If my readynas (6.9.6) died, what's the best way to access the data on it?

[kamanwu]

Recently, my friends' Synology NAS died, the motherboard is faulty.  He said he have to buy a similar product to access the data on it.

This makes me worry about my NAS. I use a Netgear ReadyNAS, which is a discontinued product. If it fails, is there any way to let me access the data on it?  (suppose HDD are all good)

Thanks.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@kamanwu wrote:

This makes me worry about my NAS. I use a Netgear ReadyNAS, which is a discontinued product. If it fails, is there any way to let me access the data on it?  (suppose HDD are all good)

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First of all, RAID is simply not enough to keep your data safe.  If you don't want to lose it, you do need to have a backup plan in place (storing the data on at least one other device).  So I agree with @FURRYe38 about the need for a backup.

There are four basic approaches when the NAS chassis fails:

1. Purchase another compatible ReadyNAS (used in this case), and migrate your disks to it.  This can either be a native OS-6 NAS, or a 4.2.x model that can be converted to OS-6 (e.g, a Pro or Ultra model).
2. Attach your disks to a linux PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock), and manually mount the volume.
3. Attach your disks to a Windows PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock) and access the files with recovery software that supports linux RAID and btrfs.  For example, ReclaiMe.
4. Attempt to repair the NAS (usually not possible unless the power supply has failed)

[FURRYe38]

I recommend making backups of what is on the working NAS now for safe keeping. Can never have too many backups. 

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@kamanwu wrote:

This makes me worry about my NAS. I use a Netgear ReadyNAS, which is a discontinued product. If it fails, is there any way to let me access the data on it?  (suppose HDD are all good)

---

First of all, RAID is simply not enough to keep your data safe.  If you don't want to lose it, you do need to have a backup plan in place (storing the data on at least one other device).  So I agree with @FURRYe38 about the need for a backup.

There are four basic approaches when the NAS chassis fails:

1. Purchase another compatible ReadyNAS (used in this case), and migrate your disks to it.  This can either be a native OS-6 NAS, or a 4.2.x model that can be converted to OS-6 (e.g, a Pro or Ultra model).
2. Attach your disks to a linux PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock), and manually mount the volume.
3. Attach your disks to a Windows PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock) and access the files with recovery software that supports linux RAID and btrfs.  For example, ReclaiMe.
4. Attempt to repair the NAS (usually not possible unless the power supply has failed)

[kamanwu]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@kamanwu wrote:

This makes me worry about my NAS. I use a Netgear ReadyNAS, which is a discontinued product. If it fails, is there any way to let me access the data on it?  (suppose HDD are all good)

---

First of all, RAID is simply not enough to keep your data safe.  If you don't want to lose it, you do need to have a backup plan in place (storing the data on at least one other device).  So I agree with @FURRYe38 about the need for a backup.

There are four basic approaches when the NAS chassis fails:

1. Purchase another compatible ReadyNAS (used in this case), and migrate your disks to it.  This can either be a native OS-6 NAS, or a 4.2.x model that can be converted to OS-6 (e.g, a Pro or Ultra model).
2. Attach your disks to a linux PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock), and manually mount the volume.
3. Attach your disks to a Windows PC (either with SATA or a USB adapter/dock) and access the files with recovery software that supports linux RAID and btrfs.  For example, ReclaiMe.
4. Attempt to repair the NAS (usually not possible unless the power supply has failed)

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@StephenB

Thanks for this detailed information.

I do back up my data, but all backup data is on this NAS as well. I do not have another large storage device to back up this NAS.

I would like to use approach #2 since I have other Linux servers. Suppose I have 4 disks in use (RAID 5). Do I need to attach all 4 disks to the Linux server, or just 3 of them? Are there any instructions on how to manually mount the volume? Thanks again.

[StephenB]

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@kamanwu wrote:

I do back up my data, but all backup data is on this NAS as well. I do not have another large storage device to back up this NAS.

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Have you ever considered how much it is worth to you?

One place to start is by backing up personal data (photos, documents, etc).  That probably is a small fraction of your total storage.

Longer term options are purchasing USB drives, cloud storage, or getting a second NAS.  I use a combination of NAS->NAS backup and cloud backup myself.

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@kamanwu wrote:

I would like to use approach #2 since I have other Linux servers. Suppose I have 4 disks in use (RAID 5). Do I need to attach all 4 disks to the Linux server, or just 3 of them? Are there any instructions on how to manually mount the volume? 

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You can get by with 3 if the array is healthy.  

The exact steps depend on whether your array was ever vertically expanded (or has mixed disk sizes now).

Basically you need to assemble the mdadm virtual disk(s), and then mount with btrfs.