Array RAID enterprise
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, JBOD. LSI/Avago/Broadcom controllers, HPE Smart Array, Dell PERC, Lenovo MegaRAID, Adaptec, Fujitsu PRAID. Hardware RAID with BBU/Flash cache, hot-spare, rebuilt parity.
⚠ Servizio · Emergenza data recovery
Data recovery from corrupted RAID and VMs.
Server down with a degraded RAID array? Virtual machine that won't boot? Corrupted snapshot? Do not reboot. Do not rebuild. Do not reformat. Call us within the next 2 hours: the first correct action to take is to shut down the system safely. We recover data from RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60, file system NTFS, ReFS, ext4, XFS, ZFS, VMFS, macchine virtuali VMDK, VHDX, QCOW2.
01 / First of all
What non do in the next few hours.
70% of irreversible data recovery cases are caused by wrong actions taken in the first hours after the incident. Here is the check-list of actions to absolutely avoid prima di talk con un professionista:
- Do not run an automatic RAID "rebuild". If the controller asks to rebuild a disk, STOP. An incorrect rebuild overwrites recoverable data. Shut down in a controlled manner.
- Do not reformat or reinstall the operating system. Even if the server says "disk corrupted", in most cases the data is still there.
- Do not power the server on and off in a loop. Every reboot worsens an already compromised physical situation (heads scraping against the platters).
- Never write anything to the original disks. The first step of recovery is to create a bit-by-bit image of the disks so as not to touch the media.
- Do not open the disk physically (we have had to point this out several times). The internal surfaces require an ISO Class 5 cleanroom.
- Do not run CHKDSK or fsck on a suspect volume: the changes made can permanently compromise recoverable file system structures.
02 / Casistiche supportate
What we recover.
RAID software & ZFS
mdadm Linux, Windows Storage Spaces, RAID-Z1/Z2/Z3 on ZFS, btrfs RAID 1/10, Synology SHR, QNAP. Superblock metadata recovery, logical structure reconstruction.
VMware vSphere VMDK
Monolithic, sparse, thin/thick provisioned VMDK. Damaged descriptor file. Corrupted snapshots, orphaned snapshots, infinite snapshot loop. Corrupted VMFS-5/6 datastores. Recovery from .vmsd/.vmsn/.vmem.
Microsoft Hyper-V VHDX
VHDX fixed, dynamic, differencing. Corrupted Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV). Orphaned checkpoints. ReFS metadata damage. Degraded Storage Spaces Direct (S2D).
QCOW2, raw, Ceph
QCOW2 images with corrupted internal snapshots. Raw volumes on LVM-thin. Ceph RBD on Proxmox clusters with lost OSDs.
Synology, QNAP, NetApp
Synology DSM NAS with volume crash, QNAP QTS inaccessible volumes, NetApp FAS corrupted WAFL. iSCSI/FC LUNs on Dell PowerStore, HPE Primera, Pure Storage SAN.
03 / Workflow
How procediamo.
- Initial diagnostics (24-48h) — controller examination, SMART reading, identification of the failure mode. Fixed flat fee of €250+VAT. If no recovery is possible, we proceed no further.
- Bit-by-bit image of the disks — forensic clone with ddrescue/Atola/PC-3000 onto new disks. From this point on, the original is NEVER touched again. Selective imaging of readable sectors, retries on bad blocks.
- Virtual array reconstruction — UFS Explorer Professional, ReclaiMe RAID Recovery, R-Studio Technician, custom software. Manual calculation of stripe size, parity, disk order.
- File system recovery — analysis of NTFS/ReFS/ext4/XFS/ZFS/VMFS metadata. Repair of MFT tables, journals, superblocks. For VMs: extraction of VMDK/VHDX from the datastore, read-only mounting.
- Data integrity check — checksum of recovered files, opening test on a sample (DB, documents, images), detailed report on the recovery percentage.
- Data return — to a NAS, encrypted external drive, or restored to the customer's server. Certified destruction of working clones after testing.
