How to create RAID 1 without losing data? Solutions for Windows and Linux

After solving some complicated issues, you may need to rebuild your RAID. So how do you create a RAID 1 without losing data? This post will offer you some advice. Before that, let's have an overview of RAID first.

Overview: What is RAID?

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), also known as redundant array of inexpensive disks, is a technology that combines multiple physical hard disks into a group (logical disk) in various ways when creating it. This technique offers better storage performance and data backup than a single hard drive. RAID levels refer to the different methods of building a disk array. There are typically four main RAID levels:

• 0️⃣RAID 0: This level allows for simultaneous access to multiple disks and uses striping to distribute data across drives, boosting speed.
• 1️⃣RAID 1: It creates an exact copy of data on multiple disks, mirroring the information. Thus, data can still be accessed from other disks if one fails.
• 5️⃣RAID 5: It enhances performance and redundancy with parity striping. Since parity data is stored on each drive, data can be recovered from the remaining disks in case of a disk failure.
• 6️⃣RAID 6: Similar to RAID 5, but it uses two sets of parity data for additional redundancy.

Thus, when one of your RAID arrays (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, or RAID 6) gets damaged or fails, creating a new RAID is the only option left. But what about the data that was stored on the RAID disks? Here, RAID backup comes to help, but if you have no backups at all, you can try to recover data from RAID first.

A Complete Guide to Recover Data from Broken RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 [Solved]

This guide offers two easy methods to recover data from a broken RAID array without removing the RAID drives.

Data Recovery from a Broken RAID 1

After getting an idea on how to perform data recovery from 4 types of RAID levels, we will delve deeper into RAID 1 recovery. Creating a RAID 1 on your data disks can prevent a catastrophic crash in case of system failure, but it does not protect you from data loss. Recovery from a damaged RAID 1 can get complicated and risky.

Fortunately, you can use a dedicated data recovery tool to simplify the process. Read on to learn more.

Download and install this powerful software on your computer. The three steps to recover files from a RAID hard drive using this utility are:

Step 1: Scan the RAID drive

Select the RAID disk from where you want to recover data and click on “Scan”. Wait for the scanning process to complete, and the deleted files will be displayed one by one.

Step 2: Search and preview the lost RAID files

You can use the “Filter” as a quick navigation to find your deleted or lost files. In addition, you can also search for missing RAID drive files by file name or file extension.

Step 3: Recover lost RAID drive files

Select the files you need, and click “Recover.” Browse and save these files to another secure location.

Creating RAID 1 on Windows 11/10/8/7 Without Data Loss

A RAID 1 array can become damaged due to various reasons such as virus attacks, power surges, and logical errors. You can rebuild it manually or use a RAID 1 rebuild software to create and rebuild RAID without losing data. Specific instructions can guide you through this process without losing any data.

Solution 1: By Using RAID 1 Mirrored Drives

Mirroring is great for fast reads, but it slows down writes because data must be written to both disks. Because the disks are mirrors of each other, data remains accessible from the surviving disk if one fails – which is why mirroring provides fault-tolerant RAID 1.

To learn the steps involved, watch our short video. Here are some topics to guide you:

• 00:46 - What is RAID 1 Mirroring
• 01:55 - RAID 1 Pro Tip
• 02:06 - Why you should avoid using drives from the same production batch
• 02:36 - Installing Hard Drives
• 03:13 - Initializing the Drives
• 04:36 - Initial Synchronization

Here are the steps to create a RAID 1 mirror without losing data on the existing disk:

Step 1: Right-click on the RAID 1 disk and select "Add Mirror".

Step 2: A pop-up window appears, listing all the disks available for mirroring.

Step 3: Select the disk you want to work with (in this case, Disk 1).

Solution 2: Build a RAID Array

To create a RAID 1 that does not lose any data, you can add an existing disk as a spare to the new RAID 1 array, by copying all previous data to the new array first.

Step 1. Host adapters should be installed on the nodes that will connect to the RAID array.

Step 2: Connect the nodes to the RAID storage array.

Step 3. The power input to the RAID array is redundant, so connect each power cable from the RAID array to a separate power supply.

Step 4. Install the qus driver and any necessary driver updates.

Step 5. Set up and configure the RAID volume.

If any of the solutions in this article helped you and successfully resolved your issue, please share this page on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media platforms!

