Knowledge Is Power With Raid Data Recovery

Long seen as a robust, stable storage solution

, the RAID server has demonstrated the kind of steadiness that has many administrators virtually ignorant of RAID data recovery. Certainly the "R" of RAID helps with this idea, as "redundancy" is one of the crucial reasons why RAID is the only form of storage favored for such mission-critical products as Oracle databases, Exchange servers and high end web servers. For many, this is the best solution: offering high data access speed with the peace of mind of surviving a single hard drive failure without any ill effects.

The true danger of the RAID solution lies in its illusion of robustness, however. Until now, it is definitely the best, and most configurable solution the data storage industry has to offer. Meanwhile, look at the key building blocks of the RAID server and what have we got? Essentially, a RAID platform is simply a clutch of hard drives strung together - with each hard disk merely a mechanical device, different although at its core still the same type of structure as a hard disk from 20 years ago. As of this writing, there is no serious non-mechanical hard drive available (solid state drives give it a shot, of course, but remain very susceptible to wear, trading one form of engineering fault for another), which means - surprise, surprise - RAID servers are destined to collapse.

Are all RAID servers doomed to fail, then? Well, not always, and no matter the case, preparation and planning virtually guarantees that the smart administrator will win the day. Consider these tips as your RAID recovery arsenal:

Develop An IT Asset Database - Whether you are the individual that controls your organization's IT equipment or not, understand the precise hardware that your role makes you responsible for. Ensure you have a list on hand of all crucial systems, from PCs to laptops, RAIDs to exchange servers. Your best weapon is knowledge in this case, and will make a difference in the case of hard drive crash.

Gather Asset Details - Building an extensive knowledgebase of the hardware you are in charge of is key to designing a recovery or disaster plan. If you are managing PC assets, bookmark the manufacturer forums where you can find help or check out recent issues that have affected systems. If you are using RAID servers, know the manufacturers of not only the platforms themselves, but of the RAID controller cards. Again, being prepared in case of a RAID data recovery situation is going to make that process far less expensive, and much easier to act on.

Who You Gonna Call? - So an all-out RAID failure has just taken place. I guess you have a fully qualified 24 hour RAID repair company already in your smart phone, so you can easily give them a call and begin the process of getting the hardware to them. Not the case? It should be. In fact, why not take the time out right now to build yourself a shortlist. Investigate not only data recovery providers, but those are RAID recovery specialists, or better yet, 24 hour RAID recovery. Call the technicians now, and simulate what an emergency might be like. How does the shop handle it?

Despite what a hundred hardware shops may claim about RAID and other storage applications, none of them are completely bulletproof. Knowing now what your action plan is when you need RAID data recovery is a great idea, and will make things easier in the event of emergency.

by: Ryan Davis Alexander

POST COMMENT

Microsoft Excel Password Recovery – Recovery is Easy How to Retrieve Deleted Files From Data Loss How to Get Back Deleted Files From Data Loss How to Recover Deleted Partition From Data Loss How to Get Data Back for NTFS - Here is the NTFS Data Recovery HDD Data Recovery - How to Get Data Back for HDD Beating Data Loss - How to Recover Data From Damaged Hard Drive QuickBooks Database Is Not Accessing in Multi-User Mode Performing NTFS recovery when Hal.dll is missing Simple data use Complete Recovery of Lost PST Password is possible using a PST Password Recovery Tool Efficient data recovery Tool Shrink Operation Fails on Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database