QNAP NAS Failure Endangers Critical Video Files


QNAP NAS Failure Endangers Critical Video Files

Home servers offer the convenience of massive storage capacities at a reasonable price point. They can support a home-based business or a personal storage hub for photos, video files, or other personal documents. As with any type of digital storage device, home servers need to be regularly backed up to protect against mechanical or logical failures that could lead to permanent data loss.

Christopher Dzialowy of Crestwood, Illinois, discovered just how important backups can be when his QNAP TS-451 NAS system went offline unexpectedly. His NAS featured four 3 TB Western Digital Red hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration and formatted for Windows. He used the RAID to store a large library of digital video files.

Diagnosing the Data Loss

Mr. Dzialowy initially credited the NAS failure to a faulty backpane and contacted QNAP customer support. The company was able to assist in the rebuilding of the RAID configuration but not the damaged file system. Without it, they could not mount the RAID. Out of options and fearing permanent data loss, he reached out to Secure Data Recovery Services.

Our expert data recovery engineers have driven innovation in HDD, SSD, RAID, and NAS data recovery for more than a decade. Upon receipt of the NAS drives, we conducted a full diagnostic to determine the extent of the damage. The RAID configuration metadata was lost and would require manual repairs. Additionally, the drives had boot sector corruption and damage to the file system, all of which would need custom utilities to restore successfully.

After receiving authorization to proceed, our technicians successfully imaged the failed drives in a certified Class 10 ISO 4 cleanroom. Our development team then rebuilt the RAID and reconstructed the original volume architecture. All user data damaged by the file system corruption was repaired using custom utilities modified specifically for this case and successfully extracted to our secure storage servers.

Another Successful Recovery

Secure Data Recovery Services was able to fully recover Mr. Dzialowy’s lost data. We securely exported more than 1 TB of data, comprising 646,759 files in more than 35,000 folders to an external DAS drive for return shipment. Our data recovery engineers specialize in RAID data recovery on all major manufacturers, including the full QNAP product line.

Choosing the right professional data recovery provider makes all the difference when data loss strikes. Our expert technicians maintain a documented 96% successful recovery rate and have the most industry-specific credentials of any data recovery provider. Every Secure Data Recovery Services customer receives a free comprehensive diagnostic and no-obligation price estimate. If for any reason we can’t recover your data, you pay nothing. That’s our “no data, no recovery fee” guarantee.

Make your first choice the right one when you experience data loss. Secure Data Recovery Services has more than 250 partner locations across North America, so successful data recovery is always just around the corner. We offer 24/7 customer support as well as emergency and on-site recovery services. You can choose from a number of different data recovery options.

Call us at 800-388-1266 for a free consultation or to open a new data recovery case.

Download this customer success story as a PDF.

Philip Bader, Content Writer
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After more than a decade in Southeast Asia as a reporter and editor for magazines, newspapers, and online media organizations, Philip Bader now serves as a freelance content writer for Secure Data Recovery Services. He writes blogs and web content about data storage technology, trends in enterprise data recovery, and emerging data storage technology.

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