Restoring RAID after failure (theoretical)

[Samael]

Hi there! I wonder if (when) RAID10 built on motherboard's raid controller will die - how to restore it? Can I just connect it to another motherboard and form an array again? (without formatting it, of course)

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. It all just theoretically.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there Samael,

 

If the motherboard fails this means that the actual RAID controller will fail and you would not be able to use the array anymore. you might be able to get it going again if you find the same motherboard with the same controller, but it's not 100% sure. 

If a drive from the RAID fails, there should be a description about what you should do in the motherboard's manual. 

 

I would contact the manufacturer of the motherboard for more info on this.

 

Captain_WD.

[Samael]

 

Hey there Samael,

 

If the motherboard fails this means that the actual RAID controller will fail and you would not be able to use the array anymore. you might be able to get it going again if you find the same motherboard with the same controller, but it's not 100% sure. 

If a drive from the RAID fails, there should be a description about what you should do in the motherboard's manual. 

 

I would contact the manufacturer of the motherboard for more info on this.

 

Captain_WD.

 

So, if raid controller dies - all data is gone? OMG

 

I thought that using RAID 10 makes my data completelly secure and it turns out that even in this case there is a breaking point - the controller itself. O_O

 

So disapointed... 

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

RAID gives you redundancy of the data in case of a drive failure but it doesn't help in case of a user mistake (deleting or altering the data) or against system failure. RAID should never be considered a backup!

In order to have a real backup I would try to have the data on two different places such as external drives or NAS devices.

 

Captain_WD.

[Samael]

RAID gives you redundancy of the data in case of a drive failure but it doesn't help in case of a user mistake (deleting or altering the data) or against system failure. RAID should never be considered a backup!

In order to have a real backup I would try to have the data on two different places such as external drives or NAS devices.

 

Captain_WD.

Are you talking about manually copping the files into NAS? But NAS also has a RAID controller and it also can die. What is the difference between the NAS and just a few drives in RAID (build on my motherboard's controller) ?

[cynexit]

As Captain_WD already stated there is a good chance that you can "save" your raid if you find a board with the exact same chip and plug in the HDDs. There are however some chips that are compatible, have a look at this handy list from Intel, this means you don't necessarily need the exact same motherboard again.

 

That being said, it's kind of hard to say that this will always work. A common workaround for example is to recreate the raid the exact same way and hope for the best (checkout this post in particular). I personaly never had problems using mdadm to recover or recreate raids in new machines, even with already setup raid drives.

 

EDIT: There are also some software tools that can do this (meaning you connect all the drives not in raid mode but in ahci mode to a new board so they can be normally accessed by windows and then you run the tool to stick the raid together, all in software), but I can't remember the name at the moment.

This way you can always save the data to a new drive and recreate the raid completely (or fix it...).

 

EDIT2: Thanks to leadeater for getting the name of the tool back in my head, it indeed was Recover My Files.

[leadeater]

@Samael When a RAID array is created the configuration of the array is written to each drive is case of controller or disk failures etc. In the case of a motherboard failure you will need to get a replacement board that can read this information. The safest option is to make sure the motherboard has the same controller i.e. Intel ICH10R etc.

 

The RAID information written to disks is a fairly open standard so other controllers can typically read the configuration and import it, foreign configuration import. If there is non standard extra configuration information like LSI SSD cache for example you must get a replacement RAID card with that feature enabled.

 

In the event you can't get the array working again you can still get the files from the disks. Recover My Files can do this and understands RAID configurations, select the disks tell it the original RAID confiuration and tell it to scan the disks. I've done this a number of times without problems on RAID 10 and RAID 5 arrays.

[Samael]

Thank you so much! And now: NAS, PC+external RAID-controller or rely on motherboard's built-in controller?

 

P.S. Also I would like to access those files via Wi-Fi

[KuJoe]

The motherboard RAID (FakeRAID) is not the best when it comes to recovering from a RAID controller failure. As others have said, you should contact the motherboard manufacturer for assistance.

