Synology RAID 0 Recovery

Synology dual-disk devices such as DS223 and DS 223J allow you to create three types of array - JBOD, RAID0 and RAID1.

JBOD is a simple combination of disks into one volume. Data is first written to one disk and then begins to be written to another disk.

RAID0 –writing blocks of data onto 2 disks.

RAID1 – two copies of the same data, stored on two disks.

You can get more information about different array types with pictures on this website - RAID calculator.

The RAID0 array type is quite often chosen for a 2-disk Synology NAS device. This type of array provides a noticeable increase in speed, both in terms of writing and reading, compared to a single disk. However, this type of array also has a significant drawback - a complete lack of fault tolerance. If one of the disks fails, then all data is lost forever. If you have set up a backup from your Synology RAID0, then this is not a problem because if a drive fails, you have a copy of the data.

Apart from drive failure, you may encounter other situations where you are unable to access the data stored on your Synology. These include:

  • Synology box failure.
  • RAID management driver failure.
  • File system failure.

In all these cases, the data becomes unavailable. To access the data, you need to disconnect the drives from Synology and use special programs.

How to recover data from Synology RAID0 using ReclaiMe

  1. Remove the drives from your Synology NAS and connect them to your Windows computer.
  2. Download install and run the Synology data recovery program – ReclaiMe File Recovery.
  3. In the software window, where all devices available for scanning are displayed, find the volume from RAID0. Typically, volumes from Synology are displayed under the BTRFS section.
  4. Data recovery from a Synology RAID0
  5. Select the volume from Synology RAID0 and start scanning by clicking the Start button. If the volume from Synology does not appear in the list of devices, or its size does not match the original one, or the volume is shown in red, then skip the next 2 steps and go to step 7.
  6. Wait for 2-3% of the scan or until you receive a message that the Initial Scan is completed and start checking the recovered files in Preview. If the data (pictures, video PDF) is displayed correctly in Preview and the size of the recovered files is as expected, then you may not continue scanning, but start saving the recovered data. If you are not satisfied with the recovery result, continue scanning by clicking the Resume button.
  7. ReclaiMe software - file preview
  8. Buy an Ultimate license key and copy the recovered data to a previously prepared device (another NAS or external hard drives).
  9. If the volume from Synology RAID0 does not appear in the device list in ReclaiMe, then most likely the array parameters are damaged and before restoring files, you first need to restore the RAID0 parameters. To do this, download and install ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery.
  10. Select all disks from RAID0 and click Start RAID0.
  11. Wait while the software restores the parameters of the RAID0 array. Then select the Run ReclaiMe to recover files option.
  12. Synology RAID0 recovery
  13. ReclaiMe File Recovery will open in the RAID recovery mode. Select the reconstructed RAID and run a file system scan.
  14. Next, follow the recommendations specified in steps 5 and 6.

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