RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a full-proof solution for all types of storage issues. It is the best device for users looking for high data storage capacity.

Like other devices, RAID server failure becomes a major problem for businesses, leading to data loss. It’s challenging to recover data without RAID recovery service providers or professionals. 

Usually, businesses or individuals save their confidential data in RAID servers. So if you lose data it would take a lot of time and effort.   

So, in this article, we will unfold the main causes behind RAID server failure and will mention its preventions.

What Is The Use Of RAID?

If a business is concerned about availability and uptime, then RAID is extremely useful. Also, RAID backups help to prevent your business from catastrophic file loss. It improves the performance and scalability of the underlying storage. 

If some users have disk IO issues, then RAID is considered the most useful one. RAID allows you to read/write data with multiple drives rather than a single drive. Furthermore, in hardware RAID, the card consists of additional memory used as a cache and enhances overall performance. 

How To Find A Suitable RAID?

It’s important to select the right RAID as per the demands of your business. We have got you covered with the best available options. 

RAID 10 

It’s an all-in-one solution that offers read and write speed with additional redundancy.

RAID 5/6 

RAID 6 and RAID 5 use redundancy to protect against a corrupt hard drive. The redundancy takes the parity information form, which is written to every disk having the RAID set. 

RAID 1 

If you are seeking to gain additional read speed or data redundancy affordably, then it’s the best choice. 

RAID 0 

It is considered the best one if your concern is performance, not data. 

No RAID 

It is a good choice if you can endure many hours of downtime while restoring the site from backups.

Note: Remember, RAID never provides a 100% guarantee of uptime. It can help in minimizing availability and downtime problems. Therefore, there is always the chance of RAID server failure. Also, it never replaces backups, so always keep it for important documents.  

Top 9 Reasons For Failure Of RAID Servers 

We have listed down the topmost causes of RAID failure. Have a look!

1. Power Surge

The power surge could be the main cause of damage to your device. Also, it may affect the RAID array and cause data loss. The power surge issue causes the controller malfunction problems sometimes.

2. Malware

Don’t ignore Malware or virus attacks; this creates RAID failure issues. So, to protect your important files, users can install authentic antivirus software or firewalls. Try to conduct regular backups, so you won’t be threatened by ransomware on losing important data.

3. Controller Malfunction

When the RAID controller fails, your important data may not be accessible to users. Even when there is no damage to the hard drive’s magnetic platters, the data still becomes inaccessible. Sometimes controller malfunction is the reason for a sudden power outage or a voltage drop. So, ensure there must be an uninterrupted power supply to protect your RAID array from potential issues.

4. Missing Partition

Usually, users implement partitions to decrease speed loss on the RAID. But still, RAID failure occurs when the system doesn’t find an expected partition.

Most of the time missing partitions problem occurs if;

  • The user has modified partitions recently.
  • Striping RAID fails and corrupts the partition.

Moreover, if a system is unable to find a partition (existing), the result could be data loss or RAID failure.

5. Accidentally Deletion Of Data 

This is a common situation in which sometimes users accidentally delete data from RAID servers. And, formatting deletes important files from the server, which may cause severe loss for a business or an individual. 

6. Application Upgrade

The data loss might have a reason for upgrading software. When users upgrade the application, it makes the RAID disk lose files. 

Generally, in a software-controlled RAID array, the array information is stored on the BIOS system. Therefore, if the BIOS is upgraded to default, the RAID configuration changes by itself. And the whole BIOS upgrading leads to RAID failure.

7. Registry Error or System Settings

One more reason for RAID failure is registry errors or system settings. So, before confirming any setting ensure double-checking them before you confirm. Also, avoid accidentally setting up re-configuring that can occur because of a software upgrade. 

8. Wrong Replacement Drive

Selecting an inappropriate replacement for a RAID array may have the wrong outcomes. Likely, having a drive that is formatted improperly in your setup might have negative consequences. Furthermore, RAID errors could cause data loss or drive failure when your replacement isn’t consistent.

9. Multiple Disk Failure

There are situations when many hard drive disks corrupt or fail at a time. And it leads you to a RAID failure. Multiple drive failures have many reasons such as hardware incompatibility, power surge, or software configuration.

Steps To Prevent RAID Server Failure 

Have you heard that precautions are always better than any cure? Well, we have listed the full-proven tips for avoiding RAID server failure situations.

Step 1: Backup Files

There are many ways for preventing data loss on any device or server. So the first step is to always back up your files. So the same goes with RAID servers; a user must create at least two more backups of their data.

Let’s take an example of a RAID 5 array. When the disk fails, the RAID goes to a degraded mode, and it loses its fault tolerance. In this type of situation, users must opt for immediate data backup from the RAID server. Also, this will prevent multiple disk failures.

Remember, RAID servers may cause permanent data loss, which can’t be recovered.

Step 2: Precautions

  • Don’t simultaneously change the disk order in the array.
  • Never go for any hit and trial methods, particularly when you don’t know what its outcomes are.
  • Don’t run the CHKDSK command for a RAID array to fix errors in RAID errors or crash.
  • Never rebuild a RAID 6 or RAID 5 array with 1+ disk failure. 

Step 3: Check the Drive Health Status Of Drive

You can use software to check the health status of your RAID and for the better version, first try the demos.

So, before visiting a hard disk recovery service expert, consider the health status detecting software. A Drive Monitor will show overall disk health, temperature, performance, and other important things that users need to know about their device. Also, the software offers warnings including; Poor Health or Good Health. 

Conclusion 

Undoubtedly, RAID failure requires expert guidance and proven tips for avoiding failure situations. So have you or your friend recently experienced RAID failure in their business? This guide will be helpful for solving your issue with DIY techniques. Still, if you are not able to solve this, then find the best data recovery services provider. Further, check out the services offered by CBL Data Recovery. We have an experienced and talented team of experts willing to solve your issue easily. Moreover, we offer a guaranteed RAID server, computer, laptop, HDD, SSD, as well as hard disk recovery service in Singapore.