 

If you had a real RAID card and the card died, replacing it with another RAID card (preferably the same one or from the same manufacturer) would allow you to "import" the foreign RAID configuration. I've done this hundreds of times without any data loss, it's awesome.

 

If you had software RAID and the motherboard died, you can replace the motherboard and be up and running without any issues since the RAID is handled in software and completely independent of what hardware the drives are plugged into (just make sure the drives are plugged into the same SATA ports on the new motherboard because the order is specific).

[Samael]

The motherboard RAID (FakeRAID) is not the best when it comes to recovering from a RAID controller failure. As others have said, you should contact the motherboard manufacturer for assistance.

 

If you had a real RAID card and the card died, replacing it with another RAID card (preferably the same one or from the same manufacturer) would allow you to "import" the foreign RAID configuration. I've done this hundreds of times without any data loss, it's awesome.

 

If you had software RAID and the motherboard died, you can replace the motherboard and be up and running without any issues since the RAID is handled in software and completely independent of what hardware the drives are plugged into (just make sure the drives are plugged into the same SATA ports on the new motherboard because the order is specific).

Thank you! 

[Captain_WD]

On 27.01.2016 г. at 5:56 PM, Samael said:

~snip~

 

A backup generally is considered when you have your data AT LEAST on two separate places not part of the same system. A simple example:
- 1SSD + 2WD Red drives in RAID1 is not a backup. You may have the OS on the SSD and configured scheduled backups of the folders on your C drive onto the RAID1 array, but this doesn't make it safe in cases of a PSU failure frying your whole system.
- A separate PC with your files and a copy of that data on a NAS/External drive/Server/Cloud storage is what a true backup really is. This should make it safe even if the drives or the whole system fails at either of the spots. If your system fails you would ahve teh data on the NAS/Server/etc. or if the backup NAS/Server fails, you would have your data on your primary computer. Always have your data on at least two separate places.

A NAS is generally any storage drive that is accessible through the network. This can be a drive from a computer that is configured as a shared drive, an external drive plugged into a router, a separate server or a pre-built NAS device such as these offered from WD: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=UJGUbI
You can use a third-party software or a built-in app in the OS to either do scheduled backups if your data or a continuous one. This way if your system fails you would still have the data on that NAS and would be available to you.

Captain_WD.

[brwainer]

3 hours ago, Captain_WD said:

 

A backup generally is considered when you have your data AT LEAST on two separate places not part of the same system. A simple example:
- 1SSD + 2WD Red drives in RAID1 is not a backup. You may have the OS on the SSD and configured scheduled backups of the folders on your C drive onto the RAID1 array, but this doesn't make it safe in cases of a PSU failure frying your whole system.
- A separate PC with your files and a copy of that data on a NAS/External drive/Server/Cloud storage is what a true backup really is. This should make it safe even if the drives or the whole system fails at either of the spots. If your system fails you would ahve teh data on the NAS/Server/etc. or if the backup NAS/Server fails, you would have your data on your primary computer. Always have your data on at least two separate places.

A NAS is generally any storage drive that is accessible through the network. This can be a drive from a computer that is configured as a shared drive, an external drive plugged into a router, a separate server or a pre-built NAS device such as these offered from WD: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=UJGUbI
You can use a third-party software or a built-in app in the OS to either do scheduled backups if your data or a continuous one. This way if your system fails you would still have the data on that NAS and would be available to you.

Captain_WD.

How do you get a job like this? I get that your actual job is to promote WD solutions to problems, but you are so helpful with general and specific knowledge. Do you do anything other than participate in community outreach?

[Captain_WD]

15 hours ago, brwainer said:

~snip~

 

I do have other responsibilities but unfortunately I'm not really allowed to comment on that. My (and my other colleagues) sole purpose is to advice people if they need help with storage problems or anything else that I can be of help and offer solutions from WD when appropriate. To be honest, it is really rewarding to see when people are happy when they get help or when they find a solution to their situation (a problem or a future project). This is why I enjoy my work here and in other communities and I'm happy to provide all the help I'm able to.

Captain_WD.