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Frankie
Asked: 2010-03-25 05:29:10 +0800 CST

hardware raid0 to software raid0

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Does anyone know if it's possible to switch from a hardware based RAID0 to a software one? Have a broken raid controller (vintage, wont find it anywhere) but I know the Array is in good conditions.

Has anyone tried this, and/or know if its possible?

Edit 1

The actual situation goes as follow: A LaCie external HDD 2 disks RAID0 array broke. No backups were ever made (yes, path for disaster). The actual case broke down, the HDD's seam to be working fine. I didn't find any similar case on eBay.

My best course of action will probably be to make images of the disks (to play on the safe side) and then mount them on Linux mdadm. I'm just looking out for someone that has tried something similar.

Thank you for your time.

raid hardware-raid software-raid

3 Answers

  1. To my knowledge you'll have to find a compatible hardware raid card to boot the array. I'm pretty sure that the hardware vendors do their own proprietary stuff when it comes to raid devices. At the very least, Linux and it's LVM and software raid may be able to help...

    If possible, you'll need to boot the array and just copy it off - but it sounds like that's not possible.

    Edit: DiskInternals Raid Recovery claims to be able to convert most hardware raid types to a software raid. I haven't tested it but it may work if the drives are in good condition like you think they are.

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  2. What do you mean by switching? Your best bet is to back the data up, remove the RAID controller if it's broken, then use your software raid tools to create a new volume as a fresh install and replace the data.

    You didn't mention the OS or configuration (other than RAID level), so don't know what else to tell you other than wiping and reinstalling on a fresh volume will probably save you the most headaches in the long run.

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  3. Even compatible hardware may not help if you don't have a backup of how the RAID was configured. RAID configuration is tricky stuff; nothing auto-detects, and every manufacturer has their own optimizations of the process which means "3 disks in a RAID5 configuration" isn't as descriptive as you might think.

    My experience says, "Go to backup." Ancient card, unknown configuration...If it's critical data, there are people who recover busted RAIDs for a living. If it's not totally critical, there is RAID recovery software out there that might work, but I've never tried it so YMMV.

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