Creating a RAID 1 in Linux Without Data Loss

If you are familiar with Linux, you can try the following steps to create a RAID 1 on Linux without losing data.

Step 1. Stop all processes that use the /var directory.

Step 2. If the RAID 1 disk has not yet been created, create the partition.

Step 3: Remove /var from /etc/fstab to prevent it from being mounted automatically at boot

Step 4. Restart the server.

Step 5: Create the RAID 1 on the new disk/partition (for example, /dev/sdc1) and format the new partition (for example, /dev/md0) with an ext2/ext3/ext4 file system. The data will be copied from the old partition to the new one.

Step 6: Add the original partition (/dev/sdb1 in our case) to the RAID 1 array.

Step 7. To mount the RAID 1 array at boot, you will need to add an entry to the /etc/fstab file.

Step 8: Restart your system.

Last Words

Before creating a RAID 1, you should retrieve data from the RAID disks with a RAID recovery tool, e.g. Data Recovery Wizard.

You know it as a valuable recovery tool that can help you create a RAID 1 without losing data. The Data Recovery Wizard tool can also help fix photos and videos if pictures or videos on the RAID are corrupted or lost.

Step 1: Scan the RAID Disks

Select the RAID disk from which you want to recover data and click “Scan”. Wait for the scanning process to complete; your deleted files will be displayed one by one.

Step 2: Search and Preview Lost RAID Files

You can use the “Filter” for quick navigation to find deleted or lost files. Also, you can search for missing RAID drive files by file name or file extension.

Step 3. Restore Lost RAID Drive Files

Select the files you need, then click “Recover.” Browse and choose a different secure location to save these files.

FAQ: Creating a RAID 1 Without Data Loss

Here are four additional questions and answers regarding creating a RAID 1 without losing data, encoded in UTF-8: 1. **Q:** I already have one hard drive. How can I create a RAID 1 array after adding a second drive without losing my existing data? **A:** In most operating systems, you should back up your existing drive's data first. Then, create the RAID 1 array on the new drive, and restore the backup to the RAID 1 setup. Make sure to check your RAID controller settings and system documentation before proceeding. 2. **Q:** Can I add a hard drive to a running system and create a RAID 1 directly? Will my data be affected? **A:** It depends on your operating system and RAID controller. Some systems support hot-adding drives and creating RAID 1 online without data loss. However, it's advisable to consult relevant guides beforehand to ensure a safe process. 3. **Q:** If I have a partitioned and formatted hard drive, how can I convert it to RAID 1 without losing data? **A:** Converting an in-use drive to RAID 1 usually requires extra steps. You might need to create a mirrored volume, copy the data to the new RAID 1 array, and then delete the original volume. Tools like Acronis True Image or Clonezilla can assist with this process. 4. **Q:** Are there any third-party software options that let me create a RAID 1 without reinstalling my system? **A:** Yes, there are several third-party RAID management tools, such as Paragon Hard Disk Manager or AOMEI Todo Backup, which allow you to create RAID 1 without data loss. Before using these tools, ensure you back up important data and follow the software's instructions. If the above information doesn't address your concerns, please provide a more specific question, and I'll do my best to assist you.

< strong > How can I set up RAID 1 without reinstalling Windows 10?

If you have a hardware RAID device, use its configuration utility to copy the existing Windows disk to another disk of the same or greater size, and set up a RAID 1 device.

However, make sure that the RAID drivers are installed for Windows before you proceed. If you want to set up software RAID within Windows, you should set the disks to Dynamic and mirror the system partition to the second disk.

Does creating a RAID 1 delete data?

Depending on your RAID controller, it may delete the original disk unless you specifically tell it to mirror an existing disk to another one. If you don't have a backup, you can use tools like the Data Recovery Wizard to recover RAID data, which is generally advisable in such cases.

< strong > Can I change from RAID 0 to RAID 1 without losing data?

Yes, but in this case:

• You cannot change the RAID type of a RAID array within a RAID group. RAID groups are available on only a few models.
• All new disks added to a storage pool must be the same type of disk and larger than or equal to the smallest disk in the storage pool.

4. How to recover data from a broken RAID 5?

You may use Data Recovery Wizard to recover RAID 5 data.

• Scans the target RAID disk. • Finds and previews lost RAID data. • Recovers lost files.