Difference betweeen file recovery and RAID recovery
File recovery software aims to recover data from the broken filesystems and the result of data recovery
is files and folders. The goal of RAID recovery is to detect the lost RAID configuration parameters.
We have developed both data recovery software (ReclaiMe File Recovery) and RAID recovery software
(ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery).
ReclaiMe File Recovery is a multipurpose data recovery software which
- Works with a single drive or partition.
- Recovers damaged filesystem.
- Produces files and folder structure.
ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery is a tool to reconstruct a failed RAID which
- Works with multiple hard drives (RAID member disks).
- Recovers RAID parameters.
- Produces either a destriped array data as the image file, or the array parameter set.
Do I need the RAID recovery?
In some cases, it is obvious that there is a RAID failure.
An extreme case would be a RAID controller card with visible burnt components, for which no replacement is available.
Or, the RAID controller reports a double hard drive failure in a RAID5 and refuses to bring the array online.
There are other cases when the RAID recovery is not needed.
First and foremost, the RAID recovery is not needed when there was no RAID.
Surprisingly, the RAID recovery is not needed for a RAID1 (mirror). Mirror just holds two identical copies of data.
Put either of the hard drives into the working machine and data should be readily accessible.
In the worst case, you'd need ReclaiMe File Recovery, but no RAID recovery is ever needed for a RAID1.
There are however cases when the exact nature of the problem is not obvious. For example, a volume may refuse to mount due
to either a filesystem problem or an underlying RAID problem. If the RAID-related origin of the problem cannot be positively determined,
the best is to leave the RAID setup as it is and try the filesystem recovery first.
The RAID recovery, which involves disconnecting the drives from the controller, should only be attempted if the filesystem recovery
of the array "as is" is not successful.
Still have questions?