RAID 1 Data Recovery

York Data Recovery: The UK’s Premier RAID 1 Data Recovery Specialists

For 25 years, York Data Recovery has been the UK’s leading expert in RAID 1 data recovery, specialising in mirrored array architectures and block-level synchronization across multiple drives. Our engineers possess unparalleled expertise in mirror set analysis, drive synchronization, and advanced data reconstruction techniques for failed mirror configurations. We support every RAID 1 implementation from hardware controllers to software-defined mirroring, recovering data from complex multi-drive failures and synchronization errors using our state-of-the-art laboratory equipped with advanced mirror analysis tools and comprehensive donor drive inventory.

25 Years of RAID 1 Mirror Architecture Expertise
Our quarter-century of experience encompasses the complete evolution of RAID 1 technology, from early hardware mirroring controllers to modern software-defined mirroring with real-time synchronization. This extensive knowledge base includes proprietary mirroring algorithms for enterprise RAID controllers and deep understanding of software RAID 1 implementations across all major operating systems and NAS platforms. Our historical database contains thousands of controller-specific mirroring patterns and synchronization metadata structures essential for successful reconstruction of even the most complex RAID 1 failures.

Comprehensive NAS & Enterprise Server Support

Top 15 NAS Brands & Popular UK Models:

1. Synology: DS223j, DS923+, DS1522+

2. QNAP: TS-233, TS-453D, TVS-872X

3. Western Digital: My Cloud EX2 Ultra, My Cloud PR4100

4. Seagate: IronWolf NAS, BlackWolf NAS

5. Netgear: ReadyNAS 212, ReadyNAS 432

6. Buffalo Technology: LinkStation LS220D, TeraStation 51210RH

7. Drobo: Drobo 5N2, Drobo 8D

8. Asustor: AS5304T, AS6706T

9. Thecus: N2350, N8810U-G

10. Terramaster: F2-223, T9-450

11. Lenovo: IX4-300D, PX12-450R

12. LaCie: 2big RAID, 12big RAID

13. Promise Technology: Pegasus32 R2, R8

14. ZyXEL: NAS326, NAS540

15. D-Link: DNS-320L, DNS-345

Top 15 RAID 1 Server Brands & Models:

1. Dell EMC: PowerEdge R750xs, R740xd2

2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise: ProLiant DL380 Gen11, Synergy 480 Gen10

3. Lenovo: ThinkSystem SR650, SR670

4. Cisco: UCS C240 M7 Rack Server

5. Supermicro: SuperServer 6049P-E1CR90H

6. Fujitsu: PRIMERGY RX2540 M7

7. Hitachi: Hitachi Compute Blade 2000

8. IBM: Power System S822LC

9. Acer: Altos R380 F3

10. ASUS: RS720-E10-RS12U

11. Intel: Intel Server System R2000WF family

12. Huawei: FusionServer 2288H V5

13. Oracle: Sun Server X4-4

14. Inspur: NF5280M6

15. Nokia: AirFrame Open Edge Server

Technical Recovery: 30 Software RAID 1 Errors

1. Split-Brain Mirror with Diverged Data Sets
   Technical Recovery Process: We perform bit-level comparison of both mirror members using custom-developed synchronization analysis tools. By analyzing write timestamps and transaction sequences in file system journals ($LogFile for NTFS, journal for ext4), we reconstruct the most recent consistent state. We merge viable data from both mirrors while preserving the latest version of each file based on metadata analysis and checksum verification.

2. Mirror Desynchronization with Partial Write Failures
   Technical Recovery Process: We analyze the write intent bitmaps and synchronization logs to identify incomplete write operations. Using PC-3000 with RAID reconstruction modules, we reconstruct the intended write sequence and apply missing operations to create a consistent mirror set. For hardware RAID, we extract controller logs to determine the exact point of desynchronization.

3. RAID Metadata Corruption with Mirror Configuration Loss
   Technical Recovery Process: We locate and repair damaged RAID superblocks and configuration metadata. For Linux MDADM, we repair superblock versions 0.90, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 using backup copies. For Windows Storage Spaces, we reconstruct the mirror configuration database by parsing the Microsoft Reserved Partition and validating mirror membership through signature analysis.

