External Raid0 Corrupted, please help

Discussion in 'Mac Accessories' started by M-Idiot, Jan 8, 2013.

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  1. M-Idiot, Jan 8, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2013

    M-Idiot macrumors newbie

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    Jan 8, 2013
    #1
    Hi,
    I have an external 4 TB (Lacie 4Big), running in Raid 0 and now one if the drives is appearantly corrupted.
    I cannot mount the Raid anymore, and as a result have no access to any data on either of the 4 drives.
    I Tried several Data-Restoral apps but to no avail, since the drive does not even show up.
    When starting, all drives initialize except for one, which makes some clicking sounds before failing, then the status indicator turns to red, showing that the raid did not properly initialize.

    I´m not very tech savy, and would like to ask for assistance to obtain as much of the remaining data as possible. As far as i understand, once I replace the broken drive, all drives need to be reformatted?

    I did make an image of the corrupted drive (by connecting it by a usb HD reader), it could not be read (=Mounted) but I was able to create a copy of the image using Harddrive-Utility.

    Would copying this image to a new drive solve the problem?

    Please help.. :(

    thanks
     
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  2. justperry, Jan 8, 2013

    justperry macrumors 604

    justperry

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    #2
    That's the problem with Raid 0, lost case, loose one drive and everything is gone, I do hope you have a backup, if not you are out of luck.
    Lesson learned.

    You might be able to recover files from the remaining drives but that's it.
     
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  3. M-Idiot, Jan 8, 2013

    M-Idiot thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #3
    But wouldnt it help to create images of all 4 drives,
    then somehow restore the raid replacing the broken drive, and
    copying the images back?

    Oh and this was actually my backup :((
     
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  4. justperry, Jan 8, 2013

    justperry macrumors 604

    justperry

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    #4
    Most probably not, reason is the directory might be messed up and files on the broken Harddisk is corrupt, now lets say part of the directory files are on the now corrupt disk then it is gone.

    If you have four disks and somehow can copy al the data over you might get lucky but I think the chance of being successful is very, very low.
     
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  5. MCAsan, Jan 8, 2013

    MCAsan macrumors 601

    MCAsan

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    #5
    If you have Time Machine backups, I would say reformat the RAID 0 drives and do a restore from Time Machine. If you don't have Time Machine backups...after this incident start using Time Machine to backup the entire file system (internal and external drives).
     
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  6. maflynn, Jan 8, 2013

    maflynn Moderator

    maflynn

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    #6
    Bummers, but never ever use RAID 0 for a backups for the reasons as noted.

    Your data is stripped across all the volumes and if a single volume gets corrupted your entire RAID array is gone.

    The only advantage RAID 0 has is performance but at the increased risk of losing your data.

    Good luck on recovering your data - that bites :(
     
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  7. flynz4, Jan 8, 2013

    flynz4 macrumors 68040

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    #7
    Since this is your backup... then you have not lost any data... because by definition... this is no longer primary data.

    Just fix the array... stop using RAID0... and re-backup everything to the array again. You will have lost your versioning history... but you still have your data on your primary computers.

    BTW: This is a great reason why many of use a dual backup strategy... one locally, and one offsite.

    /Jim
     
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  8. marzer, Jan 8, 2013

    marzer macrumors 65816

    marzer

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    #8
    I don't understand the arguement against using RAID0 for a backup device. I've done it for years. If a drive fails, I repair the device and recreate the backup. Heck even my primary media library is stored on RAID0 device.

    If i was using a single HD solution and the device failed, I'd still have to replace it and recreate the backup. No less risky. Where people get themselves in trouble is using a RAID device (0, 5, 10 or any other) as primary storage without a backup solution. They think just because its has the label RAID they don't need to be concerned with backups. You can search this forum and see that discussion has occurred many times.

    You can use any storage technology or architecture with confidence IF you have a good backup scheme in place.
     
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  9. blueroom, Jan 8, 2013

    blueroom macrumors 603

    blueroom

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    #9
    My guess is the OPs RAID0 "backup" was primary storage for everything not on their computers internal drive. Not a backup in the conventional sense.

    And as noted, any drive in RAID0 goes it's goners for the data.
     
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