Welcome to Exeter Data Recovery, Devon’s leading experts in RAID 1 data recovery. With over 25 years of experience, we provide advanced, non-destructive recovery solutions for all RAID 1 configurations, from small two-drive arrays to complex, rack-mounted enterprise-grade systems. We serve home users, SMEs, corporations, and government organisations across the UK.
Our team specialises in recovering critical data from RAID 1 systems following controller failure, drive loss, rebuild errors, and logical corruption. We support software RAIDs, hardware RAID controllers, NAS-based mirrors, and rack server RAID 1 arrays across all major platforms.
Supported RAID 1 Platforms and Hardware
We provide data recovery RAID 1 services across all storage configurations and RAID-capable hardware including:
Top RAID & NAS Brands We Support:
- Dell EMC, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), Synology, QNAP, NetApp, WD, Seagate
- Buffalo, Drobo, Netgear, Intel, Lenovo, IBM, LaCie, Adaptec, Areca, Thecus, Promise Technology
Common Drive Manufacturers in RAID/NAS Systems:
- Seagate, Western Digital (WD), Toshiba, Samsung, Hitachi (HGST), Kingston, SanDisk, Crucial, ADATA, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Corsair
Top 15 Best-Selling NAS Brands in the UK & Popular Models
- Synology – DS920+, DS220+, DS423+, DS1821+
- QNAP – TS-464, TS-873A, TS-233, TS-653D
- Western Digital (WD) – My Cloud EX2 Ultra, My Cloud PR4100
- Seagate – IronWolf NAS, Seagate NAS Pro 4-bay
- Buffalo – LinkStation 220, TeraStation 5410DN
- Netgear – ReadyNAS RN422, RN524X
- Drobo – 5N2, B810n
- Asustor – AS5304T, AS6604T
- TerraMaster – F2-423, F4-421
- LaCie – 2big RAID, 5big Thunderbolt 2
- Zyxel – NAS326, NAS542
- Thecus – N5810PRO, N7770-10G
- Intel – SS4200-E, Entry Storage System
- Promise Technology – Pegasus32 R4, VTrak E610f
- Lenovo Iomega – IX4-300d, IX2-200
Top 15 Best-Selling RAID 0 Rack Servers in the UK
- Dell PowerEdge R740xd
- HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10
- Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650
- Supermicro SuperServer 1029P
- Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX2540 M5
- ASUS RS720-E9-RS24
- Intel Server System R2224WFTZS
- Cisco UCS C240 M6
- IBM System x3650 M5
- Tyan Transport SX TS65
- Oracle Sun Fire X4270
- Dell EMC PowerEdge R540
- HPE Apollo 2000 Gen10
- Gigabyte R281-G30
- ASRock Rack 1U10E-RS6
Top 20 RAID 1 Data Recovery Errors – Technical Recovery Process
Below is a list of the most common RAID 1 data loss scenarios we encounter, along with how our engineers recover from each:
1. Multiple Drive Failures
Recovery: Clone all accessible drives. Identify the most up-to-date member. Rebuild data by aligning metadata timestamps and sector maps.
2. Failed RAID Rebuild
Recovery: Analyse the mirror state prior to rebuild. Extract data from the original member using forensic imaging and mount as standalone.
3. RAID Controller Failure
Recovery: Bypass controller. Use sector-matching tools to pair drives manually. Mount volume using RAID signature patterns.
4. Accidental Disk Reordering
Recovery: Identify correct disk order by comparing metadata. Virtualise the RAID 1 pair with correct alignment.
5. Logical File System Corruption
Recovery: Rebuild NTFS/MFT or EXT4 superblocks using header analysis and data carving tools.
6. Drive Firmware Bugs
Recovery: Update or roll back firmware using vendor tools. Clone drives in safe mode and extract raw data.
7. Unexpected Power Loss
Recovery: Analyse journaled file systems for corruption. Restore last known good state from journal or snapshot sectors.
