There’s a misconception within the IT community that RAID 5 servers are virtually fail-proof. It’s true that they are relatively stable and that the use of mirroring and striping both enhances performances and creates redundancies that make data loss less likely. However, a server built using any level of RAID can still fail. Here are five things that can go wrong with a RAID server. 

1. A hard disk fails, creating adding stress on the other hard drives in the array. – Since hard drives in a RAID array are usually around the same age, when one fails due to the end of its read/write life cycle, the other drives may not be far behind. When a RAID operates with one drive missing due to a failed drive, it speeds up the degradation of the other drives. Cascading failure may result, causing a need for emergency data recovery services. 

2. Controller failure – The failure of a RAID controller in an array can cause the loss of mission critical data. 

3. System file corruption caused by viruses or other logical hard drive failures – The redundancy in a RAID array is designed to protect against data loss in the event of the physical failure of a single hard drive due to old age or other factors. Once a virus enters the system, however, it spreads rapidly to every drive in the array, resulting in logical hard drive failure and the loss of mission critical data. Fortunately, logical recovery is often easier, and less expensive, than physical data recovery. As long as you rely on a trusted professional data recovery service, the likelihood of a full recovery is extremely high. 

4. A power surge or other physical event damages all drives in the array – Redundancies don’t mean anything if your RAID array experiences a power surge, extremely common in these warm months when Dallas businesses face thunderstorms, tornadoes, and brown-outs due to hot weather. If your drives suffer physical failure, a data recovery service can help you recover your lost data quickly to minimize down time for your business. 

5. Accidental deletion of files – This is more common on personal computers and mobile devices, which are often handled by children or inexperienced technology users, but we see it happen often enough in a business setting, as well. If important files, such as system files that keep your RAID array functioning, or even mission critical business files, are deleted, they can often be recovered by an experience, professional data recovery firm. 

Not sure what happened to your RAID array, but can’t access your files? Whatever the problem, you can trust 24 Hour Data to recover your data promptly.