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RAID / Server Recovery

RAID 5 Data Recovery

RAID 5 ensures a relatively good level of data protection and performance. However, in certain circumstances such as when two drives in the RAID array fail or when a RAID array fails to rebuild, data recovery is still needed.

Other Common Causes of RAID 5 data loss include:

• Rebuild Errors

• Lost or Corrupted RAID Configuration

• Accidental Formatting

• Power Surge

• Drive Head Failure

Other reasons for RAID failure:

• Accidental deletion of RAID configuration.

• Incorrect RAID rebuild.

• Accidental reformatting of partitions.
  

Our technicians have expertise recovering from various RAID controllers.

• nVidia RAID Recovery
• VIA RAID Data Recovery
• Sagitta SCSI RAID Recovery
• HP Smart Array Controllers
• 3Ware RAID SATA SAS SCSI
• Adaptec RAbID SATA SAS SCSI Data Recovery
• Dell PERC controller Raid Recovery
• Asus Raid-0 SATA P4C800-E PRP800
• Promise RAID SATA SAS SCSI Data Recovery
• Highpoint RAID Controllers Data Recovery
• VIA RAID Data Recovery
• Mac X Server RAID Rebuild file data recovery
  

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What to do if you experience a RAID problem:

Scenario 1: Suspected single drive failure in a RAID 5 Server.

• An error has been detected in one drive but the server is still fully operational and all data is still accessible to all users.
  

• You cannot successfully complete drive diagnostics or the diagnostic result proves to be inconclusive.
  

• You are presented with the option to apply a "hot fix" solution
  

If successful you become the unsung hero, as users did not become aware of any problem.

If unsuccessful, you become the "cause" of server downtime and root of the problem.

Comment:

Before applying any "hotfix" solution to a RAID problem, you should:

1. Verify that all backups are complete and free from corruption.

2. Restore backup to a "contingency" server and test functionality.

3. Once you are confident, the contingency server is operational you can then proceed to apply the "hotfix" solution with the peace of mind that should the parity of the RAID array become corrupted, you will still have a viable fall-back.
   

This will enable you the make the transition from a failing server to contingency server as seamless as possible with minimum downtime.

Scenario 2: Failure of RAID 5 Server

• Multiple drives (two are more) appear to have failed in your RAID 5 server causing the server to be inaccessible.

• There are no complete backups that can be deployed and no contingency server available.

• In this type of scenario you have a potentially serious data loss situation and have two options open to you:
  

1. Attempt to rebuild of RAID array

2. Replace any components which you suspect might have failed.

Possible results:

1. The RAID 5 server rebuilds and is bootable again but a substantial amount of data is missing as the parity of the array has been deleted.

2. The failed components are replaced, the server is bootable again but all data appears to be missing.
   

Comment:

The safest and most appropriate course of action to take in this scenario would be to call a professional data recovery company. RAID recovery is a complex procedure that takes years to master and perfect. A good data recovery company will have professionals on hand who deal with complex RAID reconstruction on a daily basis and have the experience and expertise to retrieve one hundred per cent of your company's data intact.

Our RAID data recovery service recovers data from:

• Windows NT Server, 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server

• Windows Small Business Server

• Windows Exchange Server

• Windows SQL Server

• Unix Servers

• Linux Servers

• Mac OS X server
  

Server brands we commonly perform data recovery from include:

• HP Proliant servers
• Dell Poweredge
• Fujitsu-Siemens Primergy
• IBM X Series
• and custom-built servers.