Losing important files is never a pleasant experience; if you recently experienced data loss from a Synology device, Data Savers LLC can help shift this burden off your shoulders.
What is Synology?
Synology is a storage-based solutions company that develops, maintains, and offers a wide range of appliances with natively built-in operating systems. Synology devices have applications with a wide variety of clients and specific use cases. Founded in Taiwan in 2000, Synology has become a leading storage solutions provider for NAS devices in home or enterprise environments. Synology specializes in Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions which can easily be installed and operated on your home network.
For individuals looking for a comprehensive storage solution for either home-use or enterprise data storage, Synology offers the DiskStation line of products. For individuals who are partial to NAND flash storage over hard disk drives (HDD), Synology offers the FlashStation, an all-flash version of the DiskStation. If you were hoping to install a Synology NAS on a 19-inch rack cage, the RackStation line of devices provide all features offered by the DiskStation, with higher-end models of the RackStation offering redundant power supplies.
Synology NAS Data Recovery
Synology NAS Data Recovery ranges from straightforward hard disk drive data recovery to deeply complex RAID data recovery. There are two factors that can be used to determine the best path forward. The first is the importance of the data. Mission critical data should only be recovered by professionals. The second is the user’s capacity for conducting data recovery themselves. If you have experience working as an engineer at a data recovery lab you stand a much better chance of safely conducting Synology data recovery on your own than a less-technically savvy individual. Depending on how your situation fits into these two criteria, a professional data recovery lab like Data Savers LLC can ease the burden of data loss.
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Synology Network Attached Storage (NAS) Devices
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices provide expansive data storage capabilities and can be configured to communicate over local area networks. These devices typically only need an IPv4 or IPv6 address on the local network to which the user is also connected. Synology has a wide array of NAS devices. Among these are the DiskStation DS920+ which has 4 bays for disk drives, NAS DiskStation DS1520+ which has 5 bays for disk drives and the simple NAS DiskStation DS220j which has 2 disk storage bays.
Synology 4-Bay NAS DiskStation DS920+
DiskStation DS920+ is a storage appliance which has a small form factor of less than 0.26 cubic feet and weighs fewer than five (5) pounds. It has 4 initial drive bays with the capacity for expansion to nine (9) drives in total. A noteworthy feature of the DiskStation DS920+ is the built-in caching support for up to two (2) M.2 SSD slots, with a minimum compatibility capacity of 240GB and a maximum compatibility capacity of up to 2TB. The DiskStation DS920+ supports a variety of advanced storage configurations including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10 and the Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). The DiskStation DS920+ supports HDDs and SSDs with both 2.5” and 3.5” form factors.
Synology 5-Bay NAS DiskStation DS1520+
DiskStation DS1520+ is a storage appliance that has an initial capacity of up to 5 drives and can be configured to accommodate up to 10 drives with an expansion unit. It has similar caching abilities with the DS920+, with both devices offering two (2) built-in M.2 SSD slots. The DiskStation DS1520+ also offers the same advanced storage configurations and form factor compatibility as the DS920+ model.
Synology 2-Bay NAS DiskStation DS220j
Lastly, DiskStation DS220j is a NAS storage device designed for (very) small-business or home use. While it only has 2 drive bays, these bays can accommodate 3.5” and 2.5” drives. Having only 2 drives limits your options for advanced storage configurations. For obvious reasons, RAID configurations that require 3 or more drives are not possible. Thus the DiskStation DS220j can only support BASIC, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1 and Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR). Of the three mentioned NAS devices, DiskStation DS220j is the only appliance that is not “hot swappable”. This essentially means that you cannot readily replace a failed or faulty drive when the NAS device is turned on. You would need to turn the device off, replace the failed drive and turn it back on again.
Common Error Messages
If you’ve owned a Synology appliance or have used one before, chances are, you have encountered some form of error messages with it. Synology error messages can range from inconsequential warnings to something that needs immediate attention. A few of the most common error messages are “Synology Storage Pool Degraded”, “Synology Volume Crashed”, and “Synology HDD Crashed”. Depending on your current setup, redundancy architecture and backup policy, each error message may mean the difference between a standard disk replacement procedure and catastrophic data loss.
Synology Storage Pool Degraded
A degraded storage pool basically means that your current storage pool is using a drive that is experiencing an issue. Synology storage pool degraded is one of the error messages that essentially indicates you are on the brink of disaster. If your system encounters any further issues, your storage pool may become inaccessible. This error message can be caused by power surges, network failures, disk failures and accidental removal of a HDD or SSD. A degraded pool can often be repaired. A different situation would have transpired if the error message indicated your Synology volume crashed.
Synology Volume Crashed
When a Synology volume has already crashed, access to the entire volume is almost certainly impossible from a typical client workstation. Potential data loss and data corruption are also within the realm of possibility. If a volume crashes, it is strongly advised that the user stop attempting to access data stored on the appliance. Shut the device off and consult experts to resolve the situation. Valuable data should never be risked by attempting to repair a crashed volume without experience conducting data recovery in accordance with best practices.
Synology HDD Crashed
A message indicating a crashed disk drive typically means that Synology detected a faulty or failed drive in your storage system. This error message is not one that is a cause for concern but rather a prompt from your device to check all mounted disk drives and replace any failed drives before you face additional issues. When a HDD in your Synology NAS crashes, your first order of business should be determining if your appliance is capable of hot swapping drives. If hot swapping drives is not an option, the device must be turned off before swapping out the defective drive. If the model is capable of hot swapping, the user may replace the drive while the appliance is still running.