RAID 1 Data Recovery
RAID 1 mirrors the same data onto two drives. It is common in small office servers, NAS units and desktop PCs, and it protects well against a single drive failure.
RAID 1 is not a backup, though. Deletions, ransomware and file system corruption are mirrored instantly, and it is common for the second drive to fail during or shortly after a rebuild – especially when both drives came from the same batch.
Common RAID 1 Failures
- Both drives failing within weeks of each other
- Rebuild started from the older or faulty drive, overwriting good data
- Mirror broken after a controller or motherboard replacement
- Accidental deletion or ransomware copied to both mirrors
- Drives appearing as foreign or unconfigured to the controller
How We Recover a RAID 1 Array
With a mirror, the key question is which disk holds the newest, most complete copy. We image both members, compare them sector by sector and check file system timestamps to identify a disk that dropped out earlier (a “stale” member). Where both disks have damaged areas, we merge the readable regions from each into one complete image before extracting your files.
Before You Do Anything
If your array has failed: do not force a rebuild, re-initialise the array, run CHKDSK/fsck, or swap drives between slots. Label every disk with its slot number, shut the system down cleanly if you can, and call us on 020 7064 4996. Most unrecoverable RAID cases we see were made worse by a rebuild attempted on the wrong disk.
See RAID & server data recovery for the servers, controllers and NAS systems we support.
Frequently asked questions
Both drives in my mirror have failed. Is it hopeless?
No. We often combine readable areas from both drives to build one complete copy, even when neither drive is fully readable on its own.
Free assessment, no obligation. Call 020 7064 4996 or use the form on this page – an engineer will tell you what can be recovered and what it will cost. Book online · Pricing · Locations