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Proware® RAID Data Recovery

June 23, 2014

Proware® Technology Corporation offers a line of versatile servers, including NAS appliances. Since their inception, they’ve developed a breathtaking variety of storage devices, and their servers offer flexibility and scalability that’s exceptionally valuable to new businesses.

Most Proware® products (including NAS devices) use one of six possible RAID configurations to minimize the possibility of data loss and offer fast performance. Unfortunately, while Proware® servers extremely dependable, data loss is always possible.

Recovery Procedures for Proware® Technology Corp. Servers and NAS Devices

Our recovery process will vary depending on the level of RAID that your Proware® server uses, its exact failure scenario, and many other variables. Most cases start with an in-house evaluation, after which an accurate price can be quoted for the recovery. Evaluations require the hard drives from your Proware® Technology server (both working and non-working) but not the hardware from the server itself.

If the estimation is accepted, any physically failed hard drives are treated as quickly as possible in a class 5 clean room by trained data recovery engineers. Clones are made of both failed and good hard drives, which ensures that every further procedure is nondestructive and stands no chance of damaging your data.

Different levels of RAID require different data recovery techniques, but for common RAID types such as RAID 0 and RAID 5, the array is then reconstructed. This is handled through virtualization software and on-site arrays. Corruption and other issues are then treated before data can be accessed.

Once data is accessible, it is transfered to a return media and shipped back to our clients. A copy of each drive from the Proware® server is kept in our drive database for a period of 3-5 days or until data is confirmed, at which point each drive is permanently erased.

At datarecovery.com, we know the potential costs of a failed server, and we do everything possible to reduce these costs by offering the fastest, most reliable data recovery services in the world.

Proware® Server LED Notifications and Error Messages

Proware® servers use LEDs to notify a user when an error requires attention. These LEDs (and often, an onboard LCD) will notify you of any hard drive failures. On most Proware® Technology systems, the LED for each drive will be blue (operating) or green (working) during standard operation. A failed hard drive’s LCD will appear orange. Read the onscreen prompt or LCD to see whether a drive has failed, or if a configuration or installation problem is preventing it from functioning normally.

Note that Proware® systems will often display error messages, either in user logs, onscreen prompts, or on-device LCDs, when a serious data issue has been detected.

The event logs are usually the best place to look for error messages that might help you diagnose the data loss issues that your server is experiencing. Event logs can be accessed through proRAID management software (included with many Proware® servers) or other RAID management software, or even through the LCD panel.

The following events may indicate a possible cause of failure or inaccessibility for Proware® servers. If you find evidence of any of these events, contact a data recovery engineer.

  • Over temperature warning
  • Over voltage warning
  • Low voltage warning
  • PSU not present warning
  • Fan not present warning
  • Fail to setup network configuration warning
  • Array initialization failed warning
  • Array rebuild failed warning
  • Array expansion failed warning
  • Array parity checking failed warning
  • Disk clone failed warning
  • Mirror disk clone failed warning
  • System restart warning
  • Parity error detected warning*

In particular, error messages relating to array rebuild failures should be especially noted, and no further attempt should be made to restart your array. If user or hardware errors caused a failed rebuild, failed clone, or parity issues, recovery is extremely likely, but there’s some potential for an accidental overwrite. Exercise extreme caution when working with a Proware® server or NAS device after a failed rebuild.

*: Note that Proware® RAID arrays avoid potential parity issues by monitoring parity information as it is input to the drives in an array, regardless of RAID configuration; if a drive incorrectly reports the parity information back to the system, the system will retry the command. Disks that are unable to successfully log parity info are shut down. Therefore, arrays reporting a parity error are usually very simple recovery cases. Contact an engineer at 1.800.237.4200 for more information.

Supported Proware® Technology Storage Systems

Our laboratories can perform data recovery services on all Proware® systems, including the following storage devices.

  • SB-2123-F4S3
  • EP-2123S/D-F4S3
  • EP-2129-F4S3
  • SB-2803-F4A3
  • SB-2123-F4A3
  • SB-3163S-F4S3
  • EP-3163S/D-F4S3
  • EP-3169S/D-F4S3
  • SB-3163E-F4A3
  • EP-4423S/D-F4S3
  • EP-4429S/D-F4A3
  • DP-503-F4A3
  • EP-T803-F4A3
  • SB-2123-S3S3
  • EP-2123S/D-S3S3
  • SB-2123-S3A3
  • SB-2803-S3A3
  • SB-3163S-S3S3
  • EP-3163S/D-S3S3
  • SB-3163-S3A3
  • EP-4423S/D-S3S3
  • EP-T803-S3A3
  • SB-1404-G1A3
  • proware2SB-2124-G1S3
  • SB-2804-G1A3
  • SB-2124-G1A3
  • SB-3164E-G1S3
  • EP-3164D-G1S3
  • Proware® System
  • SB-3164E-G1A3
  • DP-504-G1A3
  • B-1403E-SA3
  • EP-2126-SS
  • SB-2803-SA
  • EP-2806-SA3
  • SB-2123SA
  • EP-2126-SA3
  • EP-3166-SS
  • SB-3163SA
  • EP-3166-SA3
  • DP-403E-SA3
  • EP-T803-SA3
  • SB-1413-UA
  • EP-2803-UA
  • EP-2803-WA
  • DP-403-UA
  • EP-D501-AA
  • EP-m501-AA
  • EP-D501-CA
  • EP-m501-CA
  • SN-1403 SATA NAS
  • EN-2126 SAS NAS
  • SN-3163 SAS NAS
  • DN-503 SATA NAS
  • EN-2126 SATA NAS
  • EN-3166 SAS NAS
  • EN-2800 SAS NAS
  • DN-500 SATA NAS
  • SN-1400 SATA NAS
  • EN-T800 SATA NAS

Because Proware® manufactures a vast line of storage products, only recent, popular products are listed. If your Proware® Technology server or storage system isn’t on this page, we still offer data recovery services for it; contact us at 1.800.237.4200 for more information.

Proware® Technology Server Data Recovery Tips

In order to maximize the chances of a successful data recovery, it’s important to avoid any action that could exacerbate the situation, particularly if one or more of the hard drives in your server have failed. Consult your Proware® device’s event logs and note anything unusual, then shut down the server.

Contact a data recovery engineer at 1.800.237.4200 with as much information about the server as possible. Describe any symptoms that might be useful from a diagnostic viewpoint. In most situations, an engineer will be able to estimate a probable chance of recovery and turnaround time over the phone, and although a more in-depth, physical evaluation is necessary to determine cost, we may be able to provide a rough approximation.

Call us now at 1.800.237.4200 for a free consultation.
*Proware® and all mentioned model names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Proware® Technology Corp. Proware® Technology Corp is not affiliated with Datarecovery.com, Inc. in any way. All product names, registered trademarks, photos and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.