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I have a ReadyNAS 2120v2 with 4 x 4TB disks in a Raid 5 configuration. Some newer, recent, and important files were deleted before a backup could be run. I am currently investigating ways to run file recovery to retrieve as many files as possible. The ReadyNAS has been powered off to avoid write operations being performed on the disk array.
I am aware the raid array information is stored in the raid controller. In the case of the ReadyNAS 2120v2, this controller is embedded onto the systems board. Some raid array information exists in the form of some metadata on the disk themselves as well.
I had an old DL120 G6 with a smart array P400 raid controller lying around, with its raid configuration data wiped. I removed the 4 drives from the ReadyNAS and inserted them into the DL120 G6, and powered it up. It seemed that the P400 raid controller recognized the existence of the 4 drives configured in a raid 5 manner.
I loaded a CD with utilities such as a partition manager and a file recovery application, and booted the server from it. However, the partition manager shows an approx 3 TB partition located on the P400 controller (consistent with the amount of data stored in the drives), with no free space and on which operations cannot be performed (except for format). Accessing the partition and reading its contents was unsuccessful.
Moving the disks back into the ReadyNAS, powering it back up, and accessing them over local network confirms that the disks and their data were unaffected by this operation. I can still access and read nondeleted files as normal. I have powered the ReadyNAS off again.
My ultimate question: What raid controller family is the integrated raid controller within ReadyNAS 2120v2 from? Is it possible to get this raid controller in PCI form? Is there any way to load my raid array into another controller installed in a system that supports running a Windows OS, and thus my recovery utilies?
Re: Data recovery on Raid 5 array in ReadyNAS 2120v2
While I do not have a 2120V2, I find it highly unlikely that Netgear is using an entirely different RAID configuration (hardware RAID) on that small segment of the market. AFAIK, there has been no hardware RAID acceleration in ReadyNAS since the NV+ (V1).
The standard OS6 RAID is MDADM software RAID with BTRFS volumes, and all RAID configuration is on the drives themselves. The RAID controller you tried may recognize MDADM RAID arrays, but the OS you were using clearly does not recognize the BTRFS file system. There are MDADM and BTRFS drivers available for Windows, both still in beta, that might help. But more mature (though expensive) software like ReClaiMe, which is designed as a recovery product, will likely be more effective.
It is a shame that calls for re-instatement of the ReadyNAS OS4.x recycle bin in OS6 made years ago in this forum fell on deaf ears at Netgear, who incorrectly seem to think that snapshotting serves the same purpose.
Re: Data recovery on Raid 5 array in ReadyNAS 2120v2
While I do not have a 2120V2, I find it highly unlikely that Netgear is using an entirely different RAID configuration (hardware RAID) on that small segment of the market. AFAIK, there has been no hardware RAID acceleration in ReadyNAS since the NV+ (V1).
The standard OS6 RAID is MDADM software RAID with BTRFS volumes, and all RAID configuration is on the drives themselves. The RAID controller you tried may recognize MDADM RAID arrays, but the OS you were using clearly does not recognize the BTRFS file system. There are MDADM and BTRFS drivers available for Windows, both still in beta, that might help. But more mature (though expensive) software like ReClaiMe, which is designed as a recovery product, will likely be more effective.
It is a shame that calls for re-instatement of the ReadyNAS OS4.x recycle bin in OS6 made years ago in this forum fell on deaf ears at Netgear, who incorrectly seem to think that snapshotting serves the same purpose.
Re: Data recovery on Raid 5 array in ReadyNAS 2120v2
Did you have snapshots set up for the shares? If you did (or think you might have) then you could use the boot menu to mount the volume read-only, and then see if the files you need are in a snapshot.
If not, you could try ReclaiMe RAID recovery software - that would require connecting the 4 disks to a Windows PC.
mdadm and btrfs alone won't let you recover deleted files.
Re: Data recovery on Raid 5 array in ReadyNAS 2120v2
But more mature (though expensive) software like ReClaiMe, which is designed as a recovery product, will likely be more effective.
ReClaiMe: www.reclaime.com
Purchasing and using ReClaiMe allowed me to recovered the deleted files after pulling the drives from the 2120V2 and connecting them to the sata ports on a PC running Windows 7. Thank you very much for your help.
