Adaptec RAID 2820SA

Model	RAID 2820SA
Type	Serial ATA II RAID

In relation to data recovery, RAID recovery can be simple, or complex, depending on what happens after the failure of the RAID. It cannot be stressed enough that if a RAID configuration fails to rebuild after a failure, STOP IMMEDIATELY. The more you carry out on the RAID, the more chance you have of irreversibly damaging the data so it cannot be recovered.

If you insist on proceeding after the failure of a rebuild, WRITE DOWN EVERTHING YOU DO. While we are able to interpret the raw data so we may manipulate the drives and rebuild the original data, if the original information is overwritten once, or several times, the markers that help in the recovery process may be false, therefore leading to incorrect reconfiguration which will in turn extend the time for the data recovery or render it unrecoverable.

In all circumstances, write down everything that happened to the RAID from the time of the crash. If you were not the one that was working on it, or several people worked on the drives, please have all technicians write down exactly what they did so we may interpret the data correctly or reverse the damage to the RAID.

Please remember that the most important thing is that the data be returned, and the best chance you have of this is if you write down exactly and truthfully what has occurred. We may be able to work out what has happened, but without your help it will be considerably harder, and even impossible in some situations.

We manage to recover around 80% of RAIDs that come into this office, unfortunately, it is the ones that are rebuilt, reformatted, and changed repeatedly that are unable to be recovered.

If the drives are sent to us immediately after the failure, you have a much greater chance of recovering your data.

All RAID configurations have their advantages and disadvantages. These must be appraised fully before implementing any form of RAID configuration.