How to Perform RAID 50 Data Recovery
Here you will find out:
- what is RAID 50
- how does RAID 50 work
- how DiskInternals can help you
Are you ready? Let's read!
What is RAID 50?
RAID 50 is a hybrid array that includes two RAID 5 segments that are combined to form a RAID 0. RAID 50 works by striping (RAID 0) data across multiple RAID 5 sets.
Since there is a parallel use of several such arrays, the data writing speed increases significantly. Thus, there is a partial correction of the main drawback of RAID 5 (low data write speed).
The total capacity of the array is reduced due to the capacity of the two drives.
RAID 50 can withstand damage to one disk per RAID 5 segment, and six disks are required to create an array.
This type of array is expensive, so it is most often used in complex applications and requires an expensive controller.
How does RAID 50 work?
Of course, the total capacity will suffer a little, but the performance and recovery rate will be significantly higher. All disks will be divided into 2 groups with an interleaved parity layout mechanism. RAID 50 can handle 6 or more disks (ideally 8) and cheap controllers are not suitable here, so be prepared to pay a hefty sum for RAID 50. Choosing this array option is always deliberate, since the number of disks is significant.
Disk space
RAID 5 requires 1 disk from the total disk space per RAID array for parity. Therefore, you will have less usable space than you would with RAID 5 (here you will never “lose” more than 33% of your total capacity with RAID 5).
Therefore, when using RAID 50, it is more profitable to take three or four RAID 5 disk sets.
Risk
With pure RAID 5, as the disks in the array grow, the likelihood of a complete failure of the array increases.
With RAID 50, if you encounter multiple disk failures on any of the underlying RAID 5 arrays, the RAID 50 will be destroyed. However, every single RAID 5 array can withstand the loss of one disk. Thus, in RAID 50, your chances are much higher that the second drive failure will not occur on the same array as the first failure.
Therefore, it is best to keep individual RAID 5 arrays small (maximum three or four disks), as the more disks you add to individual RAID 5 arrays, the greater the risk of losing multiple disks in the same array.
It can be concluded that in raid 50, separate levels of raid 5 are responsible for fault tolerance, and raid 0 does not play any role in fault tolerance.
Performance
Raid 0 is responsible for performance in RAID 50. In general, in terms of overall write performance, RAID 50 can be placed between RAID 10 (the performance winner) and RAID 5 (often poor performance, depending on the workload). In practice, the performance of a RAID 50 is highly dependent on the choice of a RAID controller.
The read-write is excellent here and is no different from RAID 10 and RAID 5.
What are the reasons for RAID 50 failure?
First of all, check if the spare drive is working or if it is faulty.
In order to test if the spare drive is working, the array needs to be expanded (made to grow), and then the RAID driver will look for the spare drive. That is, if you have a spare drive, you can expand the array by increasing the number of active drives in the array.
During this process, the RAID driver is discovered and then it finds a spare disk, then it integrates it into the array as an active disk. After synchronization, launch it and your array will have two active synchronized disks. Since there are no three disks, it will not be 100% removed. Then remove the failed disk and resize the array.
Also make sure that the PATA / SATA port, cables and wires are not damaged and the connection is working perfectly.
RAID 50 data recovery with DiskInternals
DiskInternals RAID Recovery can create a disk image and recover your data surprisingly quickly and easily on a professional level! The probability of returning data of any type and format exceeds 95% - this statement is based on 15 years of experience of DiskInternals in the field of information recovery.
The source of the damage to a RAID 50 is irrelevant; RAID Recovery even supports automatic identification of important parameters like RAID controller type, array type, installed file system, stripe size, disk order, etc. It will recover all files where possible.
To illustrate the process, study this guide and start downloading and installing the adware version of the app on your laptop.
When opening the program, follow the instructions of the Recovery Wizard.
Then in the new window, select RAID 50.
PC scanning (full or quick), this process is unlikely to be fast because the arrays typically have a large capacity, and RAID Recovery checks even the most remote locations for remote and inaccessible files.
You can view the results for free even in the ad version, which is very useful as you can check the integrity of the data.
If you want to export data, contact the site to purchase a license online in a minute and complete the process however you want.