SAN Data Recovery

SAN Server Data Recovery | All SAN RAID Server Manufactures and Network Storage Devices including; IBM, Cisco, Oracle, HP, Netgear, San, Synology, Seagate, Buffalo, Western Digital, Maxtor, Apple XServe / Xsan and More…

CERTIFIED AND SECURE SAN DATA RECOVERY SERVICES.

RTS offers 24 hour SAN data recovery services. We have many years of engineering experience with SAN Network Storage devices from manufacturers like Intel, Synology, Seagate, Western Digital, IBM, Cisco, Buffalo and Apple XServe / Xsan. Storage Area Network devices (SAN, for short) are stand alone external storage devices that are connected to a network via a wired network cable or wireless network connection. SAN systems is a high-performance subnet, probably (but not necessarily) based on fibre channel, whose primary purpose is the transfer of data between computer systems and storage elements and among multiple storage elements. One can think of a SAN as an extended and shared storage bus. A SAN consists of a communication infrastructure, which provides physical connections, and a management layer, which organizes the connections, storage elements, and computer systems so that data transfer is secure and robust.

Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) are similar, in that they both represent a convergence of storage and networking technologies. However, they are also entirely different. NAS products, such as Network Appliance Filers and Auspex servers are storage devices fronted by a thin server client that is directly attached to the messaging or public network. These products tend to be optimized for file serving purposes only. Storage Area Networks are separate networks dedicated to storage devices and traffic. SANs provide greater flexibility and additional functionality over a NAS. However each of these approaches has their merits, it is generally agreed that SANs represent the future of storage connectivity. NAS devices will continue to perform their specific functions but shall migrate, over time, to the Storage Area Network model.

SAN systems are often multiple drive systems that allow the user multiple options for different RAID version setup. SAN devices are a great way to back up your data but they should never be used as the sole data storage solution. No level of RAID can replace the importance of having good backups. Backups are simply a second source for your data.

nas-data-recovery

Pros: The number one benefit from installing a SAN is better disk utilization. When all your storage is tied together through a centralized storage network, you gain the ability to manage everything as a single entity. This gives you the ability to slice up the central pool of storage resources at the network level and assign that storage more intelligently to the servers that need it. The approach to disk management without a SAN is to buy tons of disks and stick them in huge expensive servers so that you can grow into them. All the disk space that’s not currently being used is wasted until you need that space.

SAN for disaster recovery for multiple applications – If your data center/ IT environment has critical servers running on applications which cannot be let down, then there needs to be a data continuity solution in place, which can act as a fail over when a disaster strikes. If this indeed is the scenario then SAN based DR solution will be the right choice. Since the volume of downtime is critical in most organizations when disaster strikes, a SAN solution will effectively reduce the downtime number to a negligible value.

Cons: High complexity in developing a SAN is no small feat. It is a network of intricate and interconnected devices and implementation entails major device and architectural changes; this might prove to be more work than benefit for some. The up front cost, simply put, a SAN is expensive. Although the ROI can be as quick as 12 months, the upfront costs of hardware and network implementation can be a major deterrence.

Creating a storage area network is an investment. A big one, yes, but it will save you money in the long run. A SAN will speed up your entire environment, give you a disaster recovery solution, and lengthen the life of your hardware, all while meeting your storage needs. You just have to determine whether the investment is worth the reward.

All of our engineers are SAN data recovery certified experts with years of experience in performing Storage Area Network recovery.

  • Certified Engineers
  • Trusted & Secure: HIPPA & PCI compliant
  • Lowest Price Guaranteed
  • ISO 5 Class 100 clean room
  • Propriety Tools & Techniques
  • Highest Recovery Percentages in the industry
  • No Data, No Charge: If for any reason we are unable to recover your data, there’s no charge.

Common SAN Server Failures

Physical SAN RAID Server Failure

Physical failure of your SAN controllers and RAID controllers fail just like any other electronic device. These failures can take place at any time leaving you scrambling to recover your data. When a SAN controller fails, it can result in a lost RAID configuration, false positive drive failures and more. This can include the failure of the following components: RAM, power supply, motherboard or backplane. Because nearly all SAN devices use the less common XFS file system, data recovery becomes far more specialized and complex. Regardless of the SAN failure, our experienced network attached storage engineers can recover your data.

Logical Failure of SAN Server System

Logical failures are when the operating system, IE: Windows, Mac, Linux, Novell, Unix, or VMware system becomes corrupted. This could be caused by a virus attack, improper shutdown due to a power surge or power failure, an update that was performed or user error that caused damage the operating system to the point where it fails to boot, boots in a loop, blue screens, etc. At this point, you have no access to your data and you need to speak with one of our RAID engineers to determine what to do next.

User Error

Whether the data on your network attached storage device was accidentally deleted or the SAN RAID configuration got corrupted or formatted, there’s is a very good chance we can still recover all your files. If a user error occurs, its vitally important for you to stop using it and turn it off. Everything you do after the initial problem greatly reduces the chances of a 100% successful recovery.

