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RAID 5 Recovery – Manufacturing Plant Double Failure

We are thrilled to share a recent success story showcasing our expertise in data recovery. Our commitment to excellence and advanced technology allowed us to successfully recover critical data for one of our valued clients.

Client Information:

  • Industry: Auto Parts Manufacturer
  • Location: Atlanta, Georgia
  • Array Config: RAID5 – 8x 1TB HPE Enterprise HDD
  • Total Capacity: 7TB
System Specifications:

The client operated a high-performance server configured with the following specifications:

  • Server: HP ProLiant DL380 Gen9
  • RAID Controller: Smart Array P440ar
  • Storage Devices: 8 x 1TB HPE Enterprise HDDs
  • File System: VMware ESXi 6.0
  • Application: SAP ERP system on virtual machine
Failure Incident:

Critical Failure: The client contacted us after their primary production server went offline. Their IT team had identified a failed drive in the RAID 5 array and had initiated a rebuild process with a hot spare. However, during the rebuild, a second drive failed, causing the entire array to collapse. The server was unresponsive, and the SAP ERP system was inaccessible. With their production lines halted, the client was losing an estimated $100,000 per hour.

Technical Analysis:

We received the eight 1TB HPE drives at our lab. Our diagnostics confirmed the failure of two drives:

Drive 3: The drive had suffered a mechanical failure and was not spinning.
Drive 7: This drive had extensive bad sectors and was not readable.

In a RAID 5 configuration, data is striped across all drives, and a single parity block is used for redundancy. This allows the array to withstand the failure of a single drive. However, when a second drive fails before the array can be rebuilt, the data becomes inaccessible. The challenge in this case was to recover the data from the two failed drives to a point where we could rebuild the array with only one missing drive.

Recovery Methodology:

Our recovery process was focused on getting the two failed drives back online:

  1. Drive 3 (Mechanical Failure): The drive was taken into our cleanroom, where the seized motor was repaired. The drive was then imaged to a new, healthy drive.
  2. Drive 7 (Bad Sectors): We used our specialized imaging tools to create a sector-by-sector image of the drive, bypassing the bad sectors. We were able to recover 98% of the data from this drive.
  3. RAID 5 Reconstruction: With seven of the eight drives now in a readable state, we were able to reconstruct the RAID 5 array. Our software used the parity information from the healthy drives to rebuild the data from the missing drive (Drive 3). The bad sectors on Drive 7 were also compensated for using the parity data.
  4. Data Extraction and Verification: Once the virtual RAID was rebuilt, we were able to access the VMFS file system. We extracted the SAP ERP virtual machine and worked with the client to verify its integrity. The virtual machine was booted in a test environment, and the SAP system was confirmed to be fully functional.

Recovery Results

  • Data Recovered: 100% of the critical data
  • Key Recovered Files: Complete SAP ERP virtual machine, including database and application files
  • Data Integrity: The recovered virtual machine was fully intact and passed all integrity checks

Client Impact:

The recovered data was delivered to the client within 48 hours. The client was able to restore their ERP system and resume production, limiting their losses to just two days of downtime. The incident served as a stark reminder of the risks of running a RAID 5 array in a high-stakes production environment. The client has since migrated to a RAID 6 configuration, which can withstand the failure of two drives.

Lost Data on Your Storage Device? Act Immediately!

If your are experiencing data loss, DO NOT attempt to force-rebuild RAID, reinitialize drives, or operate the system, as this can lead to irreversible data loss. Power down the device(s) immediately and keep the drives in their original slots/order. Contact our experts.

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