In case you are wondering, RAID stands for ?Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks?, as it is an assembly of more than one hard drive in a single unit. The advantages of this are numerous, but the most important one is the fact that even if one of the hard drives has failed, the computer is still able to serve its purpose and perform all the tasks the user desires. The issue of data loss in this case is not so severe, as the multiple hard drives offer higher protection against accidental damaging the data.
So, why would you need RAID data recovery? Well, RAID is said to indeed protect your data when one of the hard drives fails, by increasing system uptime and network availability. Not to speak of the fact that more than one hard disk working together will significantly increase the performance of your system!
Generally speaking, RAID data recovery is most definitely the most complicated thing that a data recovery specialist or company can perform on a system. It is their mission to repair the damages that the user has done before taking the hard drives to the technician for recovery. Most of the clients of these data recovery firms attempt to recover the data or even repair the array of hard disks by using the system utilities they can get their hands on. This may be all right for the situation when the lost data is not critical to the company, but if these unprofessional methods fail, someone could loose his or her job! Therefore, in case of a RAID failure, the best thing one can do is take it to a data recovery company and let them do their jobs properly.
Even if the process of RAID data recovery can cost a lot of money, it is much better to have a specialists take it through the set procedure that the data recovery companies follow.
They start by ensuring that all the hard drives are functional, as this is a major factor in the success of the whole data recovery process. Only then they start making complete sector-by-sector clones of every drive, a process that takes place at a very low level and is not affected by the bad sectors.
Your initial hard drive is set to a write protect mode during this process, in order to make sure that your original data is not in danger of being modified in any way.
After cloning, your hard drives are no longer needed, as the recovery process is being done on these cloned copies. The clones of your hard drives are then put into a system and all the data scattered among the drives in the array will be put into an unique destination drive.
This is the point when a normal recovery process can start, as there is only one drive left!
It's just a matter of time before you will experience a computer drive problem. If your hard drive crashed right now do you have an action plan to follow? Most people only think of backing up their data after they experience a problem.
Don't set yourself up for a data loss disaster. Your data integrity action plan should consist of the following:
1) How often you will back up your data?
2) What data you will back up?
3) What back up procedure you will use? How often you back up your data can only be determined by how important you feel it is.
Answer this question "If my hard drive crashed right now, I would be alright if I had the data from at least (time) ago". Of course you would want everything but if you could have the data from 1 month, or 6 months ago would that be sufficient? Whatever time is sufficient mark it on your calendar both a hard copy and set up a meeting on your PC to remind you.
You change your smoke detector batteries when you turn your clock back and when you turn it ahead right?
Well back up your data then too.
If you don't change your clocks then pick some holidays or special dates that happen close to the timeframe you want to back up your data so you won't forget.
What information you back up depends on how you use your PC or laptop.
Some of the key directories, if you are using Windows, are the My Documents, Favorites and Desktop directories.
Remember if you are using multiple profiles on your PC then the three directories above can be different for each profile and each one would need to be backed up.
You will also want to include your email data. Don't forget to write down the email accounts you have. You should also write down any username and passwords so they are not lost.
You should look at every directory to see if it has information that you would need. Make a list of all the software programs you are using.
If you have the physical CDs put them all together in a safe location. Don't forget the CDs for your peripherals like your scanner, digital camera, PDA etc... While collecting these CDs it may remind you of additional data that you need to save. If you are running software that you installed from downloaded files, burn them to a CD-R and add it to your collection. If you use a CD-R or DVD-R you can update it as you download and install new applications.
What procedure you use to back up your data can be determined by the amount of data you want to back up. Your data might fit onto a CD or DVD in which case you just need to burn it and you're done. If the back up spans multiple DVDs then you might want to consider getting a second external source to copy your data onto.
If you are not comfortable with adding a second internal hard drive or you are using a laptop then you can purchase an external hard drive to back up your data.
The information you have on your hard drive could disappear in a flash.
If you don't want to spend up to $3,000 to have a data recovery company retrieve what information they can from your hard drive, then take a few minutes right now and create your back up action plan.
If you ever have a boputer emergencyrelating to your data. Your action plan will be your insurance policy.
If you adhere to it, your valuable data will adhere to you! Data recovery will not be an issue for you.
Both Dalvin Rumsey & Sonny Felker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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