Recovering data from redundant disk arrays
RAID systems are very sophisticated combinations of hard disk drives. These drives are connected together in such a way as to allow both redundancy of systems and the somewhat automated reconstruction of lost data. When a RAID array loses access due to corruption of essential operating system files the underlying stored data is locked away requiring file recovery. RAID systems are cataloged using a numerical system with variations being from RAID 1 to RAID 10. At the present time RAID 5 systems and software are the most commonly used. Some of the better quality hard disk data recovery programs are actually able to recover RAID 5 array files.
Quality software from companies such as Remo software include technical support for RAID 5 recovery. While the actual repair and the initialization of a raid array may require assistance from a data recovery service laboratory, recovery of files from a crashed RAID system so as to set up a virtual RAID and continue operations can often be done by a local technician or a computer savvy owner operator.