Enterprise failures are usually a chain rather than an event — a disk, then a rebuild, then a failover that did not complete. Reconstruction works bottom up through every layer the vendor stacked, and each depends on the one beneath it being right. Which is why this starts with a conversation rather than a price.
$ mdr diagnose /dev/san → Array: Dell EMC Unity · 24 × 1.8 TB · RAID 5 → Status: POOL OFFLINE — 2 disks failed in pool → Client: confidential · Manchester M2 $ mdr engineer-working → Member disks: all 24 imaged read-only → Storage pool: rebuilt off the array → LUNs: remapped · volumes back $ mdr verify → ✓ datastores — 31 TB → ✓ VMs — restored → ✓ SAN recovered — data back
On enterprise storage the LUN layout, host mappings and pool metadata matter as much as the disks. Export the configuration or photograph the management screens while you still can, and do not let the system rebuild, reinitialise or expand while a fault is unresolved.
SAN recovery is quoted after a conversation rather than from a price list, and that conversation is short if you have five things to hand.
Dell EMC, HPE, NetApp, IBM, Hitachi — and which family. Layouts differ enough between generations that this changes the estimate.
Group sizes, levels, how many shelves, and whether hot spares were in use and had started rebuilding.
Which LUNs existed, roughly what size, and which hosts they were presented to. A configuration export is ideal; a photograph of the screen is genuinely useful.
It changes the reconstruction materially, because allocated blocks and logical addresses are no longer the same thing.
A rebuild, an expansion, a controller failover that did not complete, a reinitialisation. This is the single most important item on the list and the one people are most reluctant to volunteer.
SAN failures tend to be a sequence rather than an event, which is also why the account of what happened matters.
Nothing can be skipped, which is why this is quoted as a project.
Every member across every shelf is imaged read-only first — that alone is often days on a large array. From those images the RAID groups are reassembled by deriving geometry from the data rather than trusting vendor metadata that may describe a state that no longer exists.
Above that, the storage pool is mapped, then the LUN boundaries located within it, then thin-provisioning metadata walked to find where allocated blocks actually sit, and only then does a file system or a VMFS datastore become visible. Each layer depends on the one beneath being right, so an error early on surfaces as nonsense much later — which is why reconstructions are verified at each stage rather than at the end.
Priced separately from server and RAID work because the job is materially larger.
SAN and enterprise storage recovery starts from £1,250 +VAT and is quoted after the scoping discussion rather than from a list — member count, shelf configuration, vendor format and what has already been attempted all bear on it. A 50% deposit applies with the balance on successful recovery.
Confidentiality is standard: NDAs signed as a matter of course, one named contact throughout, data remaining in the UK, and working copies destroyed on a schedule you set.
Get the affected pool's disks to us, and tell us the array make, model and RAID layout. The diagnostic that follows costs nothing, and one per-array figure goes in writing before any work begins.
Nothing starts until the affected pool's disks — labelled in slot order — to us, with the array make and model is on the bench. Pack it properly and put your contact details in with it. The diagnostic that follows costs nothing, and one figure goes in writing before any work begins.
Posting it? Use something tracked and insured — whatever is on the drive is worth considerably more than the postage. Bringing it in? Weekdays, 9am to 5:30pm, and it still wants packing as above for the journey.
Need a scoped quote first? Describe the array, RAID layout and fault on the form and an engineer will assess it and reply with a tailored per-array quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0161 871 0788.
The questions we’re asked most about recovering an enterprise SAN.
There are more layers and each depends on the one below. Disks into RAID groups, groups into pools, pools into thin-provisioned LUNs mapped to hosts. All of them must be reconstructed in order before a file system is even visible.
Usually. That pattern means pool or LUN metadata has been lost while the underlying storage is intact — the data is there and the description of how it is carved up is missing. It is reconstructed from images of the members.
Vendor and model, the RAID configuration, the LUN map, whether thin provisioning was enabled, and what has already been run. That last one matters most and shortens the job more than anything else on the list.
Yes — VMFS datastores and the VMDK files inside them, including where the LUN itself has to be reconstructed first. Hyper-V volumes are handled the same way.
As standard, with a single named contact throughout and all data remaining in the UK. Most enterprise clients require it and we would expect to regardless.
From £1,250 plus VAT, quoted after a scoping discussion. Member count, shelf configuration and vendor format all affect it. A 50% deposit applies with the balance on successful recovery.
These are quoted individually rather than listed, because member count, shelf configuration and vendor layout all move the figure. Send the shelves complete with their controllers where you can.
From £1,250 +VAT, quoted per array — member count, shelf configuration and vendor format all move the figure, which is why this one is scoped rather than listed. A 50% deposit applies, with the balance on success.