Question

A file server uses a hardware RAID 5 array built from four drives. One drive has failed, and the array status shows 'degraded.' Before a technician can replace the failed drive, users report the server volume is now completely inaccessible and the array status reads 'failed.' What is the MOST likely cause of the total data loss?

Accepted Answer

A second drive in the array failed while the array was still in a degraded state

Answer

The RAID controller battery discharged, disabling write caching

Answer

The hot spare rebuilt onto the wrong drive, corrupting parity

Answer

The array automatically converted from RAID 5 to RAID 0 to preserve capacity