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Forum Discussion
X-RAID and access to data if box fails
I've had 2 Ultra 2 Plus boxes break on me in 4 years. The first time round I put one of the disks in a USB and got the data off as it was basically mirrored.
Now I've had the second failure and it's no longer under warranty, I am thinking about a 314, but want to know how I can access the data if I have more than 2 disks if the box fails. I guess with 3 or 4 disks it's no longer possible to extract a single disk and suck the data off it.
Yes, I know about backups, but as I've only experienced box failures, not disk failures I'd be interested to know what the recovery process is in the event of a NAS box failure. It's all nice and dandy if a disk fails and you just plug in a new one, but does the same apply to a NAS failure, i.e. plug in a new one?
Now I've had the second failure and it's no longer under warranty, I am thinking about a 314, but want to know how I can access the data if I have more than 2 disks if the box fails. I guess with 3 or 4 disks it's no longer possible to extract a single disk and suck the data off it.
Yes, I know about backups, but as I've only experienced box failures, not disk failures I'd be interested to know what the recovery process is in the event of a NAS box failure. It's all nice and dandy if a disk fails and you just plug in a new one, but does the same apply to a NAS failure, i.e. plug in a new one?
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- Another related question is that if I have the 4 disk unit, is it possible to have two volumes, each with two disks, therefore retaining mirroring?
- With a RAID-5 array with N disks, you need at least N-1 disks connected to the system doing the recovery. There's a thread here which should give you some idea of what's involved: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=75900#p422576
You can of course use two RAID-1 volumes on the RN314 - which offers less space than RAID-5, but is easier to recover data from.
If the NAS fails (and the disks are intact) you can migrate the disks to a compatible replacement NAS. That would include the RN500 products. Netgear supports upward migration from RN100/RN200 arm systems to the RN300/RN500/RN700 intel systems, but not downward migration from the intel to arm.
How did the ultra's fail btw?Hello,
I have a Netgear RND4000-100NAS with a bad power supply. From what you wrote, if I purchase the Netgear ReadyNAS 402 and transfer the current hard drives into the new NAS, then I should be able to turn the NAS on and it will recognize the data already on the drives? Is it that simple or do I need to do special steps to make sure the new NAS does not reformat the hard drives, but recognize the data already on the drives?
KodyStewy wrote:
Hello,
I have a Netgear RND4000-100NAS with a bad power supply. From what you wrote, if I purchase the Netgear ReadyNAS 402 and transfer the current hard drives into the new NAS, then I should be able to turn the NAS on and it will recognize the data already on the drives? Is it that simple or do I need to do special steps to make sure the new NAS does not reformat the hard drives, but recognize the data already on the drives?
ReadyNAS 402? AFAIK there is no such thing. Did you mean RN204?
If you want to migrate your data to a new OS6 system, you need to coordinate that with support. There's no way to convert the older file system non-destructively. But they can remotely mount the NV+ v1 disks on the OS6 system, so you can then copy the data off (either to USB drives or over the network).
My reply crossed your followup...adb wrote: Another related question is that if I have the 4 disk unit, is it possible to have two volumes, each with two disks, therefore retaining mirroring?
To add some more information... To do this, insert two disks in the initial install. then switch from xraid to flexraid.
Then install the remaining two disks, and you will have an option to add a second volume.StephenB wrote: With a RAID-5 array with N disks, you need at least N-1 disks connected to the system doing the recovery. There's a thread here which should give you some idea of what's involved: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=75900#p422576
You can of course use two RAID-1 volumes on the RN314 - which offers less space than RAID-5, but is easier to recover data from.
If the NAS fails (and the disks are intact) you can migrate the disks to a compatible replacement NAS. That would include the RN500 products. Netgear supports upward migration from RN100/RN200 arm systems to the RN300/RN500/RN700 intel systems, but not downward migration from the intel to arm.
How did the ultra's fail btw?
I don't want to go near RAID-5, I'm happy to mirror only.
I got bounced around the process between NG and Seagate as to who would address the problem and ended up having to buy two new disks to put in the original ultra to prove to NG that it was the NAS, so they then RMA'd the NAS. No reason why it wouldn't work.
2nd just stopped - it doesn't boot into tech support mode and there's no apparent network signal when plugged into a switch, so sounds like a critical component.StephenB wrote:
My reply crossed your followup...adb wrote: Another related question is that if I have the 4 disk unit, is it possible to have two volumes, each with two disks, therefore retaining mirroring?
To add some more information... To do this, insert two disks in the initial install. then switch from xraid to flexraid.
Then install the remaining two disks, and you will have an option to add a second volume.
OK, that sounds safer to me than using X-RAID. BTW, I gather the new disk format is not the same as the old, so in the event of a box failure, how accessible is the data from a single disk and what file system does it use?- The file system is btrfs - not commonly supported in Windows recovery tools, but readily available on linux boxes. The link I posted above gives some linux commands (from mdgm).
RAID-1 in OS6 will allow you to recover data from either disk in the mirror.
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