Windows Server Dynamic Disks Mirror Failure

Question

I have a server that has 2 dynamic Sata drives in software RAID 1 setup.

It appears the master drive has physically failed but the mirror drive seems healthy.

I cannot read data from them and the server they were attached to has also failed.

Can I move the single drive that seems "healthy" to another device and access the data without the other drive that wont even spin ?

Any assist is welcome.

Answer 1

Hi Admin,

Good day.

Here are some steps you can consider:

1. Before attempting anything, if you have any chance of accessing the data, make a backup. If you have a recent backup, that's great! If not, proceed with caution.
2. Ensure that the file system used by your RAID setup (e.g., NTFS, ext4) is compatible with the new device you plan to connect the healthy drive to. If the file systems are different, you might need to convert or mount them appropriately.
3. Make sure the new system recognizes the drive.
4. Once connected, check if you can access the data on the healthy drive. If it's readable, copy the necessary files to a safe location.
5. If your RAID setup was managed by software (e.g., Windows Dynamic Disks, Linux mdadm), the new system might not recognize the RAID configuration. You won't have the redundancy of RAID 1, but you can still access the data from the healthy drive.

Remember that RAID 1 mirrors data across both drives, so ideally, you'd want both drives to access all the data. However, in your case, the healthy drive might still contain usable data. Proceed carefully and prioritize data safety.

Best Regards