04 / Scenari tipici
The situazioni più frequenti.
RAID 5 with 2 failed disks
RAID 5 tolerates a single failure. The second disk fails during the rebuild (this happens frequently because the rebuild puts enormous stress on the remaining disks). Recovery: imaging of the second disk, virtual array reconstruction, recovery of ~80-95% of the data.
VM deleted by mistake
A sysadmin deletes the wrong VM from the VMware datastore. If no significant write has occurred on the VMFS in the following hours, the descriptor files and VMDK blocks are still recoverable. Critical window: less than 24h.
Snapshot Hyper-V chain rotta
Checkpoint chain corrupted after a host crash. The VM does not start because an intermediate .avhdx is missing. Manual rebuild of the chain, selective merge, restoration of the VM to its last consistent state.
Ransomware on a file server
Crypto-locker encrypted the NAS. We can often recover from VSS shadow copies, from the NAS snapshot backups, or from non-overwritten file system blocks. No ransom payment.
ZFS pool degraded
ZFS pool with failed vdev. Recovery from raidz1/raidz2/raidz3 with missing disks, metadata repair, offline scrubbing on a forensic clone.
Faulty RAID controller
The hardware controller (e.g. PERC H730, Smart Array P440) is dead and the disks are no longer recognized. Controller metadata reconstruction, software-based array simulation, recovery without needing to find the same controller model.
05 / Tariffe
Quanto costa.
Transparent policy: flat-rate diagnostics, detailed quote after diagnostics, "no recovery no fee" on the most complex cases.
da 250€+IVA
Fixed flat fee for the initial technical analysis. Outcome within 24-48h with a detailed report and quote. Payment only if you agree to proceed.
da 400€+IVA
Single HDD or SSD, logical failure (badblocks, corrupted partition, damaged file system). Recovery in 1-3 working days.
800-3.500€+IVA
Server RAID array with 4-12 disks. Range based on complexity (RAID type, capacity, disk condition, clean room intervention).
da 1.200€+IVA
For physical failures (heads, motors, platters) we rely on a certified partner with an ISO 5 clean room in Italy. Quote after diagnostics.
Altri services
Explore the altri services AssistenzaServer.
06 / FAQ
The questions we receive most often.
Do you recover data from RAID 5 with two failed disks?+
Yes. It is one of the most frequent cases. If the second disk is a recoverable logical failure (badblocks, SMART errors), we rebuild the array. If it is a physical failure we resort to a clean room with a certified partner. Average success rate: 85%.
Can a corrupted VMDK virtual machine be recovered?+
Yes, it depends on the type of corruption: damaged descriptor file (recovery almost always possible), orphaned snapshots (recoverable), internal NTFS corruption of the VM (intervention on the guest filesystem).
How much does data recovery for a RAID server cost?+
Initial diagnostics: fixed flat rate starting from €250+VAT. Actual recovery: depends on complexity, typically €800-3,500 for an enterprise RAID array. Quote after diagnostics, no obligation.
How long does it take to recover the data?+
Diagnostics within 24-48 hours. Actual recovery: 2-7 working days for enterprise RAID, 1-3 days for a single disk, 1-2 weeks for clean room.
Do you guarantee 100% recovery?+
No, no serious laboratory can guarantee 100%. Success depends on the condition of the media and on the actions performed before our intervention. For complex cases we apply "no recovery no fee" beyond the diagnostics.
I'm outside Lombardy, what do I do?+
Ship servers or disks to our site in Melzo (MI) via insured courier. We provide a prepaid label on request. See the detailed procedure →
📦 National service
Not in Lombardy?
Not in Lombardy?
Ship the server.
Operiamo on-site solo in Lombardy, ma il data recovery service is nationwide: ship the server or the disks to our offices in Melzo (MI), we carry out the work, and we return them to you. A proven procedure, insured courier, prepaid label on request.
How spedire il tuo server →
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02 95 17 550