Raid 5 Data Recovery

Raid 5 has five dynamic discs on which data is equally distributed. Raid 5 is usually supported by a hardware which is actually adapters. This hardware is used for calculations on each disc. Every disc of a Raid 5 has blocks written on it which generates parity blocks within the same stripe. Every block is made up of many sectors side by side. These blocks are arranged in an array on every disc, and collectively they are called a ‘stripe’.

Data recovery can be made from an intact array or a broken array. Any damage to a logical structure is considered as logical damage on a single disc. If a file is damaged or deleted from Raid 5 array, it can be easily recovered by using any undelete software, but it can only be done if the array is intact.

From a broken array data can still be recovered but a software is needed that can treat the separate discs as a single array. The data on the damaged disc is rebuilt from the parity information. When the software recreates an array the data recovery takes place, the disc is scanned for file system, and data is recovered from this system.

Raid 5 data recovery is made usually by DIY Data Recovery ‘iRecorder’. It follows the same procedure that is described above. In this process many discs are involved, as they all have to be scanned, so it is a lengthy procedure. But, this procedure is only needed when the array is broken, otherwise simple undelete software can be used to recover data from a Raid 5.

On a Raid 5 array if only one disc is missing, we select all members of the array and the missing disc is reconstructed from the Raid 5 parity data. This entire process is automatic. When the reconstruction is completed the session goes on as a simple disk recovery session.

Keywords: Raid 5 Data Recovery DIY
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