Network-Attached Storage which are also known as NAS devices are necessary these days for both home and business use to have a centralized and an easy-to-use way of storing and accessing data. Yet, the ease of NAS is not without its own share of problems, for instance, nas file recovery on RAID-based NAS arrays is among the major challenges. This post aims to give you more insights about NAS data recovery. It describes the main reasons for data loss, the importance of RAID in NAS systems, and different recovery scenarios.
Understanding NAS and RAID:
A NAS device can be termed as a specially built NAS file server coupled with the network interface which is purposely used for data storage and retrieval. They have more advantages such as data sharing, remote access, and data redundancy by means of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). It is a storage technology in which several disk drives are arranged into a single logical unit to provide performance gain, data reliability, and data recovery.
Common Reasons for Data Loss in NAS Devices:
Even though NAS and RAID offer good reliability features, it doesn’t prevent data loss for a number of reasons.
Hardware Failures:
- Disk failures: Individual hard drives within a RAID array can fail, leading to potential data loss.
- Power supply issues: NAS devices are susceptible to power fluctuations or failures, which can result in data corruption.
Human Errors:
- Accidental deletion: Users might mistakenly delete crucial data, and without proper backups, recovery becomes essential.
- Misconfigurations: Incorrect settings or configurations can compromise the integrity of the NAS system.
Software Issues:
- File system corruption: NAS systems use file systems to organize and manage data. Corruption in the file system can render data inaccessible.
- Firmware updates: Improper firmware updates can lead to compatibility issues and data loss.
Defective NAS controller:
- Faulty disk reorganizations or RAID rebuilds could cause controller to fail. This can also lead to data loss. Outdated or incompatible firmware can also lead to controller failure, leading to data loss from NAS drives.
Lost Data: Perform NAS Data Recovery from NAS based RAID
Recovering the data from RAID systems that are built around NAS is a very complicated process and requires dedicated tools to do it. Therefore, you need an advanced NAS Data Recovery Software such as Stellar Data Recovery Toolkit that helps recover data from a failed, damaged, or logically corrupt RAID 0, 5, 6 and Hybrid RAID level whether it’s on NAS or inbuilt.
Perform These Steps for NAS Recovery:
- Power off the NAS device and then remove all hard drives from it. Note the sequence in which they are aligned in the rack.
- Connect all NAS RAID drives to Windows PC via USB or SATA. Remember to connect all drives at one time.
- Install and run Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery software on the system.
- Select what to recover – photos, audio, videos, documents, emails or other files and folders.
- Next, under Connected Drives, select Synology Disk and click Scan.
- After scanning, the software will show you the results on the screen.
- Select the files. You can see the preview of the files you want to retrieve.
Finish with retrieving the data and then continue reconfiguring the NAS storage by formatting all the drives. Restore the data from NAS unit and get back to using your NAS storage like before.
Maintain a backup using two separate mediums, either if it is on the networked storage device or your computer. Backups make the recovery process a lot quicker and easy as you will be able to recover the important files and documents that you lost.
Conclusion:
NAS is a good option for you when the data volume on your computers becomes too large for even desktop hard disk storage and you wish to provide access to files and media from where you can stream it across multiple computers, phones, and tablets. In the event that you face data loss during the time of usage of the NAS, use Stellar NAD Data Recovery software that will help you quickly to recover the important data and files from your NAS.
