Do I have any options to recover my Raid?

[fadec]

I am trying to recover from a crashed system and I'm looking for my best options. I was running WinXP/SP3 with a stripped Raid-0 for my files very large files on a self built Intel server. When the C: drive crashed I tried to load a new drive with WinXP again just as I did when I built the original system, but WinXP now does not recognize my scsi drives. Even though I'm using the very same drivers I used originally. Anyway, I was able to install Server 2003 instead, but now Server 2003 can not start my Adaptec ASC-39320A controller card. I tried every driver I could find and nothing seems to be working. Windows will not start the device. I have not figured out if this is a driver or a configuration issue. To which is why I'm seeking help here.

I am considering a couple directions to go. First is to continue trying to get the old server with Server 2003 to start my controller or Second move the controller and and all the drives as a single unit to another server. I have a spare Dell Power Edge 2500 that I pulled from the garage that is also running Server 2003. Would it be better to try and move everything to the other server or continue fighting with the old server?

Bare in mind the info on this Raid is irreplaceable and VERY much worth doing everything possible to save. (A very large unedited movie and a few Root CA Keys lay in the balance of my pulling off this recovery.)

I have built several servers before, but never tried to move a controller card and drives to another server. So, I'm a bit behind the learning curve on this one. The way it sounds all the raid info is kept on the drives and as long as I move everything with the card over, it "should" work. The thing is I just want to make sure I'm not making a huge mistake BEFORE I do anything.

Thanks for any help you guys can share.

 

[tokencode]

Download a copy of R-studio (r-tt.com) and connect the drives to a regular SCSI controller (non-RAID). Image each drive to a new, good drive (you'll need double the capcity of the RAID volume in total). You can then use R-Studio to rescontruct the stripe set and read the data. The more drives in your stripe, the harder it will be to align properly. Also remember to tag the drives with their original positions before removing them. Do not attempt to do anything until you have images of the drives and work with the images rather than the original drives.

 

[fadec]

Though this is a good plan, I just don't have the budget to buy 16 250gig scsi drives to accomplish this task.

 

[tokencode]

You just need the equivalent size, not the identical drives. Get a 2x2TB external and you should be good although slow.