QNAP RAID 10 recovery: six drives from two NAS units, two needing cleanroom work
A QNAP RAID 10 came in as drives from two NAS units: four 2TB drives from the first and two from the second. The QNAP had stopped being accessible. Several drives had firmware problems, one had a dead head, and two clicked and spun down and went to the cleanroom. From the working drives the RAIDs were reconstructed, and 1.9TB of data could be seen.
| Service | RAID 10 data recovery |
|---|---|
| Drive | 6 × 2TB hard drives (4 + 2 from two NAS units), RAID 10 |
| Make and model | QNAP |
| System | Two QNAP NAS units |
| Symptom | QNAP no longer accessible |
| Diagnosis | Firmware faults; one dead head; two clicking drives, one with a mangled head and platter rings |
| Work done | Firmware fixes, sector-by-sector copies, cleanroom examination, RAID reconstruction |
| Outcome | RAIDs reconstructed; 1.9TB of data seen |
The NAS and what the customer noticed
A QNAP RAID with two configurations, 4 × 2TB from the first NAS and 2 × 2TB from the second, configured as RAID 10. The only symptom was that the QNAP could no longer be accessed.
What examination established
- First NAS: drives 1 and 3 had firmware issues, which were resolved. Drive 2 had bad firmware problems and a bad SMART status; when it was copied, head 0 turned out to have died, so it was read on 3 of its 4 heads. Drive 4 clicked when powered up and spun down.
- Second NAS: drive 1 had no problems. Drive 2 clicked, spun down and went for cleanroom work.
- In the clean room: first-NAS drive 4 had a mangled head and rings on the platter, with black dust on the filter and inside the drive. Second-NAS drive 2 was visibly OK, with no dust; it was a lower-capacity model with its top platter not in use.
What changed the approach
The two clicking drives went to the cleanroom while the rest were copied, and the RAIDs were reconstructed from the working drives.
What the lab did
- Resolved the firmware issues on the drives that had them.
- Copied the readable drives sector by sector, reading drive 2 of the first NAS on its three working heads.
- Examined the two clicking drives in the cleanroom.
- Reconstructed the RAIDs from the working drives.
Engineer's notes
Luckily with the working drives, we were able to reconstruct the RAIDs and were able to see 1.9TB of data.
Outcome for this case
The RAIDs were reconstructed and 1.9TB of data could be seen.
What this case shows
RAID 10 mirrors pairs of drives. Here, with one drive showing a mangled head and rings on the platter, the RAIDs were reconstructed from the working drives. A drive that reads on fewer heads can still give useful data.
What it doesn't show
How long the work took, or what it cost.
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