1.06 Troubleshoot and diagnose problems with storage drives and RAID arrays
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)
A technology that protects data by copying it to multiple drives or storing extra information for data recovery in case of a failure.
Degraded State
A condition where one disk in a RAID array has failed, but the array is still operational, though with reduced performance and reliability.
Rebuilding the Array
The process of restoring data onto a new disk after a failure in a RAID array, which can temporarily slow down system performance.
Full Array Failure
A situation where multiple disks fail beyond the RAID's redundancy capacity, or the RAID controller fails, resulting in data loss or requiring data recovery.
SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology)
A built-in diagnostic tool in most hard drives and SSDs that monitors and reports on the health and potential failures of the drive.
Disk Thrashing
A condition where the hard drive is excessively reading/writing data due to insufficient RAM or a faulty process, causing constant disk activity.
Read/Write Failures
Errors that occur when a disk is unable to read or write data properly, often due to bad sectors on HDDs or bad blocks on SSDs.
Bad Sectors
Areas on an HDD that have become damaged and are no longer reliable for storing data.
Bad Blocks
Areas on an SSD that have degraded and can no longer reliably store data due to wear over time.
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
A critical error screen displayed by Windows OS when a system crash occurs, often due to severe read/write failures or hardware problems.
File Recovery
The process of retrieving lost or corrupted data from a damaged or failing storage device using specialized recovery software.