Raid 10 Data Recovery

It is a valuable asset for anyone, so measures such as regular backups are taken to protect it from any unforeseen data loss. Even though individual users can create data backups using external hard drives or cloud-based services, enterprise and large-scale business units cannot do this. Because they depend on RAID storage, they require something robust and reliable.

RAID, or redundant array of independent disks, is a scalable storage solution used to increase data security. Although RAID storage offers enhanced data security, it can also be prone to data loss for a number of reasons. It can be configured in a variety of configurations such as 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and more.

Let’s first understand what RAID 10 is and how data loss occurs in it before moving on to RAID 10 data recovery.

How does RAID 10 work?

As the name implies, RAID 10 is a hybrid or nested RAID that uses both data striping and mirroring techniques for storing data across drives. RAID 10 is a union of RAID 1 arrays working in RAID 0.  In a RAID 10 array, at least 4 disks must be configured in pairs or groups of 2. Each group uses data mirroring, but the groups themselves use data stripping. Each of these pairs of drives is configured at RAID 1 level, while the two RAID 1 disk pairs are configured at RAID 0.

As shown in the diagram above, disk 1 and disk 3 are storing data in strips or chunks, i.e., A1, A2, etc.

During the RAID 1 configuration, data mirroring is used in each group or pair. Disk 2 and disk 4 are mirror copies of disk 1 and disk 3. The data on disk 1 is replicated to disk 2, while the data on disk 3 is replicated to disk 4. RAID 10 consists of RAID 1 and RAID 0, combining speed when it comes to accessing data. It also provides improved data availability and quicker writes than other configurations. However, parity is not guaranteed with this setup, for there is a fault tolerance of one disk failure in case of mirrored sets. If one drive fails in that group, the data can still be retrieved from the other active drive. Should multiple disks fail across groups or both in a pair simultaneously, then the RAID 10 will malfunction – making a third-party RAID data recovery tool necessary to recover any information.

RAID 10 Data Loss Reasons

In addition to providing enhanced data availability and read/write speeds, RAID 10 lacks parity, as both RAID 0 and RAID 1 do. Any storage device, including RAID storage, is susceptible to data loss due to several factors. The following are some common reasons for data loss in RAID 10:

• Failure of multiple disks
• Failure of the array disks
• The disk rebuilding process failed
• There was a problem with the RAID controller
• Corruption of data
• Deleted by accident
• Loss of power unexpectedly
• Attacks using DDoS

RAID 10 Data Recovery Methods

After learning about RAID 10 and the reasons for data loss in it, let’s discuss some methods for recovering lost data from a RAID 10 array.

There are two possible scenarios in which we can recover lost data from a failed RAID 10 array -When one disk fails (single-disk failure) When both disks in a pair fail (multiple disk failures)

Let’s take a closer look at these two scenarios.

Failure of a single disk in case 1

If a single disk fails in a RAID 10 array, it is possible to resolve the issue pretty easily. It is advised to stop using the array and swap the failed disk with a hot spare disk, even though the RAID array remains functional. As soon as the controller is connected, the controller will automatically rebuild the disk and recover lost data onto the newly swapped disk.

If the hot disk is not available, you can replace it with a new drive and manually initiate the rebuild process to recover RAID 10 data. Here are the steps –

Run the IP configuration utility by typing iprconfig.

Select the option Work with disk unit recovery.

Click Rebuild disk unit data.

Press Enter after selecting the disk/s to rebuild.

To rebuild data, press Enter and q to cancel.

Failure of multiple disks in case 2

The effects of multiple disk failures in a RAID 10 array vary depending on whether they occurred in the same mirrored set or in different mirrored sets. In the case of a single disk failure in a group or pair, the process for rebuilding and performing RAID recovery is the same as in the case of a single disk failure.  A disk array’s status changes to Failed if both disks have failed in one or more mirrored sets. If your RAID 10 array has failed, here’s what you can do:

Stop using it immediately

Disk arrays should be deleted

Recreate the disk array by replacing the failed disks

Afterwards, you can recreate the file systems on the rebuilt disk array and copy all the data onto it from a backup drive to recover RAID 10 data from failed RAIDs.  After rebuilding the RAID 10, you still have the failed disks with data on them, which can be recovered with a powerful RAID recovery software.

It is possible to recover critical data from failed RAID arrays with RAID data recovery software. Users can easily use this tool to recover critical data from RAID arrays, such as RAID 10. Such software are extremely capable and boast advanced RAID data recovery algorithms that are able to easily locate and recover data of any file format from any RAID array that has failed due to a variety of reasons. Using RAID 10 recovery software, you can recover any type of file format from a failed RAID array or its degraded disks, as well as data from other storage devices, such as HDDs, SSDs, SD cards, and optical disks.

Conclusion

In order to provide increased I/O speeds, data availability, and data security, RAID 10 is a nested array that combines two RAID levels, RAID 1 and RAID 0, and provides increased data availability and data security. In spite of this, RAID 10 arrays are also susceptible to data loss for a number of reasons, just like any other storage device.

Resolving RAID failures can be challenging, which they are to some extent. Nevertheless, it is easy to recover data from a failed RAID array with the help of a powerful RAID data recovery tool. Recovering data from a failed RAID becomes a breeze if you have a powerful tool handy.

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