Troubleshooting RAID 10 Filesystem Recovery on a QNAP NAS with TestDisk
In the world of data storage, encountering issues with your NAS (Network Attached Storage) can be frightening, especially when it involves a significant amount of data. If you find yourself facing the daunting task of recovering files from a RAID 10 configuration on a QNAP NAS, you are not alone. In this post, I will share my experience and seek your advice on utilizing TestDisk for filesystem recovery.
Understanding the Setup
I currently have a QNAP NAS with eight disks set up in a RAID 10 array, which creates a robust storage pool. This pool is divided into volumes—essentially akin to partitions—one of which, unfortunately, holds approximately 25 terabytes of valuable media files I need to recover.
The filesystem in question is located at:
/dev/mapper/cachedev10 on /share/CACHEDEV10_DATA type ext4
Having realized that a volume deletion occurred, I promptly unmounted /dev/mapper/cachedev10 and began exploring recovery options via TestDisk. Upon launching TestDisk, I discovered that it recognizes an ext4 partition on the disk, showing the partition layout as follows:
Disk /dev/mapper/cachedev10 - 34 TB / 31 TiB - 68157440000 sectors
Investigating the Partition Structure
Within TestDisk, I examined the partition structure for any signs of the deleted media files. The program successfully identified several ext4 partitions, but the attempt to delve deeper into the directory structure of “volume1” revealed an unsettling message: “No file found, filesystem may be damaged.”
Curiously, when I shifted my focus to analyzing the physical disks, such as /dev/sda, and performed a quick search, I noted remnants of deleted RAID partitions:
Disk /dev/sda - 18 TB / 16 TiB
This analysis indicated the presence of deleted Linux RAID partitions, which could potentially hold crucial clues related to my data loss.
Seeking Advice
As a first-time user of TestDisk and lacking a comprehensive understanding of QNAP’s unique data structuring approach, I am left wondering if restoring these deleted partitions could unlock the key to recovering my lost files.
I am reaching out to this community for your insights and recommendations. Have you ever undertaken a similar recovery effort? What steps did you find most effective in your experience? Additionally
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