How to recover data from the RAID created using MegaRAID controller

MegaRAID controllers are created by Broadcom company, which is a world leader in innovative technologies. Broadcom has been pioneering data storage for 50 years. Previously, Broadcom controllers were known as LCI controllers.

MegaRAID controller

Main models of MegaRAID controllers:

  • MegaRAID 9540-2M2
  • MegaRAID 9540-8i
  • MegaRAID 9560-8i
  • MegaRAID 9580-8i8e
  • MegaRAID 9562-16i
  • MegaRAID 9560-16i
  • MegaRAID 9560-16i

Using MegaRAID controllers, you can create various types of arrays such as RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60.

Possible reasons for data loss on an array created using a MegaRAID controller

An incorrectly done rebuild - the following situation often happens - MegaRAID reports that one of the disks of the array members has failed and needs to be replaced. You make a replacement, and while rebuilding the array, which can take quite a long time, there is a sudden power outage. If your system was not equipped with an uninterruptible power supply, then rebuild may often not resume, and the entire RAID may go into “degraded” mode.

Various failures of the RAID controller - the controller may begin to overheat and often turn off, it may simply break down, it may throw some disks offline, and so on.

Logical corruption - such damage is usually associated with file system errors or disk space layout errors.

With all these corruptions, you cannot access the data. To recover data, you have two ways - contact a special data recovery service or try to recover data yourself. Data recovery services will be very expensive. The price will typically be measured in thousands of dollars. Therefore, it is always recommended to first try to recover the data yourself, because you are unlikely to make the situation worse if you run special software that only reads the data and does not write anything to the disks.

How to recover data from MegaRAID DIY

  1. Disconnect the drives from the MegaRAID controller. Be sure to remember which disk was inserted into which connector from the MegaRAID controller.
  2. Connect the drives from the MegaRAID array to the computer. It is recommended to connect the drives directly to the motherboard. However, if there are not enough ports on the motherboard, you can use special USB-to-SATA adapters.
  3. Download, install and run ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery, which is designed to restore the array configuration, which includes:

    4. - Block size

    - Disk order

    - Which disk is first?

    - Start offset

    - Parity pattern

  4. Select all drives from the array and start scanning the array type that was set originally.
    5. RAID5 recovery
  5. Wait until the software determines the array parameters.
    6. RAID recovery output options
  6. Next, we proceed to the second stage of recovery. In the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery window, select the “Run ReclaiMe to recover files” option. If ReclaiMe File Recovery is not installed on your computer, you will be prompted to download it. If the software is installed, it will immediately open in RAID recovery mode.
  7. In the ReclaiMe software window, select a volume from the array and click Start.
    8. ReclaiMe RAID mode
  8. Wait until you receive a message that “Initial scan is completed” and start checking the recovery result.
  9. If the data is displayed correctly in the Preview window, then buy an Ultimate license.
    10. ReclaiMe scans RAID
  10. Prepare additional space where you will copy the recovered data and save all the data you need.

If ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery was unable to restore the array configuration or the recovered data is not displayed correctly, then please contact us and we will try to help.

Still have questions?