Hypothetical: Data recovery from diskful, single drive NAS HD failure

[jdibber]

First time NAS user. I purchased the Buffalo Linkstation Pro LS-XHL and plan to use an external USB backup drive. I have some questions on data recovery in the event the NAS HD fails.

(1) If the Linkstation HD fails under warranty, Buffalo will send me a new unit. I assume there is software on the Linkstation to recover data from the USB drive and that the recovery should be straightforward. Plug the USB drive into the new NAS and run some software. Is this a correct assumption? I ask b/c I could not find any info in the user's manual on how to recover data.

(2) If the Linkstation HD fails off of warranty then I'm on my own. Tech support told me I could install a new HD and flash new firmware on it. Is this easy to do? Is it similar to updating firmware on my router? I'm assuming I will be able to connect to the NAS without an operable HD.

thanks!

 

[thiggins]

(1) If the Linkstation HD fails under warranty, Buffalo will send me a new unit. I assume there is software on the Linkstation to recover data from the USB drive and that the recovery should be straightforward. Plug the USB drive into the new NAS and run some software. Is this a correct assumption? I ask b/c I could not find any info in the user's manual on how to recover data.

Don't assume anything, ask Buffalo. I don't have a LinkStation here and their documentation is bad.

(2) If the Linkstation HD fails off of warranty then I'm on my own. Tech support told me I could install a new HD and flash new firmware on it. Is this easy to do? Is it similar to updating firmware on my router? I'm assuming I will be able to connect to the NAS without an operable HD.

I've heard the same thing, but have never done it. You need to get the restore utility from Buffalo and it's a bit more involved than flashing new firmware on a router. You also have to wrestle with opening up the drive, which isn't that easy with Buffalos since they aren't made to have user-replaceable drives.

This is one reason why folks pay a bit more for BYOD NASes.

 

[jdibber]

thanks, Tim.

Usually I think these things through before making a purchase. Not sure what happened this time around. At the risk of jinxing myself, I've had one drive failure in the last 12 or so years and hope the Linkstation makes it to obsolence. I'll followup w/ Buffalo on the restoring of drives.

Enjoy the new year.

 

[jdibber]

Well, I spent some time w/ Buffalo Tech support on this issue. Though I wasn’t overly pleased w/ the end result, I don’t know what I was expecting, either. For those NS-challenged like myself and considering a diskful, single drive NAS for back-up you may find the following helpful in making a purchasing decision. My assumption is this is not unique to Buffalo.

The NAS was easy to install. I mapped it to a drive and I can copy and paste files to it as if it was a regular drive. Memeo is the backup software and was also easy to configure. Data files saved to the NAS with Memeo uses a Linux based XFS format, so these files need to be restored to a PC format before they can be read. Herein lies the problem. If the NAS is backed up using an attached USB drive, and the NAS HDD fails, retrieving the data from the USB is not straight forward (if FAT32 is not used on the USB drive..Buffalo recommended using XFS on the USB drive).

For starters, if the NAS HDD fails under warranty then I get a new NAS. If out of warranty and the drive fails then I’m on my own. Buffalo expects the NAS to be disposable after a year and provides no support on reusing this device in the event of drive failure. In either case, the data needs to be restored from the USB drive. I was told this involves getting a Linux based PC and using Samba to transfer files to my PC or using a 3rd party data recovery software, like UFS Explorer, to retrieve the data. For some reason, I was under the impression Buffalo would have included software to handle this situation. Not the case. I would also need to be sure the PC has enough drive capacity to successfully transfer all the files from the USB drive. Once the data is transferred back to the PC, then I start from scratch with configuring and backing up my PC's data to a new (or repaired) NAS.

This seems like a lot of work, unless I misunderstood something. I think a NAS with NAS backup is preferable to a NAS with USB backup for those valuing there time (see SNB SOHO’s don’t do raid article). And if you think a HDD failure could occur within the useful life of the NAS, a diskless NAS would probably be more cost effective, too.

 

[thiggins]

I don't think copying data backed up from an external drive is the main problem. That's just drag and drop (and wait...awhile...)

You need to open the NAS (kinda tricky because they don't make them to be opened by consumers). You also have to load the NAS OS onto the replacement drive before you put it back into the NAS. That's the tricky part and requires an install utility from Buffalo.