8. Bit Rot / Silent Data Corruption
Recovery: Use file signature analysis and hash verification to identify inconsistencies. Extract validated files.
9. Accidental Initialisation
Recovery: Recover overwritten partition tables. Use prior sector maps to recover intact data blocks.
10. Bad Sectors or Read Instability
Recovery: Clone in multiple passes with head-switching and ECC corrections. Reconstruct filesystem from recovered sectors.
11. Degraded Mirror with Hidden Errors
Recovery: Deep scan mirror pair to identify divergence. Select cleanest member. Verify mirror mismatch logs.
12. Encrypted RAID Volumes
Recovery: Use encryption key or passphrase to decrypt clone images. Recover data from decrypted virtual drive.
13. Metadata Corruption
Recovery: Manually reconstruct RAID 1 headers. Re-map partitions based on sector offset analysis.
14. RAID BIOS Corruption
Recovery: Remove drives, avoid further controller use. Mount volumes using independent RAID reconstruction tools.
15. Physical PCB Damage
Recovery: Replace PCB with identical donor. Transfer ROM chip. Clone recovered drive.
16. Power Surge
Recovery: Inspect and replace damaged electrical components. Clone recovered drive using hardware-level imagers.
17. SMART Failure on Both Disks
Recovery: Clone both drives. Compare sector patterns to isolate readable regions and validate logical structures.
18. Water or Environmental Damage
Recovery: Clean and dry drives in ESD-safe cleanroom. Rebuild damaged drive as donor source.
19. Firmware Locked State
Recovery: Bypass controller firmware using vendor-specific commands. Access hidden sectors and retrieve user data.
20. Rebuild with Wrong Drive
Recovery: Reconstruct pre-rebuild image using backup clone. Remove introduced corruption by restoring previous array state.
Top 10 Common RAID 0 Virtual System Problems
While RAID 0 offers performance, it lacks redundancy. We often recover RAID 0 systems with the following issues:
- Incorrect Disk Order During Rebuild
- Mismatch in Stripe Size
- RAID Signature Overwritten During Format
- One Disk Slightly Slower (causing sync issues)
- Corruption of File System (NTFS, EXT4)
- OS Installation Overwrites RAID Metadata
- Controller Firmware Glitches
- Disks from Different Models with Read Delays
- Boot Sector Overwritten on Rebuild Attempt
- Faulty RAID Configuration Exported to New System
We recover these by rebuilding the virtual array manually, aligning sector and block offsets, then reconstructing the file system from raw disk images.
Services Offered
- Data Recovery RAID 1 (2–64 disks)
- RAID 1 on NAS, SAN, DAS, Rack Servers
- Encrypted RAID Volume Recovery
- Software RAID 1 (mdadm, Windows Disk Management, Intel RST)
- Hardware RAID 1 Recovery (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Areca, Adaptec, etc.)
- RAID 1 to RAID 10 or hybrid array recovery
- Virtual RAID environments (Hyper-V, VMware, Proxmox)
Supported Systems and File Systems
- Windows Server (2012–2022), Linux (mdadm), VMware ESXi
- NTFS, ReFS, EXT4, XFS, Btrfs, HFS+, exFAT, FAT32
- BitLocker, eCryptFS, LUKS (with credentials)
- All interfaces: SATA, SAS, NVMe, U.2, USB-C, PCIe, eSATA
Why Choose Exeter Data Recovery?
- 25+ Years of RAID Expertise
- Specialists in Data Recovery RAID 1
- Certified RAID Engineers – Dell, HP, Synology, QNAP
- Cleanroom Facilities for Mechanical Drive Recovery
- Free Diagnostics – No Data, No Fee
Contact Devon’s RAID Recovery Experts Today
If your RAID 1 array has failed or is reporting critical volume errors, stop all rebuild attempts immediately and contact the experts at Exeter Data Recovery. We are the UK’s trusted specialists in data recovery raid 1, delivering fast, safe, and professional results—regardless of the RAID platform or failure type.
📞 Call now to schedule your free diagnostic with a RAID engineer.