The problem
A large medical data processing center in Michigan ran a Dell EqualLogic 5000 system with 28TB of storage – a RAID 5 configuration of 15 disks plus one hot spare. One night, a single drive failed. The hot spare kicked in and the rebuild started automatically. About an hour later, a second drive failed, the rebuild stopped, and the RAID 5 crashed.
The challenge
The local IT staff tried several times to bring the array back online – without success. Dell support offered two options: replace the two failed drives and re-initialize the unit (which would erase all data), or contact a data recovery company.
The client contacted several recovery companies. Some demanded thousands of dollars upfront just to look at the case. Most said they don’t support Dell EqualLogic systems at all because of their complexity.
Our approach
Our engineers advised that ACE RAID Recovery does support EqualLogic arrays, and the drives were sent to our lab for analysis.
- Every drive was checked individually.
- The two failed units were identified and repaired.
- Our engineers determined which drive failed second – critical for correct reconstruction.
- The RAID was re-created on different media to protect the original drives.
- Using in-house software, we parsed the EqualLogic configuration and rebuilt the array virtually.
The result
100% of the client’s data recovered from a 15-disk EqualLogic RAID 5 that had suffered a double drive failure – a case most competitors refused to take.
Have an EqualLogic or other enterprise array down? Call 844-223-7243 – engineers answer 24/7 – or start a case online. Free evaluation, no data, no fee. Learn more about server RAID recovery.
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