RAID 0 Recovery
If one of the disks in a RAID 0 fails, is it possible to recover data from the array?
No, because RAID 0 is not a redundant array.
How to recover RAID0 configuration in case of a controller failure or software error?
RAID 0 configuration consists of the following parameters:
- block size,
- start offset,
- disk order.
You can recover the RAID parameters listed above either manually or automatically.
Manual RAID 0 recovery:
- You can just know the RAID 0 parameters, for example if you have built the array yourself and remember the parameters.
In this case you should be very careful when recreating disk order since it is needed to know how physical devices
correlate with an internal array numbering. For more details see here.
- Analyze the member disks with disk editors to find out the parameters.
Keep in mind that it is very laborious and time consuming process.
Automatic RAID recovery:
You should disconnect the RAID 0 member disks from the controller in case of hardware RAID0, then connect the disks directly to the motherboard
and launch RAID recovery software to determine your array configuration.
What to do if you think that one of the RAID0 member disks is about to fail? How to create RAID0 once again?
You need to back up the entire RAID0, replace the disk, create a new array, then restore data from the backup to the newly created array.
If it so happened that disks in RAID0 were messed up (connected to the wrong ports),
what will happen and how the problem can be fixed?
Most controllers identify disks by first writing a signature onto them, and then searching for that signature.
With most controllers, you can move disks to different ports an still have your array.
Sometimes, however array data will not be accessible. To fix the problem you need to connect the disks correctly.
If RAID0 has failed, what can be the reason?
RAID 0 array can fail due to the following:
- member disk failure,
- controller failure,
- port or controller on the motherboard has failed,
- managing software failure in case of a software RAID,
- file system failure, when the RAID is working fine but the file system is corrupt for whatever reason.
How to recover data from a RAID0?
If one of the RAID 0 member disks failed, there is no way to recover data unless the failed disk is repaired first.
If all the disks are OK, but the array configuration is lost, then you need to:
- destripe the array;
- use the data recovery or partition recovery software if required.
Either way, you need a free space at least as large as the original array was.
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