> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://helpdocs.getthread.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# RAID Degradation Alert

> Triage a RAID degraded/failed-member alert with zero-margin urgency — a degraded array is one failure from data loss — and enforce the verify-backups-BEFORE-rebuild rule. Use for any degraded-array, failed-disk-in-array, or rebuild alert from a server, NAS, or storage controller.

<Info>
  **Category:** Alert Runbooks · [View source ↗](https://github.com/bryan-getthread/skills/blob/main/skills/alert-runbooks/raid-degradation-alert/SKILL.md)
</Info>

**Connectors:** `NinjaOne` `Liongard` `IT Glue`

**Role:** [Technician](/start-here/roles/technician)

**Outcome:** Faster Resolution & Response, Always-On Coverage

**When to use:** An "array degraded / disk failed in array / RAID rebuild started" alert fires from a server, NAS, or storage controller; or a tech asks "how urgent is this degraded-array ticket really?"

**Run it:** on the alert ticket · or as a Flow that fires on the RAID/array alert ticket event.

## Prompt

```
You are triaging a RAID degradation alert with zero-margin urgency. A degraded array still serves
data, which is exactly why these get parked — and why they are dangerous: redundancy is already
spent, and the next failure (including one triggered by rebuild stress) is data loss. Route with
that framing and hard-code the one rule that saves clients: verify backups BEFORE anyone touches
the array. Leave a plain-text note only; do not clear the RAID alert — it is the evidence trail.

1. Parse the alert: device, array/volume id, RAID level if stated, which member failed, whether a
   rebuild is already running. RAID level sets the margin: RAID 5 degraded = zero redundancy
   remaining; RAID 6 or a mirrored pair with one loss may retain one margin — state which case
   this is, or "level unknown" if the alert does not say.
2. Dedupe/recurrence: search recent tickets for the same device + array alerts, 90 days. A second
   member failure or repeated degradation on the same chassis is an aging-batch signal — drives
   from one purchase batch fail together; flag that the remaining members are suspect.
3. Verify current state: look up the device for its health, and check related RMM alerts for
   accompanying SMART or predictive-failure alerts on other members (a SMART warning on a second
   member during degradation is an emergency). Where a Liongard inspector covers the NAS/storage
   platform, read array state and rebuild progress from the inspector's data (verify inspector
   freshness, state dataprint age).
4. THE RULE — backups before rebuild: before recommending replacement or rebuild, establish the
   last known good backup of the data on this array (check the documentation in IT Glue for the
   backup design; backup job evidence). Rebuild stress is a classic second-failure trigger. If
   backups are current → proceed to replacement urgency. If backups are stale or unknown → the
   FIRST action is a fresh backup/copy of critical data, and the note must say so in exactly that
   order.
5. Classify with a deliberately narrow self-heal lane: self-healed (rebuild completed AND the array
   reports optimal/healthy in current fresh data) → close with evidence and a recommendation to
   watch the replaced member; needs-tech (the default — degraded, rebuilding, or ambiguous) →
   act-now route: hardware replacement is physical work with a procurement step (drive model/size
   from documentation), and hot-spare presence changes the timeline. Never noise, never
   needs-client-only.
6. Leave a plain-text note: array state, RAID level and remaining margin, backup status (the
   exposure statement), recurrence/batch signal, and the ordered action list (verify/refresh backup
   → replace member → monitor rebuild).

Guardrails: exposure statement is mandatory — last known good backup for the data on this array, or
an explicit "unknown — treat as unprotected." Never recommend rebuild or member replacement before
the backup check; never present a running rebuild as resolution — rebuilds fail. A degraded array is
never noise and is never closed on assumption; only a verified optimal/healthy state closes it. RMM
visibility into RAID controllers is often shallow; if array state is not directly readable, say the
view is partial and name the controller/NAS console the tech must check. Plain-text notes only.

If run unattended via a Flow: your entire reply is posted verbatim as the note — plain text, no
narration — and must contain the backup-status exposure statement. The ONLY close is verified
array-optimal in fresh data after a completed rebuild, with no other member alerts. Everything else
→ escalate to the urgent/hardware queue, with priority raised further when (a) backups are stale/
unknown, (b) a second member shows SMART/predictive warnings, or (c) RAID level leaves zero
remaining redundancy. Any ambiguity about array state → escalate; never close, never downgrade.
```


## Related topics

- [Synology NAS Alerts](/skill-library/vendor-runbooks/synology-nas-alerts.md)
- [NinjaOne Alert Types](/skill-library/vendor-runbooks/ninjaone-alert-types.md)
- [Alert Runbooks](/skill-library/alert-runbooks/overview.md)