HP Server Recovery – RAID 5 Data Recovery Experts

Coventry Data Recovery is the UK’s No.1 data recovery provider for HP server recovery, with over 25 years of RAID and enterprise storage expertise. If your HP server has failed after a RAID 5 rebuild and will not boot, it is critical that the drives are not further altered before expert analysis.

In the case of an 8-disk HP RAID 5 server with 2 hot spares, any failed rebuild or incorrect drive insertion can lead to overwritten stripe data and permanent corruption of parity information. Fortunately, our specialist RAID engineers are experienced in resolving precisely these scenarios — even when others cannot.

Case Summary: HP RAID 5 with Rebuild Failure

A manufacturing business with 100 users suffered a RAID 5 crash after one disk failed in an 8-disk configuration. Despite having 2 hot spares, the array did not automatically rebuild. A manual rebuild was initiated using one of the spares, but the server remained unbootable. Attempts by an IT maintenance company to recover data were unsuccessful.

Common RAID 5 Failure Symptoms on HP Servers

  • Manual reboot required due to system freeze
  • RAID controller reports one or more failed disks
  • Hot spares not automatically activated
  • Rebuild completes but system will not start
  • No operating system detected
  • File shares missing or inaccessible
  • Unusual RAID status codes or blinking LEDs

Technical Recovery Process – Step by Step

Step 1: Disk Labelling & Imaging

Each disk is removed from the array and labelled in the order presented by the controller. Using write-blockers, all drives — including failed and hot spares — are sector-imaged in a controlled environment.
Faulty drives are imaged using hardware-assisted recovery tools such as PC-3000 RAID Edition, allowing for unstable sectors to be read and preserved.

Step 2: RAID Metadata Analysis

RAID metadata is extracted from each disk to reconstruct the original array structure. This includes:

  • Stripe size detection
  • Drive order validation
  • RAID parity rotation pattern
  • Hot spare integration status

Our engineers determine whether the rebuild altered the parity structure or introduced logical inconsistencies, which often happens after post-failure rebuilds.

Step 3: Virtual RAID Reconstruction

A virtual RAID 5 environment is created using clean, read-only images of the original disks. We test various permutations of drive order and rebuild status to identify a configuration where logical volume headers, file systems, and directory structures are intact.

If the rebuild introduced incorrect data, the system reverts to a pre-rebuild state using parity recovery algorithms to reconstruct damaged files.

Step 4: File System Repair & Extraction

Once the logical RAID volume is mounted, we:

  • Scan for NTFS or EXT file systems
  • Repair corrupt MFT entries or inode tables
  • Recover inaccessible directories and orphaned files
  • Export data to secure external storage with full directory integrity

Special care is taken to prioritise business-critical user data such as shared folders, finance systems, and internal document storage.

Supported HP Server Platforms

We support data recovery from:

  • HP ProLiant ML/DL series (e.g. DL380, ML350)
  • HP Smart Array Controllers (P410, P420, P440, etc.)
  • RAID levels: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50
  • Hot spare configurations
  • HP-integrated NAS and SAN appliances

Supported File Systems and Environments

  • Windows Server 2003 / 2008 / 2012 / 2016 / 2019
  • Linux-based storage (e.g., CentOS, Ubuntu, Red Hat)
  • File Systems: NTFS, ReFS, EXT3/4, XFS, VMFS, ZFS

Why Choose Coventry Data Recovery?

  • 25+ years of RAID recovery expertise
  • Cleanroom imaging and forensic cloning
  • Certified PC-3000 RAID diagnostics
  • Recovery from RAID rebuild failures
  • Trusted by IT firms, manufacturers & enterprise clients
  • Free diagnostics and no-recovery, no-fee policy

Contact Our RAID Experts Today

If your HP server won’t boot after a failed RAID rebuild, do not attempt further rebuilds, reformatting, or filesystem repairs. These can reduce your chances of successful recovery. Our team of RAID data specialists are available for rapid diagnostics and professional recovery.

📞 Contact Coventry Data Recovery now to begin your HP server recovery process.