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Flex drive ready NAS RAID 1... Accessing data when the hardware fails?
Hi all,
I used to have a hardware RAID 1 and I could always remove a drive, plug it into another computer and read the data (it wasn't in a proprietary format so if the RAID hardware died I could still get to the data.) In fact, my backup routine was to periodically swap out a drive and rebuild the RAID. The drive on my shelf was a backup snapshot that was physically removed from the computer/network.
What happens when the ReadyNAS hardware dies? How can I access my data without the ReadyNAS hardware? Is it stored in a Linux ext format or some other proprietary format?
Thanks,
Jordan
I used to have a hardware RAID 1 and I could always remove a drive, plug it into another computer and read the data (it wasn't in a proprietary format so if the RAID hardware died I could still get to the data.) In fact, my backup routine was to periodically swap out a drive and rebuild the RAID. The drive on my shelf was a backup snapshot that was physically removed from the computer/network.
What happens when the ReadyNAS hardware dies? How can I access my data without the ReadyNAS hardware? Is it stored in a Linux ext format or some other proprietary format?
Thanks,
Jordan
The 104 has a 3 year limited hardware warranty. If the NAS hardware fails under warranty then support can RMA it (note the replacement would be refurbished). If it fails outside of warranty then moving the disks across to a new ReadyNAS should be a possibility. You can ask us at the time to confirm what's possible with ReadyNAS units available at that time.
From any ReadyNAS the data can be recovered using an ordinary x86 Linux machine. It is straightforward if the disks, array and volume are all fine (this may not be the case). The steps do differ depending on which model you have and may also different depending on which RAID configuration is being used.
I see you have a RN104. This is using mdadm for the RAID with the BTRFS filesystem on top. With a 2-disk RAID-1 volume you would only need one of the disks to be in working condition to be able to recover your data. With RAID-5 you would need n-1 disks where n is the number of disks in your volume when it is in a redundant state. Best to hook up all disks to the PC if they are all in a working condition.
You can see in the GPL which kernel version and which btrfs-progs version we are using. It's best if the Linux machine is using versions at least as new as what we are using on the ReadyNAS.
You should check the disk health e.g. using smartctl and the state of the mdadm RAID array before starting the RAID.
You could use commands such as
# smartctl --all /dev/sda# mdadm -E /dev/sda3
In the above example the disk is sda. Repeat for each disk.
You could then start the array
# mdadm --assemble --scan# cat /proc/mdstat
# mount -t btrfs -o ro /dev/md127 /mnt
Where /mnt is the mount point.
You can check the output of cat /proc/mdstat to confirm that md127 is the data volume array (it will be the largest).
You may be able to use 3rd party software for Windows but it would need to handle mdadm RAID with BTRFS on top, and may be software that you would need to pay for whereas Linux is free.You shouldn't rely on being able to read the data using a PC even though in most cases this should be possible. There are things that RAID won't protect you against such as accidental file deletions (snapshots may help a bit with this in use cases where they are appropriate), too many disk failures (e.g. if both disks fail in a 2-disk RAID-1 array), fire, flood, theft etc. So if data is important you should have copies on multiple devices including an off-site backup at all times.
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The 104 has a 3 year limited hardware warranty. If the NAS hardware fails under warranty then support can RMA it (note the replacement would be refurbished). If it fails outside of warranty then moving the disks across to a new ReadyNAS should be a possibility. You can ask us at the time to confirm what's possible with ReadyNAS units available at that time.
From any ReadyNAS the data can be recovered using an ordinary x86 Linux machine. It is straightforward if the disks, array and volume are all fine (this may not be the case). The steps do differ depending on which model you have and may also different depending on which RAID configuration is being used.
I see you have a RN104. This is using mdadm for the RAID with the BTRFS filesystem on top. With a 2-disk RAID-1 volume you would only need one of the disks to be in working condition to be able to recover your data. With RAID-5 you would need n-1 disks where n is the number of disks in your volume when it is in a redundant state. Best to hook up all disks to the PC if they are all in a working condition.
You can see in the GPL which kernel version and which btrfs-progs version we are using. It's best if the Linux machine is using versions at least as new as what we are using on the ReadyNAS.
You should check the disk health e.g. using smartctl and the state of the mdadm RAID array before starting the RAID.
You could use commands such as
# smartctl --all /dev/sda# mdadm -E /dev/sda3
In the above example the disk is sda. Repeat for each disk.
You could then start the array
# mdadm --assemble --scan# cat /proc/mdstat
# mount -t btrfs -o ro /dev/md127 /mnt
Where /mnt is the mount point.
You can check the output of cat /proc/mdstat to confirm that md127 is the data volume array (it will be the largest).
You may be able to use 3rd party software for Windows but it would need to handle mdadm RAID with BTRFS on top, and may be software that you would need to pay for whereas Linux is free.You shouldn't rely on being able to read the data using a PC even though in most cases this should be possible. There are things that RAID won't protect you against such as accidental file deletions (snapshots may help a bit with this in use cases where they are appropriate), too many disk failures (e.g. if both disks fail in a 2-disk RAID-1 array), fire, flood, theft etc. So if data is important you should have copies on multiple devices including an off-site backup at all times.
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