Data recovery from RAID 5

[AshimIndia]

Dear expert

Please help me. I am using HP DL580 G5 server and 4 nos of SAS 72GB HDD RAID 5. In HDD there are two drive c: and d:. My data store in d: . Three days back my server was not working. I am check all the component internal and external and found in system board there are "FATAL ERROR" led (Yellow) are glomming.

After that I remove the all HDD and insert HDD-1 into HP blade server HDD port 2. for data recovery. But HP blade server was Linux OS and my OS is windows 2003. After booting I can’t see my data

Again in insert HDD-2 into HP blade server HDD port 2. for data recovery. But HP blade server was Linux OS and my OS is windows 2003. After booting I can’t see my data

Again in insert HDD-3 into HP blade server HDD port 2. for data recovery. But HP blade server was Windows 2008 and my OS is windows 2003. After booting I can’t see my data.

Then after I was insert 4 nos of HDD in HP DL380 G7 server. When it is booting I suppressed the OS is Linux. Again I reboot the system the OS is Windows 2008. But my OS is windows 2003

Now I request all the expert please help me, how can I recover my data from above mention HDD.

Thanks & Regards

Ashim (INDIA)

[Matti_Kurkela]

As you apparently have a 4-disk RAID 5 set, inserting disks to a blade server one at a time will not work. A 4-disk RAID 5 set can only be used if at least 3 disks from the sets are available simultaneously. With just 1 disk out of 4 inserted, the RAID controller in the blade cannot activate the RAID 5 set, and your data won't be visible.

The OS on the blade is not a factor here: a 4-disk RAID 5 set simply cannot work with only 1 disk inserted, no matter which OS is trying to use it.

Inserting all 4 HDDs into a DL380 G7 might work. You have two options:

• remove all disks from the DL380 G7, then insert *only* the 4 disks from the DL580 G5. It should now boot to the OS that is on those 4 disks, i.e. your Windows 2003. But the Windows 2003 is already configured for the DL580 G5 hardware, so it may not be able to run properly on DL380 G7 without replacing some drivers. This may be tricky to do.
• Leave the DL380 G7's original system disks in place, and insert the 4 disks from the DL580 G5 as add-on disks. As you noticed, the system will boot to the OS that is on the DL380 G7's system disks, i.e. Windows 2008. The DL380 G7's system disks will definitely contain a C: drive, and might contain a D: drive too. In that case, the drive letters on the added disks will conflict with the drive letters that are already in use on the system disk of DL380 G7. This is why your data won't be accessible immediately. But this is not a big problem: you must simply go to the Windows Disk Management, and assign new drive letters for the added disks. Once that is complete, you should be able to access your data using the new drive letters you assigned.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Windows Server expert; I work mostly with Linux, HP-UX and other Unix systems.

[VBO]

If you don't inserted all drives from the Raid5 array, for me you cannot get back your datas !

You must insert at minimum n-1 drives of a Raid5 array for attempt to be see by the Array controller and import them.