Recover data from RAID 10 Array

[Dredgy]

Hi all, doubt this is possible but worth a shot.

My motherboard in my main workstation failed and while it's being RMA I'd quite like to be able to get some work done, so am knocking up a Z87 build out of spare parts. The main problem is storage. While I found a spare HDD to use as a boot drive, I would quite like to get some data off the failed PCs RAID 10 array (4 drives). Most data was saved to an external backup, but a few, recent not-really-crucial-but-nice-to-have files weren't backed up in time.

The motherboards use different RAID controllers (Marvel to Intel) and the RAID array is intact.

Anyway, any way to do this?

[looney]

sorry, but it is indeed highly unlikely you can access the data with that new motherboard as it uses a different controller.

 

Play it save and remove the drives until you get your RMA board back. 

That will limit the chance of corrupting the array while you wait for your RMA board to arrive.

[Geekazoid]

Hi all, doubt this is possible but worth a shot.

My motherboard in my main workstation failed and while it's being RMA I'd quite like to be able to get some work done, so am knocking up a Z87 build out of spare parts. The main problem is storage. While I found a spare HDD to use as a boot drive, I would quite like to get some data off the failed PCs RAID 10 array (4 drives). Most data was saved to an external backup, but a few, recent not-really-crucial-but-nice-to-have files weren't backed up in time.

The motherboards use different RAID controllers (Marvel to Intel) and the RAID array is intact.

Anyway, any way to do this?

I think @Captain_WD should be able to help you out.

Or @looney.

[Dredgy]

sorry, but it is indeed highly unlikely you can access the data with that new motherboard as it uses a different controller.

 

Play it save and remove the drives until you get your RMA board back. 

That will limit the chance of corrupting the array while you wait for your RMA board to arrive.

I'm fairly sure of the same.

  

I think @Captain_WD should be able to help you out.

Or @looney.

I would hope so

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

I'm afraid you're screwed either way.  You'll have to set up the raid controller again, which (unless I'm very much mistaken) will wipe the data anyway.  The only way to avoid this is to set up the controller with exactly the same settings while using the same amount of identical disks, and then swapping them out for the ones that contain your data. (or preferably close of your disks.  Clone the data to the new disks using a different PC)

 

Probably an expensive solution, but you can keep the new disks afterwards for backing up your data.  I think you figured out by now that backing up would have been a good idea.

[Dredgy]

I'm afraid you're screwed either way.  You'll have to set up the raid controller again, which (unless I'm very much mistaken) will wipe the data anyway.  The only way to avoid this is to set up the controller with exactly the same settings while using the same amount of identical disks, and then swapping them out for the ones that contain your data. (or preferably close of your disks.  Clone the data to the new disks using a different PC)

 

Probably an expensive solution, but you can keep the new disks afterwards for backing up your data.  I think you figured out by now that backing up would have been a good idea.

 

I will see how that goes, though it's not urgent that these files be recovered - I need them by the end of this week, since the RMA is going to take far longer than that, I'll have replaced the files by the time I set up the RAID array again. Afaik though, I should be alright, I've had issues with the board before and have reset RAID before without losing anything. 

 

I have a 3-hourly backup of the whole RAID 10 array, and a 6 hourly backup of both the RAID 10 + boot RAID 0 array. Important working directories are backed up to USB every time a modification is made.

 

The motherboard unfortunately failed before the backup, and only cost me about an hour and a half's work. Unfortunately, it was creative work, so I won't be able to recreate it perfectly and unfortunately I hadn't deemed it important enough to be backed up onto the USB drive. I remember pressing print, getting up to walk the 10 feet to the printer, and walking back to notice the computer was in disrepair. It was irksome because of the amount of failsafes I had in place.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Ah, ok then.  Based on your OP, I thought you didn't have a backup at all. 

[Dredgy]

@Captain Chaos it is mentioned in the OP.

 

@looney @Geekazoid I am a genius.

 

I was able to recover all the files I needed (using software) actually quite painlessly (considering it's 3AM on a Tuesday morning). I don't know if I buttfucked the array or not, but I was able to get the files I needed off it, for everything else I can just rely on the backup.