4. Accidental Mirror Break with Data Divergence
   Technical Recovery Process: We perform forensic analysis of both former mirror members to identify data written after the break. Using file system journal analysis and metadata timestamp comparison, we reconstruct the complete data set by merging pre-break synchronized data with post-break unique data from both drives.

5. Failed Re-synchronization with Corruption Propagation
   Technical Recovery Process: We halt all synchronization processes and work with the original drive states. Using hardware write-blockers, we create forensic images of both mirrors before the failed sync. We then manually reconstruct the intended synchronization by analyzing block-level differences and applying validated changes only.

6. File System Corruption on Both Mirror Members

7. Operating System Update Causing Mirror Inconsistency

8. Driver Compatibility Issues with Mirroring

9. Boot Sector Corruption on Mirrored Volume

10. GPT/MBR Partition Table Damage on Both Drives

11. Volume Set Configuration Loss

12. Dynamic Disk Database Corruption

13. Storage Spaces Mirror Corruption

14. ZFS Mirror Pool Corruption

15. Linux MDADM Superblock Damage

16. Windows Disk Management Mirror Configuration Loss

17. File System Journal Replay Failure

18. Resource Exhaustion During Mirror Operations

19. Snapshot Management Failure on Mirrored Arrays

20. LVM Mirror Corruption

21. Background Scrub Corruption

22. Metadata-Only Configuration Loss

23. Capacity Expansion Failure

24. RAID Member Marked Invalid Incorrectly

25. Configuration Import/Export Failure

26. Sector Size Mismatch Issues

27. Memory Dump on Mirrored Volume

28. Virus/Ransomware Encryption on Both Mirrors

29. File System Quota Corruption

30. Resource Contention During Mirror Writes

Technical Recovery: 30 Mechanical/Electronic RAID 1 Errors

1. Simultaneous Drive Failures in Mirror Set
   Technical Recovery Process: We perform identical recovery procedures on both failed drives, including head stack assembly transplantation, PCB repair, and firmware reconstruction. Using our Class 100 cleanroom, we ensure both drives are recovered to a readable state, then perform comparative analysis to extract the most complete data set from the less damaged sectors of each drive.

2. Controller Failure with Mirror Configuration Loss
   Technical Recovery Process: We source identical donor controllers and transplant the NVRAM containing RAID configuration. Using PC-3000, we extract configuration data from the member drives’ reserved sectors and manually reconstruct the mirror parameters. We then virtualize the mirror set using the recovered configuration to access the data.

3. Backplane Failure Causing Correlated Drive Damage
   Technical Recovery Process: We diagnose and repair backplane issues, then image both drives through direct connection. We perform comparative sector analysis to identify and repair corruption caused by the backplane failure, using the undamaged sections of each mirror to reconstruct a complete data set.

4. Power Surge Damaging Both Mirror Members
   Technical Recovery Process: We perform component-level repair on both drives, including TVS diode replacement, motor driver IC transplantation, and ROM transfers. After stabilizing both drives, we create synchronized images and perform bit-level comparison to identify and reconstruct damaged sectors using checksum verification.

5. Unrecoverable Read Errors During Mirror Rebuild
   Technical Recovery Process: We use hardware imagers with advanced read-retry capabilities on both drives, systematically adjusting read channel parameters to recover data from marginal sectors. We then merge the successful reads from both drives to create a complete image with maximum data recovery.

6. Head Stack Assembly Failure on Primary Mirror

7. PCB Failure on Both Mirror Drives

8. Spindle Motor Seizure in Mirror Set

9. Media Degradation with Correlated Bad Sectors

10. S.M.A.R.T. Attribute Overflow on Both Drives

11. Thermal Calibration Crash During Mirror Operations

12. Vibration-Induced Read Errors in Both Drives

13. Write Cache Enable/Disable Conflicts

14. Controller Memory Module Failure

15. SAS Phy Layer Degradation

16. Expander Firmware Corruption

17. Power Supply Imbalance Issues

18. Cooling Failure Causing Thermal Throttling

19. Physical Impact Damage to Both Drives

20. Water/Fire Damage to Mirror System

21. Interconnect Cable Degradation

22. Ground Loop Induced Corruption

23. Electromagnetic Interference Issues

24. Component Aging and Parameter Drift

25. Bad Block Management Overload

26. Read/Write Channel Degradation

27. Servo Wedge Damage Preventing Head Positioning

28. Preamp Failure on Head Stack

29. Voice Coil Motor (VCM) Stiction

30. Media Cache Corruption

Technical Recovery: 25 Virtual & File System RAID 1 Errors

1. VHD/VHDX Mirror Corruption on Hyper-V
   Technical Recovery Process: We repair the virtual disk headers and block allocation tables across multiple VHD/X files, ensuring mirror consistency. We analyze the differencing disk chains and reconstruct the mirrored volume by parsing the virtual storage stack metadata and validating block-level consistency between virtual disk files.

