Server and RAID case studies - Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd

FreeNAS Linux RAID

In Blog, Recovery of the day, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorSeptember 9, 2017

9/9/2017 – 4 Disk RAID-5 FreeNAS – Multiple HDD failures Work has recently been completed on a four disk RAID-5 network attached storage (NAS) device. The four disks came from …

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24 hour RAID disk data recovery

In Blog, Server Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorMay 9, 2016

Emergency 24-hour RAID array Data Recovery Business critical data can often require a fast data recovery service. CDR – Manchester Data Recovery Services – provides three levels of service. Fastest …

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Buffalo TeraStation RAID data recovery

In Blog, RAID Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorNovember 16, 2015

Four disk Buffalo TeraStation RAID array data recovery During the autumn of 2015, CDR – Manchester Data Recovery Services – has received a total of five Buffalo TeraStations for data …

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Thecus N3200 – 3 Disk RAID 5 recovery

In Blog, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study, Successful recovery by AdministratorJune 17, 2015

RAID-5 Recovery after a two disk failure Recently CDR received in a 3 disk Thecus RAID array. This was from a home user which was using a NAS to share …

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Apple XSERVE RAID Recovery – Unusual block ordering

In Blog, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study, Successful recovery by AdministratorDecember 4, 2014

Apple XSERVE – Non-standard RAID recovery. A recent CDR RAID-5 case study showed an example of a typical RAID-5 data recovery. This was considered to be ‘typical’ on the basis …

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Case study: Typical RAID-5 data recovery after multiple disk failure

In Blog, Server Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study, Successful recovery by AdministratorNovember 7, 2014

Methods to recover data from a RAID-5 Array RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks is used to provide increased storage reliability and less downtime. The two most common implementation …

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Fire and smoke damage – SAS HDD RAID Data Recovery

In Blog, Manchester Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorJuly 2, 2014

Critical RAID server data recovery from Manchester fire. This case study relates to a job CDR received a few months ago. The circumstances were particularly unfortunate with regards to how …

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December RAID follow up

In Blog, RAID Data Recovery, Server Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorJanuary 22, 2012

RAID Array Data Recovery follow-up. Following the Christmas time post regarding the six RAID arrays Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd received in during December, I thought it might be useful to …

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HP/Compaq Servers – they’re not like other RAIDs

In Blog, Server Data Recovery, Server/RAID Array Recovery Case Study by AdministratorDecember 9, 2011

HP/Compaq RAID Recovery – Delay Your Parity. In the past week CDR – Manchester Data Recovery Services has received two HP/Compaq servers in for recovery. These servers / RAID controllers …

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Cheadle DATA Recovery Ltd5.0

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James White

3 weeks ago

I had a new M.2 NVME drive fail on me with all my project files on so needed to do data recovery, after a bit of looking around my local area I got directed to Cheadle data recovery as the places I enquired with locally didn't deal with M.2 devices I initially called to seek quotations and John was friendly, polite and professional whilst answering any questions I had about the process, reassuring me that I was dealing with someone who knew what they were doing and giving me confidence that I wouldn't be left short as they operate on a "no recovery, no fee" basis Even going so far as to give follow up advice afterwards regarding how to create backups and other solutions to prevent this from happening in future. I really appreciate you going the extra mile and I cannot thank you enough for getting me my lost time back

Response from the owner:Hello James, thanks for the review. I am glad it was possible to make a good recovery of your failed Corsair 2TB SSD (CSSD-F2000GBMP600). The NAND had degraded and had resulted in a failure of the firmware. On receipt the SSD was stuck in a safe/engineering mode showing a capacity of 0MB. Best regards, John C. Reid.

