover otherwise.
Only use data recovery software if you really know what you’re doing. If not, call a pro. But check that you aren’t going to pay for any evaluation charges if all you have is a regular IDE hard disk. Most firms only charge evaluation for complicated RAID’s or network servers.
Here’s what you should expect to pay:
* RAID, SCSI = as much as £15,000 depending on how your storage is configured.
Tags: Data Recovery, RAID
