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SAN Data Recovery Sheffield

When shared storage fails, everything attached to it fails with it. We recover SAN environments — failed LUNs, corrupted VMFS volumes, broken storage pools — for businesses and IT providers across South Yorkshire.

Free diagnostic on every san job. Fixed quote before any work — and no fix, no fee.

// top 10 faults we recover from

The ten ways they fail

Every san job starts by matching the symptoms to the fault — these ten cover almost everything that reaches the bench.

Multi-drive failure in a RAID group

Enterprise shelves lose members in clusters — each drive is recovered and imaged individually first.

LUN offline or corrupted

The block device your servers depended on vanishes; it's rebuilt from the pool metadata upward.

Storage-pool metadata corruption

The map of how blocks form LUNs breaks — reconstruction works from the raw structures.

Failed firmware / controller update

Updates that brick controller pairs strand healthy data behind dead management.

Both controllers failed

Dual-controller redundancy dies together more often than the brochures admit — recovery goes drive-direct.

VMFS datastore corruption

The VMware layer breaks above healthy LUNs; datastores and VMDKs are parsed and repaired.

Deleted or reformatted LUN

Provisioning mistakes happen fast; recovery depends on how much was written after.

Broken snapshot chains

Snapshot-dependent volumes collapse when a link corrupts — chains are re-stitched at image level.

Thin-provisioning overrun

Pools that ran out of real blocks corrupt everything thin on them.

Cache / battery write-hole

Power events with dead cache batteries leave parity and data out of step across the group.

Enterprise storage, properly handled

SANs layer complexity: physical drives in RAID groups, pools carved into LUNs, and file systems or hypervisor datastores on top — often Dell EMC, HP MSA/EVA, IBM, NetApp or Fujitsu hardware. Recovery works down the same stack in reverse: image the physical drives, rebuild the RAID groups, reconstruct the pool metadata, then extract LUNs and the virtual machines or databases inside them. We regularly partner with in-house IT teams and MSPs, and can work to your change-control and confidentiality requirements.

Virtual machines and databases

Most SAN jobs are really VM jobs — the client needs three critical servers back, not a petabyte of raw blocks. We extract VMDK/VHDX files from rebuilt datastores, repair them where needed, and can prioritise specific databases (SQL, Exchange) so the business is running again before the full recovery completes.

// the equipment we use

A professional lab, not software guesswork

SAN work needs the connectivity as much as the recovery stack:

FC / SAS / iSCSI lab fabric

HBAs and interposers to attach enterprise shelves and drives natively, including 520/524/528-byte sector formats.

Parallel enterprise imaging

Whole RAID groups imaged simultaneously; failed members repaired on the PC-3000 bench first.

Pool & LUN reconstruction tools

Vendor metadata parsed and rebuilt — RAID groups → pools → LUNs → file systems, in that order.

VMFS / VMDK / VHDX parsers

Datastores mounted from reconstructed LUNs; virtual disks extracted and repaired individually.

Database-aware extraction

SQL Server, Exchange and similar workloads verified and prioritised so critical services restart first.

Write-blocked workflow throughout

Every original drive and shelf is read-only from arrival to hand-back.

// manufacturers & models

Top 10 SAN manufacturers we recover

Dell EMCHPENetAppIBMLenovoFujitsu ETERNUSHitachi VantaraPure StorageSynology / QNAP (rack)Seagate / Dot Hill

Systems on the bench most often

If your platform isn't listed, it's still likely familiar — enterprise storage recycles the same building blocks under different badges.

// before you post it

Sending it in — remove the drive if you can

Remove and clearly label every drive with its shelf and slot position before sending — enterprise arrays depend on exact drive order and layout. Send the labelled drives (photos of the original configuration help); the shelves and controllers can stay on site.

// getting your device to us

Post or courier your device — it's simple

Most customers post or courier their device to us — it arrives next morning, and the free diagnostic starts the day it lands.

Sending a drive from a computer, laptop, MacBook, iMac or server? Please remove the internal hard drive or SSD and send us just the drive — we don't provide an internal drive-removal service. If the storage is soldered in (e.g. Apple Silicon), call us first on 0800 689 0668.

  • Wrap the device in bubble wrap or a padded envelope — no need to include cables or power supplies.
  • Print and enclose the booking-in & shipping form (PDF) with your name, phone number and a brief description of what happened.
  • Send by Royal Mail Special Delivery or any tracked courier for full insurance in transit.
  • Prefer to hand it over in person? You can drop it in at reception at the address shown, Mon–Fri 9:00am–5:30pm.
// send your device to your nearest location

Leeds Data Recovery

17th Floor, The Pinnacle
Albion Street
Leeds, LS1 5AA

↓ Print the booking-in & shipping form (PDF)

Mark the package for the attention of Leeds Data Recovery and we'll call you as soon as we diagnose your media.

Not sure what to send? Call 0800 689 0668 first or use the free online diagnostic.

// san recovery questions

Common questions

Stop all write activity and don't reinitialise anything. Then call us with the make, model and layout as you know it — we'll advise whether drives, shelves or the whole unit should come to the lab.
Yes — VMFS recovery from reconstructed LUNs is one of our most common enterprise jobs. We extract the VMs you need first so critical services restart quickly.
Absolutely. We're happy to work under NDA, follow your change-control process, and hand over to your team for restoration once data is extracted.
Diagnostics on business-critical arrays are prioritised on arrival — tell us it's business-down when you call 0800 689 0668 and we'll plan the fastest safe route, including courier collection the same day where possible.
// related services

Also recovered here

Ready when you are.

Free diagnostic, fixed quote, no fix no fee — start now or call the freephone.