How do I recover data from QNAP NAS?

QNAP (Quality Network Appliance Provider) is a manufacturer of reliable network devices since 2004. It is true to say that QNAP is a leader in the network storage segment. QNAP provides reliable and advanced storage devices. However, no one is immune from breakdowns that result in you being unable to access the data stored on the device. If you have a backup of the data that was stored on the QNAP, then your case is not so bad. All you need to do is either reconfigure the RAID array, replace the faulty drive, or repair the NAS itself and copy the data back from the backup storage. If the data stored on QNAP was in a single copy, then you need to act extremely carefully to recover the data.

Possible failures of the QNAP NAS device

1. Accidental deletion of files. Now, there are data recovery programs that can connect directly to QNAP and recover deleted data. However, the recovery speed will be much slower than if you disconnect the drives from the NAS and connectthem either directly or via USB. But in any case, it makes sense to start your recovery with this approach. More information on how to recover deleted data from NAS can be found on this page.
2. RAID configuration failure. Any QNAP device uses RAID technology to organize data storage. There are different RAID levels that provide different data access speeds and different levels of fault tolerance. This page describes the features of different levels of the array - RAID types. If the array configuration is destroyed, then in order to recover data from the QNAP, you first need to restore the RAID parameters, and then perform a recovery file system. All this can be done using the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery and ReclaiMe File Recovery programs. To perform such a recovery, you need to remove all disks from QNAP, label them according to QNAP bays and connect them to the computer. Detailed instructions on how to restore a RAID configuration can be found on this page - How to recover RAID.
3. File system failure. There are situations when the RAID configuration is fine, but you cannot access the data due to a file system failure. In this situation, to recover data you need to disconnect the drives, connect them to the computer and run the software for data recovery from NAS devices - ReclaiMe. Detailed instructions and videos on how to do this can be found on this page .
4. NAS box failure. When NAS and RAID fail, the configuration and file system are fine. However, you still cannot access the data that was stored on the QNAP. If your QNAP is still under warranty, then contact the service center so that they can either repair the device or provide a new one. In an ideal world, when you put the drives back into a refurbished or equally new device, everything should work. However, there is still a possibility that the new QNAP will start recreating the configuration again, and then all data will be lost. You need to be extremely careful and read all messages carefully.
5. Disk failure. QNAP devices support on-the-fly replacement of a broken drive. However, if you did not use a fault-tolerant array level or more disks failed than the fault tolerance allows, then all data is irretrievably lost. You may also need a full-scale recovery if, after replacing the disk, the array rebuilding went wrong, for example due to a power outage or some other circumstances. In this case, you will also need to follow the steps described on the page - How to recover files from QNAP.

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