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RAID 6 Recovery – Research Lab Triple Drive Failure

We are thrilled to share a recent success story showcasing our expertise in data recovery. Our commitment to excellence and advanced technology allowed us to successfully recover critical data for one of our valued clients.

Client Information:

  • Industry: Research – University
  • Location: Tennessee
  • Array Config: 12 x 8TB Seagate IronWolf Pro (ST8000NE0004)
  • Total Capacity: 80TB
System Specifications:

The client operated a QNAP NAS configured with the following specifications:

  • Model: QNAP TS-1685 16-Bay NAS
  • RAID Controller: Onboard Intel Celeron with hardware RAID engine
  • Storage Devices: 12 x 8TB Seagate IronWolf Pro (ST8000NE0004)
  • File System: QTS (QNAP Turbo NAS System)
  • Application: Genomics data storage and analysis
Failure Incident:

Critical Failure: The lab manager contacted us after their primary data storage server became inaccessible. The QNAP NAS was reporting a critical error and the RAID 6 volume was marked as “Unmounted.” An initial investigation by the university’s IT department revealed that three of the twelve drives in the array had failed. With a RAID 6 configuration, the array should have been able to withstand the failure of two drives, but the third failure had taken the entire system offline. The lab’s research was at a standstill, and they were at risk of losing years of valuable data.

Technical Analysis:

We received the twelve 8TB Seagate drives at our lab. Our diagnostics confirmed the failure of three drives:

  • Drive 5: The drive had suffered a severe mechanical failure, with a damaged head stack assembly.
  • Drive 8: This drive had extensive bad sectors across the entire platter surface.
  • Drive 11: The drive was not being detected by the system due to a firmware issue.

RAID 6 provides double parity, which allows it to tolerate the failure of up to two drives. However, the failure of a third drive is a catastrophic event that the system is not designed to handle. The challenge in this case was to recover enough data from the three failed drives to allow the RAID 6 array to be rebuilt. This required a combination of hardware repair, firmware expertise, and advanced data recovery techniques.

Recovery Methodology:

Our recovery process was a complex and delicate operation:

  1. Drive 5 (Mechanical Failure): The drive was taken into our cleanroom, where the damaged head stack assembly was replaced with a compatible donor part. The drive was then imaged to a new, healthy drive.
  2. Drive 11 (Firmware Issue): Our firmware specialists were able to repair the corrupted firmware on this drive, allowing it to be recognized by the system. The drive was then imaged.
  3. Drive 8 (Bad Sectors): We used our advanced imaging tools to create a sector-by-sector image of the drive, bypassing the bad sectors. We were able to recover approximately 95% of the data from this drive.
  4. RAID 6 Reconstruction: With nine of the twelve drives fully operational, and two of the failed drives partially recovered, we were able to begin the RAID 6 reconstruction process. Our proprietary software was used to analyze the RAID 6 parity and data distribution. By using the data from the eleven readable drives (nine healthy, two partially recovered), we were able to mathematically reconstruct the data from the missing drive (Drive 5) and the missing data from the drive with bad sectors (Drive 8).
  5. Data Extraction and Verification: Once the virtual RAID was rebuilt, we were able to access the EXT4 file system. We extracted the genomics data and worked with the lab manager to verify its integrity. The data was cross-referenced with the lab’s records, and all critical datasets were confirmed to be intact.

Recovery Results

  • Data Recovered: 99.9% of the total data
  • Key Recovered Files: All raw and processed genomics data, including DNA sequencing files and research analysis reports
  • Data Integrity: The recovered data was fully intact and passed all integrity checks

Client Impact:

The recovered data was delivered to the client on a new set of drives within five days. The lab was able to restore their data and resume their research with minimal data loss. The incident prompted the university to review its data storage policies and invest in a more robust backup and disaster recovery solution for all of its research labs.

Lost Data on Your Storage Device? Act Immediately!

If your are experiencing data loss, DO NOT attempt to force-rebuild RAID, reinitialize drives, or operate the system, as this can lead to irreversible data loss. Power down the device(s) immediately and keep the drives in their original slots/order. Contact our experts.

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