Phill Dixon

3 weeks ago

Spoke to John at Cheadle Data Recovery about an enterprise grade HDD that needed recovery. He was completely upfront that the helium filled nature meant it was out of scope but hen spent a great deal of time and effort putting me in contact with places that could. He has made absolutely nothing off my call but spent 40 mins trying to help and recommending other very specialist recovery firms that could potentially help and explaining the process. Absolutely brilliant service

Response from the owner:Hello Phill, thank you for the review. Helium filled HDDs present a major technical challenge for data recovery companies when the mechanical components have failed within the HDD. I am not aware of any UK based data recovery company that has a proven success record when working on mechanical failed helium filled hard disks. As such I recommend HelpDisc/HDDSurgery in Serbia or Morde in Portugal who are making genuine recovery attempts on these disks. Both of which perform work on a 'no-recovery, no-fee' basis, and do not charge for the donor HDD. Unfortunately, I am aware of certain UK based data recovery companies which have charged £1000+ upfront for a recovery attempt on a helium filled disk, where no data has been subsequently recovered, and then on inspection of the disk it has been found that no work has actually taken place. As such, I advise those people with Helium filled HDDs to be cautious of some claims made by certain data recovery companies regarding their technical capabilities and to check the terms of work before any payment is made to the company. Whilst CDR does not work on mechanically failed helium HDDs, we do still work on helium HDDs which have suffered failure associated with the firmware, printed circuit board, bad sectors/degraded media and corruption of the filesystem. Best regards, John C. Reid.

RDC Creative Media

1 month ago

I have used Cheadle Data Recovery twice now for failed hard drives, John was so helpful and informative about both jobs and he went above and beyond to make sure that I was completely satisfied. I would HIGHLY recommend Cheadle Data Recovery to anyone looking for help with recovery issues. John is flexible, down to earth and just an all round great guy. I will be using him again if I ever have any issues!

Response from the owner:Hello Rudie, I am glad we were able to bring the job to a positive conclusion and I appreciate the unsolicited review. Best regards, John C. Reid.

LM M

1 month ago

I’m not usually someone who posts reviews, but in this case, I felt it was absolutely warranted. My only regret is that I didn’t find Dr. John Reid sooner. Before reaching him, I had already wasted time, money, and a great deal of emotional energy. I had almost accepted that everything on my Toshiba 2TB drive my personal work, studies, sentimental family photos and videos, and professional work dating back to 2022 was gone for good. Other so-called “professionals” either refused to take on the job due to its complexity or simply didn’t have the expertise. As a last resort, I emailed John one evening. By 9:00am the next morning, he had already called me. From the start, he was thorough, clear in his explanations, and completely upfront about costs and realistic expectations. I really appreciated that he didn’t offer false hope and maintained professionalism throughout. I decided to take a chance and made a 70-minute journey with a small glimmer of hope. When I arrived, John didn’t just take the hard drive and send me away he took the time to explain in detail what the issue might be, the possible solutions, and even gave me advice on how to care for hard drives in the future. He promised an update by the end of the day and he delivered. After I clarified that the drive was 2TB rather than 1TB, he provided a revised quote, which I agreed to. I placed my trust in him while keeping my expectations realistic. Throughout the process, John kept me informed. When he said recovery might be possible, I remained cautiously optimistic. Then came the moment of truth: I received a link showing which files were recoverable. To my amazement, only a minimal number were damaged. The relief and happiness I felt seeing those files again is hard to put into words. I truly cannot thank John enough. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone. The journey was absolutely worth it for such a professional and dedicated service—and I will definitely return with other devices I had previously given up on. Thank you so much, John.

Response from the owner:Hello "LM M", I am not sure which job/disk this refers to, but thank you for taking the time to write the review and the sentiments. It's worth noting that you chose to visit in person, and it was possible for me to inspect your device during your visit. Unfortunately, on Google Maps a number of data recovery companies have created fake office listings in Manchester (and other city centres) where there are no staff, only a PO Box/Virtual Office. Best regards, Dr John C. Reid.

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FreeNAS Linux RAID

24 hour RAID disk data recovery

Buffalo TeraStation RAID data recovery

Thecus N3200 – 3 Disk RAID 5 recovery

Apple XSERVE RAID Recovery – Unusual block ordering

Case study: Typical RAID-5 data recovery after multiple disk failure

Fire and smoke damage – SAS HDD RAID Data Recovery

December RAID follow up

HP/Compaq Servers – they’re not like other RAIDs

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CDR – Closed: 27th May to 5th June, 2026.

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