An array that has dropped, a fistful of dead disks, a rebuild that turned destructive, or a controller that forgot its own configuration — hardware, software or NAS, and at any RAID level, we get the volume back. The method never varies: every member disk imaged read-only, the exact geometry worked out from those images, and the array reassembled in software with not a byte written to your disks. That’s what RAID data recovery should look like — vendor-agnostic, every level, and never a forced rebuild onto a degraded array.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/raid → Array: RAID 5 · 6 × 4 TB · 20 TB volume → Status: OFFLINE — 2 disks failed, rebuild failed → Client: confidential · Guildford GU2 8XH $ bdr engineer-working → Member disks: all 6 imaged read-only → Parameters: order + stripe + parity solved → Array: rebuilt virtually from images $ bdr verify → ✓ databases — 412 GB → ✓ shares + VMs — 17.8 TB → ✓ array recovered — data back
Array offline, a second disk gone, or a rebuild that has stalled? Stop there — no rebuild, no re-initialise, no re-sync. Rebuilding writes across the array and can paint over the exact data we need, and shoving disks back online out of sequence only deepens the damage. Cut the power, tag the disk order while you still know it, and call us. That opening attempt is the one most likely to succeed, so it should be ours.
The RAID work that reaches us most spans multi-disk failures and rebuilds gone wrong, controllers whose configuration is lost or corrupt, and arrays that were reinitialised by mistake.
Any level, any configuration — NAS, software or hardware, on whatever controller, from a two-disk mirror right up to a multi-array server. Whatever assembled it, the array is rebuilt from the member disks themselves.
JBOD and RAID 60, 50, 10, 6, 5, 1 and 0 · fakeRAID, plus software (Windows Storage Spaces, mdadm) and hardware · Areca, Adaptec, LSI MegaRAID, HP Smart Array and Dell PERC controllers · Drobo, Buffalo, NETGEAR, QNAP and Synology NAS · workstations, DAS and servers.
Send the array in for a free diagnostic — tell us the RAID level, how many disks, and the controller — and an engineer scopes it, confirming the exact figure in writing before any work begins.
Walk us through the setup — RAID level, disk count, controller, what went wrong — and an engineer sizes up the array and comes back with a written quote, generally within 48 hours.
Every member, the failing ones no exception, is imaged read-only on dedicated hardware, so the entire rebuild happens on copies and your original disks are never written to.
A member that has failed — mechanically or on its electronics — goes onto the clean-air bench for new heads or a rebuilt board, taken just far enough to image and no further.
Straight from the images we derive the array’s exact parameters — disk order, stripe size, parity rotation, offset — rather than taking the controller’s word for any of it.
With the geometry solved, we reform the volume and pull out your files, databases, virtual machines and shares — recovering data even from an array left degraded or partly overwritten.
Nothing is returned until the recovered files and volumes have been opened and confirmed complete.
Your data comes back on a clean drive, or a NAS sized to the volume, ready to drop straight back into service.
Post the array or bring it in. Diagnosis first, quote next — and most jobs run no fix, no fee.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch very soon. If it can’t wait, call 01483 901310.
RAID pricing sits on a straightforward tier, with a free diagnostic and a written quote in your hands before any work starts.
A handful of recent RAID jobs — offline arrays, failed rebuilds, dead controllers and reinitialised volumes. Identifying details stripped; every result verified.
A first failure had gone unnoticed for weeks; the moment a second disk dropped, the array fell over. We imaged every disk and reassembled the RAID 5 from the copies.
Both members were faulty, yet neither had died outright. Each was repaired and imaged on the clean-air bench, and the mirror rebuilt from the two.
The rebuild had already written over part of the array. We imaged every disk and reconstructed the RAID 6 around the damaged stretch.
Failed NAS hardware, but the disks inside were sound. We read the array straight off them and rebuilt the volume.
A RAID 0 carries no redundancy, so one dead disk halts the lot. We repaired that drive, imaged every member and rebuilt the stripe.
Barely anything new had landed. We rebuilt the original array parameters and volume and recovered the data.
Send the array in for its free diagnostic with the RAID level, disk count and controller; an engineer assesses it and confirms the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
Getting your data back starts with getting the array to us — all its disks, labelled in order, or the whole server. Pack it safely, enclose your contact details, and once we've run the free diagnostic we confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the array, RAID level and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
RAID array recovery here covers every common level, and two deserve their own sentence. RAID 0 stripes data across drives with no redundancy at all — one member down takes the whole array with it — yet it recovers well on the bench: every member (including the failed one) is imaged, and the stripe set is reassembled virtually from the copies. RAID 5 survives a single failure but hides its real danger in the rebuild, where a second tired drive gives out under load; a degraded RAID 5 that matters should be powered down and imaged, never rebuilt in place. RAID 6 and RAID 10 follow the same discipline: members imaged first, array logic worked on copies.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering a RAID array.
Often, yes. A second failure knocks a RAID 5 offline, but the data is usually still distributed across the members. We image every disk, work out the array geometry and rebuild the volume — and the sooner those disks are imaged, the more comes back.
Usually not. A rebuild that failed tends to leave most of the original data intact underneath. We image each disk in its post-failure state and reconstruct the array around whatever the rebuild managed to overwrite.
Usually, yes. A failed controller or NAS enclosure leaves the data on the disks untouched, and we don’t need the controller anyway. We image the members and rebuild the array in software from those copies.
Yes — every disk in the array, tagged with its bay or port order, including any that look dead. We rebuild from the whole set together, and a single missing member can put the array beyond recovery.
It runs on tiers: a RAID 1 mirror from £500 + VAT, and a multi-disk array — RAID 5, 6, 10, 50 or 60 — from £800 + VAT. Each starts with a free diagnostic and a written quote ahead of any work.
You always get a free diagnostic and a written quote first. On multi-disk and mechanical work a deposit is taken against that quote, and the balance only falls due when the recovery succeeds.
All of them — JBOD and RAID 60, 50, 10, 6, 5, 1 and 0; hardware (Broadcom/LSI, HP Smart Array, Dell PERC), software (Windows Storage Spaces, mdadm) and fakeRAID. Since the array is rebuilt off the disks, the controller rarely comes into it.
Yes — underneath, a NAS is only a RAID array on a small Linux box, usually SHR or plain RAID over Btrfs or ext4. We image the disks and rebuild it exactly as we would any other RAID.
Yes. With the array and its file system rebuilt, virtual machines (VMDK, VHDX) and database files sit there like anything else — we extract them and, where they need it, repair them too.
Most finish inside three to seven working days. The timing turns on the disk count, the RAID level, and whether any member needs mechanical work on the clean-air bench.
Take the disks out and send them tagged with their bay or port order, or ship the whole server or enclosure — either works. Post it fully insured to the Guildford address, or bring it by weekdays, 9am to 5:30pm.
Often, yes. With no redundancy in a RAID 0, one dead disk drops the whole stripe — but the data itself still lives on the disks. We repair the failed drive, image every member and rebuild the stripe to recover your files.
Free to diagnose, priced on a clear tier from £800 for multi-disk arrays, and no fix no fee on the majority of jobs — every level and controller recovered, NAS through to server. Get your recovery moving today.