Physical Hard Drive Failure of SAN RAID Hard Drives

Physical hard drive failure is when the mechanical parts of one or more of the hard drives in your Storage Area Network fail. Mechanical failure like these usually require clean room work to successfully recover your data. If one of your SAN RAID member drives suffer a mechanical failure, you need professional data recovery services to recover your critical files. Our engineers have the experience, tools and equipment to repair your SAN RAID member hard drive and quickly recover your files in our class 100 clean room.

What to do when your RAID fails.

  • Do not run any chkdsk options like FSCK, or CHKDSK. These utilities can corrupt or destroy your file system.
  • Do not try to rebuild the RAID array. Doing so can wipe out data needed to recover the data you are seeking.
  • Do not remove several failed drives at once hoping to reinitialize the array.
  • Do not lose the correct order of the drives in the array.
  • Do not try to repair any damaged drives yourself.

In some instances me may not need the entire Storage Area Network device and just need the hard drives themselves. If we request for you to send the drives only, be sure when removing the drives to label them in the correct order when preparing to ship them out. This saves us time when virtually rebuilding the array. Find out what time of RAID array you were using, what kind of server, what filesystem, and operating system. If possible which drives are bad, and which drive failed last.

**Important** We need all original disks that were in the array the last time it was operating normally.

While most all data recovery companies don’t offer a free diagnostic when receiving the SAN RAID because of the many hours involved, we offer our ONE RATE fees for SAN RAID data recovery. A Storage Area Network recovery specialist will gather information from you over the phone to give you a general idea of what you can expect. Even though SAN RAID recovery falls under our ONE RATE fees, the cost will fluctuate base on the possibilities. Our ONE RATE fee structure will by far beat any price out there. Please call us before attempting to repair the SAN RAID yourself which could end up destroying it.

What You Can Expect during your SAN Data Recovery Process:

  • You will be assigned a personal service representative for your project who will guide you through the process.
  • The data recovery process can take 7 to 10 business days based on many factors, see below.
  • The assigned service representative will be in daily communication with the data recovery technician working on your case and keep you up-to-date with the recovery progress.

How Long Does SAN RAID Recovery Take?

One of the first questions we get asked by most customers is “How long will the recovery take?”. Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer to that question, as each case is different. Many SAN arrays can be rebuilt in only a day or two. However here are some factors to consider that may affect the overall time frame of the data recovery.

Hardware Condition – A drive that is fully functional is much faster to recover data from than one that is severely damaged and must be repaired. So cases that are simply related to accidental deletion, format, viruses, etc. are generally pretty quick on the turnaround. Usually within 24 to 48 hours for most cases, however there are times when it takes longer. Drives needing hardware recovery generally take about 7 to 10 days, but can take longer based on other factors below.

Drive / SAN RAID Array Size – Even if a drive is fully functional a 4Tb drive will take as much as 20 hours to perform a single scan, and a typical recovery may involve several scans to effectively find all files. Also as a professional data recovery lab, we always clone the drive first to prevent any possibility of accidents while working with the data. As a rule of thumb expect an extra day for drives larger than 500Gb or a few days for drives larger than 2Tb. Plus for very large SAN arrays, there can be substantial time.

Number of Failed Drives – In striped SAN RAID arrays the number of failed drives can affect the turnaround time as well. When there are multiple failures all drives must be analyzed to determine which hard drive(s) went offline first so that the correct data is used during the rebuild.

Availability of Donor Parts – For drives with hardware issues, parts are often needed to repair the drive to a semi-functional condition where the data can be successfully extracted. Some hard drive sub-models are very common and easy to find the parts from one of our vendors. However others are not. At times we may even have to spend weeks searching online and calling other data recovery labs for the specific drive or parts we need. Or we may even have to buy a donor drive from overseas and wait for it to arrive. Usually this is the longest part of the whole process for hardware level recoveries.

Functionality of Drive After Repair – Many makes of hard drives don’t take kindly to replacement parts, and don’t function anywhere near their full potential after an internal repair. As drives write magnetic data on a microscopic level, even the slightest micro variation (or micro jog) in manufacturing of parts may cause the drive to constantly have to re-read data over and over. While rare, some drives can take a month or more to extract all the data after such internal repairs.

Pricing for SAN RAID Data Recovery?

Our Storage Area Network RAID data recovery prices are based on the number of drives in your SAN RAID array, drive capacity, type of drives, type of failure, file and system type. Even though SAN RAID recovery falls under our ONE RATE fees, the cost will fluctuate base on the possibilities. Still, our prices are the best in the industry. We will match or beat any reputable data recovery company’s price for SAN RAID data recovery, that’s our lowest price guarantee.

How Do I Get My Data Back After Recovery?

Upon completion of the recovery, you are welcome to provide your own return media. For SAN RAID arrays, they would generally be a high capacity external hard drive. Or, if you’d prefer you can purchase a new external hard drive from us at a competitive price and we’ll copy the data to that. For very large SAN arrays containing large amounts of data, arrangements may be necessary to copy the data onto a Storage Area Network or other enclosure with SAN RAID functions. Please contact us for more details if you require recovery from such an array.

To get started…

Call and speak with a RTS RAID specialist regarding your RAID 0 Data Recovery options. The specialist will need to gather some information from you in order to provide you with a ONE RATE fee to start, and then answer any questions you may have. Call 24/7 Toll Free at: (877) 247-6777.

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