HP StorageWorks MSA2000 array data retrieved after multiply RAIDs rebuilds

ACE Data Recovery retrieved client’s data from a failed HP StorageWorks MSA2000 array after the RAID configuration was lost. One of the biggest online marketing services provider, which holds sales contacts information for more than 1500 businesses, called ACE Data Recovery after numerous unsuccessful attempts to bring the data back online.

The RAID’s configuration is usually stored either in the controller’s NVRAM or on the hard drives belonging to the array. In some cases, a power surge or firmware upgrade for example, this RAID configuration can be lost. It is possible to restore the configuration to the RAID controller if you know the exact configuration at the point of failure.

Our diagnostics showed that the HP MSA P2000 was originally configured as two RAID 10 logical drives. Both logical drives were spread over the entire RAID array. After the configuration was lost, there were two attempts made by the customer to initialize each logical drive as RAID 6. They used a number of the original drives, previously active in the array, to attempt this. Their first attempt failed because of physical issues with one of the drives. Unfortunately, their second attempt was successful in the wrongful creation of the RAID 6 rendering their data completely lost.

After consulting with the customer, and had approval to proceed, we repaired and extracted the raw data from the failed drive. Once this raw data was in hand, we developed a custom application to eliminate the derelict parity stripes of the second RAID 6 initialization. The difference between this recovery and a typical RAID recovery, when data can be retrieved with one missing drive, was that 4 clusters were overwritten in each stripe with RAID 6 parity data.

We then returned both arrays to the original condition of 2 parity clusters per stripe. We managed a 100% recovery due the redundant clusters of the RAID 10 mirror configuration wherein our application relocated good clusters from corresponding locations inside both parts of the mirrored sets.

If you have found your business in such situation, you know how important it is to get recovery process right the first time or else risk losing your data entirely. ACE Data Recovery’s experts leverage over 30+ years of experience and modern facilities. Send in your storage enclosure for a free evaluation. If you approve the results of evaluation, ACE’s data recovery team will work on your storage array just like in the above example. And, if no needed data is recovered, you will not be charged a service, thanks to ACE’s "No Data – No Charge" policy. Contact ACE today and get your data back the right way!