Question : Problem: 3TB Raid 5 Array Volume disappeared after power outtage, need recovery advice

We are using 3 Promise UltraTrak100 TX8 raid towers with 24drives at Raid 5. We have a rackmount computer that uses a small volume from the array for its Win2000 OS, then a second D drive volume containing the rest of the 3TB. We had a power outtage and now we cannot see the D volume. In event viewer we got a : "dmboot: Failed to start volume2(D:)" Im just looking for alternatives to sending the drives out to be recovered. Any input would be appreciated.

Answer : Problem: 3TB Raid 5 Array Volume disappeared after power outtage, need recovery advice

I work with Promise controllers on a regular basis installed on servers though.

So here's my two bits worth:

What may have happened is the BIOS got a little spike and lost the array configuration. Enter the configuration utility at boot and see what arrays are defined. You should see your O/S array which you say is ok. The other will not be there. You should be able to redefine the array without initialising it. Once that is done you can boot into the O/S and you should see the partition.

I suppose I should ask, does the cabinet have a display for configuration information? The above will be done by rebooting the cabinet.

During boot make sure the configuration display during BIOS initialisation indicates both arrays.

You probably haven't lost any data. If worst comes to worst I have recovered lost partitions from Promise arrays before with Ontrack's Easy Recovery Pro. Hopefully the drives weren't too fragmented. Be warned though...for me 75 GB took overnight for the software to read. Once that was done the recovery process took about 4 hours if I remember right.

I do hope this helps,

Phil.