Need help rebuilding Netcell Raid 0 Array

[bspect]

I accidently unplugged a drive from my Netcell Raid 0 array (2 disk array). The mistake I made was to panic and shut off my computer and the disk tray which just made things worse. The Netcell storage manager shows my Raid 5 array (AO) is fine (3 disk array) but not the Raid 0 array (A1). It says A1 is not defined. The first drive in this array shows as working and the 2nd drive shows as new and unassigned. I don't think either drive is damaged...just somehow disconnected. The tree that shows how the Netcell 5 port card is set-up (which drives are in which array) shows the A0 array and its three drives. Unfortunately the 2nd array ( A1) is missing from the tree although the 2 drives from that array do show up as connected to the card but the 2nd drive shows as unassigned and new and the first drive show as working. Any idea the best procedure to reconnect these drives into the previous A1 array without loosing almost 1TB of data?

[peterb]

Tricky one because (as I'm sure you know) in RAID 0 the data is striped across two drives so without knowing what the striping algorithm is, it is difficult (but not impossible) to repair the array. In any event, you may need to get down to Hex editing the disk - a procedure that can easily make a bad situation worse.

So you have 2 options really. If the data is critical or you can't afford to lose it, your best and safest bet will be a data recovery company. I was recently in a similar situation and I was quoted between £250 and £450 for recovery of an LVM set up on a RAID 1 array. (Fortunately I didn't need to use it as I got the data back myself - but I was lucky and the failure mode was different from yours). That was at the low end of the quotes, and is on a "no data - no fee" basis.

Or you could try some of the recovery tools available on the net - a Google search showed up several, but this one looked interesting

Data Recovery Software - File System Utilities

Be warned though that there is a risk of doing irreparable damage to the array by doing it yourself.

Otherwise use a data recovery firm, but be aware there are some dodgy companies out there.



Hope that helps - good luck - it's not a nice situation to be in. (I have just invested in a tape back-up system after my scare - no help to you at the moment - but a backup strategy is something to think about after you get the stuff back).

[bspect]

Thank You for the advice...I let you know how it goes

[bspect]

I was able to rebuild the A1 array by unassociating both drives and then redefining the same type 0array with the same two drives. Defining the array in Netcell does not erase the data on the drive. Everything is now normal and working as before.