RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is designed to provide fault tolerance, but improper handling during a rebuild can lead to catastrophic data loss. This case study explores how we successfully recovered business-critical data from a Lenovo ThinkSystem server with 12 SAS disks, where a corporate IT team accidentally replaced the wrong drive during a RAID rebuild—leading to system failure and data inaccessibility.
As Ireland’s oldest and most experienced data recovery specialists, we applied advanced RAID reconstruction techniques to restore the lost data and minimise business disruption.
The Challenge: RAID Failure Due to Wrong Drive Replacement
The corporate IT team contacted us after an attempted RAID rebuild went wrong. The issues reported included:
- A failed SAS disk was identified and removed for replacement.
- The wrong disk was replaced instead of the failed one, causing the RAID controller to lose track of the original data structure.
- The server went offline, making all stored data inaccessible.
- Attempts to rebuild using a new disk resulted in further corruption.
Since the server contained critical corporate data, an immediate and professional recovery solution was required.
Diagnosis & Evaluation
When the Lenovo ThinkSystem server arrived at our cleanroom facility, we conducted a full analysis of all 12 SAS disks. Our findings:
- Lost RAID configuration – The incorrect drive replacement caused the controller to misinterpret the RAID structure.
- Partial overwriting – The system attempted to integrate the wrong disk into the RAID, corrupting some metadata.
- Parity & stripe misalignment – The RAID rebuild process had started but was unable to complete, leaving data fragmented.
Given the complexity of the failure, a manual RAID reconstruction was necessary to restore lost data.
The Recovery Process
1. Creating Sector-Level Clones of All 12 Disks
To ensure the best recovery chances, we first cloned each SAS disk using hardware-level imaging tools, preventing further data loss.
2. Manually Reconstructing the RAID Structure
Since the RAID metadata was corrupted, we:
- Analyzed disk parity & stripe allocation to determine the original RAID settings.
- Manually rebuilt the RAID configuration using forensic-level RAID recovery tools.
- Bypassed the incorrect drive integration, restoring the previous state before the failure.
3. Extracting & Verifying Corporate Data
After successfully reconstructing the RAID array, we:
- Recovered lost files from all disks, ensuring no data was missing.
- Verified the integrity of business-critical documents, databases, and virtual machines.
- Transferred the recovered data to a secure external storage device.
The Results: 99% Data Recovery Success
Despite the complexity of the failure, we successfully recovered 99% of the corporate company’s essential data, including:
✅ Corporate databases & financial records
✅ Employee & client information
✅ Critical business applications & virtual machines
Thanks to our expert RAID recovery techniques, the company was able to restore its operations without major losses.
Why Choose Us?
With 25 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful recoveries, we are the leading RAID and enterprise data recovery specialists in Ireland and the UK. We specialize in:
✔ RAID rebuild failure & misconfiguration recovery
✔ SAS, SATA, and NVMe drive recovery
✔ Server, NAS, and enterprise data restoration
✔ Cleanroom recovery & forensic data reconstruction
If your RAID server has failed due to an incorrect rebuild or drive replacement, stop further attempts and contact us immediately for professional recovery.