How to Recover Data from a Broken NAS Device

NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices are data storage devices that transfer data via a network. In short, NAS is a computer with drives and a network controller.

Usually, NAS devices have neither a monitor nor a keyboard. They are controlled by the host computer via a network.

In its simplest configuration, a NAS consists of 1 or 2 hard drives and works the under Linux operating system. RAID0 and RAID1 layouts are used for such devices.

The devices with larger disk amounts (3 or more) are typically combined into RAID 10, RAID 5, or RAID 6.

Since the NAS is designed to store information, the reliability of the RAID has an important role. To get a reliable file storage disk system one should choose RAID1, RAID10, RAID5, or RAID6 which provide data redundancy. It means that one or even several drives (for example, in the case of RAID6) can break down without data loss.

Like any device, NAS can get out of order and the data stored on it can become inaccessible. The most common reason for data loss in the NAS system is the human factor. For example, one NAS drive breaks down, the array keeps working and the administrator pays no attention to the situation. Then the second drive also breaks down and the NAS stops working.

Sometimes the equipment fails the NAS controller, power supply, and software failures.

Even though unlike a regular hard drive, a NAS is a rather complicated device, there is special data recovery software that may help to recover data in case of NAS failure.

We have tested several “data recovery software” and chose ReclaiMe File Recovery because we found it the most comprehensible in the user interface and quite powerful in its function.

Recover Data from NAS with ReclaiMe

1. First, you need to remove all the disks from the NAS device. Unfortunately, there is no chance to skip this stage since any data recovery software works with the drives themselves, not with the device.
2. Connect the NAS drives to the PC. You can use special SATA-to-USB adapters or connect the drives right to a motherboard. Note that the recovery speed will be higher if you connect the drives directly to the PC motherboard, without USB.
3. Start ReclaiMe File Recovery and inspect the drives and volumes it suggests for scanning.

• Having read a tutorial (their site contains tutorials for all popular NAS models) it is easy to understand which volume you need to choose for the scanning.
• Choose the needed volume and click Start.
• The software starts scanning and shows data in the original folder tree. It also shows the RAW folder that contains some files sorted by their type. But there is information on their site that these files are quite useless – they are file fragments, deleted files, and so on.
• It is possible to preview recovered data even before the end of scanning. ReclaiMe shows image files, videos, documents, etc.
• As soon as the software finishes the scan, you need to buy a key and copy the recovered data. What is really amazing, the site says the key is a lifetime! It means you can use the software even after a year or 10 years.

At first glance it seems so easy but, in fact, the whole process takes quite a long time. Only drive scanning can last several days.

That’s why saving the backups will avoid many problems.