Restoring a failed RAID array often requires expert help from a professional data recovery service. It’s important to remember that one when hard drive in a RAID array fails, it puts added strain on the other drives in the array and can lead to cascading RAID failure and catastrophic data loss.

However, many levels of RAID use built-in redundancy, which makes RAID storage one of the preferred forms of data storage for enterprise-level data storage within small-to-mid-size businesses. RAID 1 and RAID 5 configurations can withstand the failure of one drive before professional data recovery is required.

RAID 6, which is rapidly becoming the RAID configuration of choice for enterprise-level data storage, can tolerate the failure of two drives before data loss. We talk about other common benefits of RAID 6 arrays in this post: http://www.24hourdata.com/blog/storage-benefits-raid-6-array.

Steps to Take When a RAID Drive Fails
When a drive fails but the RAID is still functioning, the first step is to back-up all data to another storage device immediately. When one drive fails, it puts strains on the other drives in the array and can often lead to cascading RAID failure.

Performing a Hot Swap in a RAID Array
An experienced IT professional can replace a failed drive by doing a “hot swap.” The missing data can then be re-written on the newly replaced drive. Keep in mind, all drives in a RAID array are typically the same age, and when one fails, the others may soon follow. After completing a hot swap, and with backups in place, it’s a good idea to replace your entire RAID array. 

A hot swap is not an easy operation and should only be performed by an IT professional with the proper training. To avoid cascading failure, you can call 24 Hour Data and we can replace the drives in your RAID array and rebuild the array if a hard drive has failed.

When More Than One Disk Fails
When a drive in a RAID array fails, other drives often follow, sometimes before you can back up all the data. When this occurs, you’re facing data loss. Do not attempt do it yourself data recovery, as this can render data unrecoverable.

Call 24 Hour Data with the make and model of your RAID controller and the failed drives. We will provide you with a fair and honest price quote and begin the data recovery process immediately, so you can get back to business faster.