RAID 6 SETUP
RAID 6 is an extension of RAID 5 and provides added redundancy by using two parity sets instead of one. The advantage here is that up to two disks can fail in the array without compromising data integrity. RAID 6 requires a minimum of four disks as opposed to three disks for RAID 5. As it requires quite powerful computational resources, few hardware RAID controllers have this algorithm implemented. However, it is quite common in software RAID implementations that make use of the host system processing facilities. The total storage capacity for RAID 6 arrays is sum (N - 2) where N is the number of disks in the set.
Like RAID 5, RAID 6 is great for database servers, file, print, web and email applications. It provides an excellent amount of fault-tolerance with very little overhead when compared to other resilient RAID levels such as RAID 5 and RAID 10.
Common raid 6 failure reasons
- Single or multiple disk failure
- RAID card failure
- PCB damage and other electronic issues
- Hard drive firmware damage
- Hardware conflicts
- Accidental reconfiguration of RAID drives
- Accidental replacement of media components
- File corruption and virus damage
- Formatting, partitioning and user error
Because of our No Data, No Charge guarantee, you never pay any service fees if we cannot deliver the results you are looking for. Whether you lose data due failure of one or several RAID 6 member disks or failure not associated with the disks themselves, we provide the most effective ways to avoid permanent data loss. Contact one of our mass storage specialists today to learn more about the recovery process and to set up a FREE media evaluation.
How To Best Handle RAID Failure
If any of your RAID disks indicate any signs of hardware damage – potentially, making mechanical noises – make sure to act quickly to prevent potential permanent data loss. First, shut down the RAID and do not make any attempt to repair damaged hard drives by running chkdsk, Scandisc or any other repair utilities or defragmenter utilities. These tools can exacerbate data loss issues of your array, greatly reducing the chances of a successful recovery. Keep the RAID powered off and contact a quality data recovery specialist.
If for any reason, you decide to attempt recovering the drive(s) yourself, first make sure to label the drives with their position in a RAID array. Do not replace a failed drive with a drive that was part of another RAID system and make sure to zero out the replacement drive before using.
Data Recovery Labs does not recommend any commercial data recovery software for RAID 0. Many commercial programs can decrease the chances of a successful data recovery by overwriting corrupted data. If your RAID 0 has mechanically damaged hard drives, running any type of software can cause permanent file loss.
We recover data from any hard drive RAID arrays made by but not limited to the following manufacturers:
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Adaptec
- EMC
- Avago (LSI Logic)
- Dell
- Hitachi
- Promise Technology
- NetApp
Data Recovery Labs complies with all federal IT privacy laws, and by carefully controlling security and access to our facilities, always protecting our confidentiality of our clients.