2. QTS Mirror Volume Corruption
   Technical Recovery Process: We reverse-engineer QNAP’s mirroring metadata to reconstruct the volume mapping tables. By analyzing the volume configuration blocks and mirror synchronization data, we can reassemble the mirrored volume and extract data while accounting for QNAP’s custom mirroring implementation.

3. Btrfs RAID 1 Metadata Corruption
   Technical Recovery Process: We repair the Btrfs chunk tree and device extent mappings to reconstruct the mirrored volume. Using btrfs-check with custom repair options, we rebuild the mirror tree and validate checksums across all member devices to ensure data integrity during recovery.

4. ZFS Mirror Pool Corruption
   Technical Recovery Process: We utilize zdb to analyze the pool configuration and reconstruct missing vdev information. For mirrored pools, we repair the uberblocks and space map metadata to restore access to the mirrored data, validating reconstruction through checksum verification.

5. APFS Container Mirror Corruption
   Technical Recovery Process: We repair the APFS container superblock and object map to reconstruct the mirrored volume. We analyze the space manager structures and rebuild the mirror synchronization metadata to ensure proper data extraction from the most consistent mirror member.

6. ext4 Journal Corruption on RAID 1

7. VMFS Datastore Mirror Corruption

8. ReFS Integrity Stream Damage on Mirrored Volumes

9. XFS Allocation Group Mirror Corruption

10. NTFS $MFT Mirror Inconsistency

11. exFAT FAT Chain Mirror Corruption

12. HFS+ Catalog File Mirror Damage

13. Storage Spaces Mirrored Volume Corruption

14. Linux MDADM RAID 1 Superblock Damage

15. ZFS Intent Log (ZIL) Mirror Corruption

16. Btrfs Send/Receive Stream Damage

17. Hyper-V VHD Set Mirror Corruption

18. VMware Snapshot Chain Mirror Issues

19. Thin Provisioning Mirror Metadata Damage

20. Thick Provisioning Header Mirror Corruption

21. Quick Migration Mirror Failure

22. Storage vMotion Mirror Interruption

23. Virtual Disk Consolidation Mirror Failure

24. RDM (Raw Device Mapping) Mirror Corruption

25. VSphere Replication Mirror Consistency Issues

Advanced Laboratory Capabilities

Our RAID 1 recovery laboratory features:

• DeepSpar RAID Reconstructor 4 with advanced mirror analysis

• PC-3000 UDMA-6 with RAID 1 reconstruction modules

• Atto Fibre Channel SAN for enterprise storage systems

• Custom mirror analysis tools developed in-house

• Advanced soldering stations for component-level repair

• Class 100 cleanroom for drive mechanical repair

• Signal analysis equipment for backplane diagnostics

• Proprietary virtual RAID 1 reconstruction software

RAID 1 Recovery Success Metrics

• 96% success rate for single drive failures in RAID 1

• 88% success rate for dual drive failures in RAID 1

• 79% success rate for controller failures with drive issues

• 92% success rate for logical/software RAID 1 issues

• 24-48 hour average recovery time depending on complexity

Why Choose York Data Recovery for RAID 1?

• 25 years of specialized RAID 1 mirroring expertise

• Largest inventory of enterprise donor components in the UK

• Component-level repair capabilities

• Proprietary mirror analysis and reconstruction algorithms

• Free diagnostic assessment with transparent pricing

• No recovery – no fee guarantee for physically accessible drives

Emergency Service Option
Our 24-hour emergency service ensures rapid recovery for critical business systems, with priority access to our RAID specialists and dedicated laboratory resources.

Contact our York-based RAID 1 recovery engineers today for immediate assistance with your failed mirrored array. Our free diagnostics provide complete assessment of your RAID 1 system with recovery probability analysis and no obligation.