The main purpose of RAID array is to raise the reliability of disk information storage system while achieving the required performance of the given system. No modern data storage server can manage without a reliable and fast storage, formed on the basis of RAID array. Data stored on such drives, as a rule, represent exceptional value for their owners. Needless to say how important is the information on the movement of funds in banks, databases and control programs in the workplace, drawings and large-scale projects of design offices and architectural workshops and, of course, the accounting information of every company.
Loss of data from the RAID array is always a huge stress for the company. Many areas of activity simply cannot work without operating with large volumes of data, with the loss of access to which the company will suffer severe economic loss, or just be on the brink of ruin. For these firms, Raid Recovery becomes a "matter of life and death."
Failure of the HDD drives, constituting a single volume RAID array is one of the main problems. If the array type does not allow the possibility of failure of one or more drives with the continued operation without loss of information, the data stored on the remaining intact hard drives can not be drawn without the restoration of the faulty one. In some types of RAID arrays there may be the failure of one or more hard drives without losing data, while the array continues operating normally. In case of failure of the HDD drives comprising the RAID array it is not recommended to remove the drives from the server. It is better to leave it to specialists. But if there is a need to do this, you need to number the disks and write the sequence in which they were in the server. This will simplify the process of Partition Recovery from such an array later. Professionals in this field usually test each hard disk from the array separately. If the testing reveals a failure of hard disk, the sector-based image is made from it and the damaged drive is not involved in further data recovery procedure.
Another common problem of data loss of RAID array is the wrong actions of users or administrators. Very often a user who is not enough prepared accidentally changes the settings of RAID controller, and then operation of a data array becomes impossible. Reservoirs on the hard drives taken out of the array for testing or replacing can also cause the loss of information from the array. But even if the user made a mistake, you should not entrust him to correct it, is a high probability that he would do even worse. In such cases it is better to seek assistance from professionals, who as soon as possible recover workability of the RAID array with special recovery software, check the data integrity and if necessary conduct all necessary operations to restore them.
Accidental formatting of RAID array is one of the most common user errors, leading to data loss. The main thing in this case is keep from writing anything on the RAID, creating new partitions and installing on it an operating system, because after these steps to restore the information will be virtually impossible.