RAID Question

Discussions on using the professional data recovery program R-STUDIO for RAID re-construction, NAS recovery, and recovery of various disk and volume managers: Windows storage spaces, Apple volumes, and Linux Logical Volume Manager.
MilkyChoc
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Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:07 am

RAID Question

Post by MilkyChoc » Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:13 am

Hi there,

I know R-Studio can create a virtual RAID device from disks in order to recover files deleted off that RAID. However, I am wondering if I can reconstruct an "expected" RAID, in order to recover all files that are available given two disks that used to be part of a RAID, but are now formatted.

I have 2 x WD 1TB Green's that I believe were part of a RAID 0 previously. However, they have since been formatted and used for a short time. Is it possible to say to R-Studio "These 2 disks should be searched as if they were RAID", or am I just wishful thinking? Thanks!

Alt
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Re: RAID Question

Post by Alt » Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:08 am

All depends on how the disks were formatted. If they were "full-formatted", that is, the entire disks were over-written with 0s, or another pattern, there're no chances at all. If they were "quick-formatted", some chances do exist. Although, they depend on what the previous file system was and to which mew file system they were formatted. Another question is the RAID parameters. They must be known, because they will be hard to find on those re-formatted disks.
If you have answers or guesses to these question, it's worth trying.

MilkyChoc
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:07 am

Re: RAID Question

Post by MilkyChoc » Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:13 am

Thanks for the reply - this was a quick format from NTFS -> NTFS. I can possibly recover RAID parameters from the previous BIOS, but can't say for sure at this stage. If I did/was able to, which would be the best procedure to follow? Standard RAID virtual device creation followed by a scan of the virtual device, or is there another process better suited? Many thanks!

Alt
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Re: RAID Question

Post by Alt » Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:37 am

Well, then try to create a virtual RAID0 and scan it. Maybe, you'll have to change disk order and re-scan again. Looks like you have chances to recover something. And remember - you don't have to buy R-Studio until you have some ideas about data recovery success - R-Studio in its demo mode can do everything, including file preview, except actual file recovery. It'll be a good idea to save the RAID config file and Scan info just not to repeat a procedure that once was successful.

MilkyChoc
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:07 am

Re: RAID Question

Post by MilkyChoc » Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:54 pm

Appreciate the response! I've already had R-Studio purchased for quite some time, just never had to do a RAID recovery before :) Great software though! I've got individual scans of the 2 HDD's saved - is it possible to create the virtual RAID, and then load the HDD scan information of the 2 individual drives? Or, would I have to do a full scan of the virtual RAID device, save that scan information, swap the order of the two drives around, and then reload scan? Thanks agian!

Alt
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Re: RAID Question

Post by Alt » Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:05 am

No, scans of those two separate drives won't do, you have to create a virtual RAID0 array and scan it. And you don't need to swap the drives if the first scan revealed the necessary files.

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