RAID Data Recovery - RAID Guys Data Recovery Service

Datlabs' trained engineers and technicians (The RAID Guys) can provide a full support service both on-site and in-lab.

We undertake a four step process:

• Onsite Consultancy and Data Recovery planning
• Diagnostics and RAID system rebuild
• Data extraction and repair        
• System rebuild              

Each of these steps can be undertaken on site or at our service centre depending upon the circumstances.

Step one:

RAID disk arrays offer more redundancy, capacity and performance over standard disk systems, however once they have failed, they are often complex and difficult to recover and can have a severe impact on business operations.  Our first consideration therefore will be to produce a plan of action.

Datlabs RAID guys are experienced in all types of RAID configuration recovery and restore operation. They provide an on site emergency service with an initial consultancy and planning service. They require knowledge of your system, data structures the applications and communications systems. They will want to also understand what backup services are installed and what part these may play in the overall recovery process.

They will then devise and agree a plan of action with clear estimates of costs and timescales.

Step Two:

To diagnose and rebuild a RAID, we only require the hard disks making up the RAID volume in order to restore the system to an operational state. The process begins by looking at the kinds of fault that have contributed to the system failure.

The disk image or the low level binary contents of each disk are then copied out. Next, analysis is performed on the disk images. A process of de-stripping will be carried out on each of the extracted disk images upon confirming the RAID types, correct orientation of disk elements forming the RAID volume, the raid strip block size and the associated parity location. Different manufacturers may have slightly different RAID settings so additional fine tunings may be needed.

Step Three:

Once the data layout pattern making the RAID logical volume has been identified and confirmed, the critical data will then be extracted to other disk media.  A part of the extraction process is to repair the primitive data blocks that may have been damaged or have existed leading up to the final system failure. This is a very necessary step and is unfortunately time consuming and the source of much frustration in terms of customer expectations.  The data integrity is then evaluated to ensure that the data is of acceptable quality before a file list is finally produced for customer review.

Step four:

Once your data and file listings have been recovered your system will need rebuilding. This will require cooperation between the RAID Guys and your IT support team to ensure data is accessible to the end user. Once you have a full system restore the RAID Guys will undertake a system review to ensure you have the necessary contingency management and disaster recovery systems in place.