HPE · Dell EMC · Cisco · NetApp · Pure · Nimble · SmartIOPS · ScaleFlux
Enterprise and OEM storage SSD data recovery. Drives under a storage vendor's label, recovered as the array they came from.
Enterprise SSDs reach us under HPE, Dell EMC, Cisco, Lenovo, NetApp, Pure Storage and Nimble part numbers, and underneath they are Samsung PM-series, Micron 7450 and 9400, Kioxia CD and CM, Solidigm D5 and D7, Seagate Nytro or WD Ultrastar drives with vendor firmware and sometimes unusual sector formats. They are nearly always one member of an array, and they are recovered as that array: every member imaged, the set reassembled in software, the volumes and virtual machines mounted from the images. Niche makers such as SmartIOPS, Nimbus Data and ScaleFlux are assessed case by case. Multi-drive sets start at £500 + VAT and enterprise storage at £1,250 + VAT, with one figure in writing after the free look.
Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
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Models we see, family by family.
Which kind of drive is it →| Family | Models | Controller commonly reported |
|---|---|---|
| Server OEM | HPE MO, VO and MK part numbers; Dell EMC and PowerEdge; Cisco UCS; Lenovo ThinkSystem | Samsung, Micron, Kioxia, Solidigm, WD and Seagate with vendor firmware |
| Array shelves | NetApp X-series; Pure Storage FlashArray modules; Nimble; EMC Unity and VNX | Vendor firmware; 520 and 528-byte formats |
| Niche | SmartIOPS Data Engine; Nimbus ExaDrive; ScaleFlux computational storage | Case by case |
What tends to go wrong on a Enterprise and OEM storage.
Enterprise and OEM storage symptoms, and how long each gives you.
Not listed? Describe it on the form →What the message means on a Enterprise and OEM storage.
Describe yours to us →| What you see | The usual reason | Where that leaves you |
|---|---|---|
| Not in the BIOS, or at the wrong size | Firmware or controller fault with the flash intact | Recovered through the original controller |
| Read-only | Firmware protecting worn flash, or a documented firmware fault | Usually fully readable |
| Health falling fast in the maker's tool | Real wear, or a reporting fault | Back up now; a warning, not yet a recovery |
| Dead after a firmware update | The write stopped half-way | Loader in RAM; map from the service area |
From the box arriving to your files going back.
Work we have closed →Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free
A case number goes on it the day the parcel is opened, and an engineer settles what has actually failed before anything else happens. The drive is read on our own equipment, never in a computer that might send it a TRIM command. Back to you come two things together: a straight note of what is liftable and what is not, plus one figure, fixed and written down. Accept it, or decline and owe us nothing.
Powered on our terms
Every power-on gives a failing SSD another chance to run its own housekeeping. Here the drive is brought up in the controller's diagnostic state instead, which lets the bench speak to the flash directly and keeps damaged firmware out of the conversation.
Past the fault, to the map
Working code is loaded into the controller's memory rather than onto the flash, the service area is read, and the translation table is rebuilt from what is there. Where the controller itself is dead, the chips are read one by one and the controller's scrambling and error correction are undone in software.
A full image, then the volume
Nothing is worked on live. The whole drive is imaged once, weak pages retried in their own passes, and the file system is put back together on the image. Encrypted volumes are unlocked there too, with the key you supply, and never on the original.
You see the file list before you pay
What was recovered is listed for you first, and only then does a bill exist. Approve the list and it is invoiced; turn it down and it is not — and where nothing has come back, most jobs carry no charge at all. Recovered data travels home on fresh media bought in for your job, with the postage at our end. Your case is not closed until you have opened the files on a machine of your own.
From the bench
- In-house controllers encrypt in hardware, whether or not you ever set a password. The flash read on its own is ciphertext, so recovery runs through the original controller, which usually can be revived.
- There is no third-party routine to borrow. The maker's own diagnostic state is the way in, and the bench knows it family by family.
- Do not run the maker's tool on a drive already misbehaving. Its firmware update and its optimisation both write to the drive.
What helps, and what harms.
Do this much first
- Power it off and leave it off
- Note the firmware version if the maker's tool still shows it
- Tell us whether BitLocker or FileVault was on
- Send the bare drive
What sets us back
- Running Secure Erase, optimisation or a firmware update
- Letting Windows initialise it
- Putting it in a USB enclosure to test
- Sending it to a shop for a controller swap — it does not work that way
Questions answered before you commit.
Can you recover a single SSD from our Pure or NetApp array?
A single member of an array holds fragments. The array is recovered as a set: every member imaged, labelled by slot, and the set reassembled from the images with the array's own metadata. Talk to us before anything is rebuilt.
Which controller does a Enterprise and OEM storage SSD use?
More than one, depending on the model and the year. The free look identifies the controller family before anything is attempted, and that decides the route in: a Phison drive, a Silicon Motion drive and an in-house design are each recovered differently.
What does it cost?
£300 + VAT for one drive after the free look, fixed in writing before any chargeable work. On most jobs no data means no bill.
How long does it take?
3–5 days at the bench after the free look. Priority handling is quoted separately when you ask for it.
Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.
Nothing gets worse while the power is off.
Looking at it is free. Back comes a list of what opened and what did not, together with a single price to finish, set down in writing while you are still free to say no. On most jobs an invoice only follows the data. Until that list reaches you, leave the drive switched off.