RAID Data Recovery and Prevention Tips

RAID - What is it?

To know more about RAID, we would need to go back to the 1980’s and 1990’s because that is the time when computer information servers were facing a dramatic increase in the amount of data that they needed to store and serve. Since storage technologies were getting expensive as they involved placing a large number of high capacity drives in the servers, a solution was needed. That was how RAID was born!

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks and is a system developed so that a large number of low cost hard drives can be linked together to form a single large capacity storage device that offers superior performance, reliability and storage capacity compared to older storage solutions. Previously RAID was used for storage in the server and enterprise markets but in the last 5 years this software has become much more common in end user systems.

Data Recovery Tips

Here are some tips that will help you with your hard disk data recovery:

• It is important to use your computer as little until all your lost files are recovered.
  Do not do any of the following:
  • Use the same computer to browse the Internet, as the web browser saves cache files on the disk.
  • Copy any files on the disk that contains your lost data.
  • Launch any program that is not necessary because they may use up your disk.
• It is necessary to take steps to free some space on the disk containing your lost files, for this:
  • Delete files that you do not require anymore (move them to another source if you do not want to delete them).
  • Ensure that the recycle bin in your computer is empty.
  • Make sure that you browser cache is empty. To do this, go to Internet explorer and click on the tools menu, after you have done that select the Internet options and then the general tab. Once that is done, click on the delete button.

Well! These were tips to help you when you are facing problems of data loss. Below are tips that will help you with data prevention.

RAID Data Loss Prevention Tips

• While copying data from an old harddrive onto another that is used in the array, make sure that the old disk is kept around for a while. This way, you will have the original data at your disposal in case of any fault or errors.
• When selecting the RAID level make sure you get one that is suitable for your needs. RAID level 1 is appropriate for faster reads and basic redundancy. For further functions you could select the other levels of RAID.
• In a multi-user environment, RAID-5 is a good choice because of its speed and data protection.
• If you are confused about whether to buy the hardware based or software based RAID array it is good to remember that hardware based arrays do not require software to boot. It also has the logic within them and is more fault tolerant. If you are concerned about disaster recovery planning, then hardware array is the best choice!

Despite the fact that RAID arrays offer increase in performance and speed, the files can also become corrupted and disorganized, in that case make sure to run your preferred software for scanning and checking your disks regularly.