A crashed volume, a NAS that won’t boot, a rebuild that failed, or shares deleted by mistake? We recover Synology, QNAP and every other make — SHR, Btrfs and ext4 — imaging every disk and rebuilding the volume off the box, so a dead NAS never means lost data.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/nas → NAS: Synology DS920+ · 4 × 4 TB · SHR → Status: VOLUME CRASHED — disk dropped, Btrfs damaged → Client: confidential · Wallsend NE1 3DY $ bdr engineer-working → Member disks: all 4 imaged read-only → SHR + LVM: reassembled off the box → Btrfs: repaired · volume mounted $ bdr verify → ✓ shares — 11.2 TB → ✓ photos + backups — restored → ✓ NAS recovered — data back
If your NAS is showing a crashed or degraded volume, has dropped a disk, or won’t boot, stop right there — don’t let it repair, rebuild or re-sync. Rebuilding writes to the disks and can bury the very data we’re after, and a NAS disk dropped into a Windows PC will be prompted to format. Shut the unit down, jot down which disk sat in which bay, and call us. The first attempt at recovery is always the safest one.
From a crashed volume to a NAS that won’t boot, these are the NAS failures we recover from most — volume, hardware, rebuild and logical.
Every NAS comes through — Synology, QNAP, WD, NETGEAR, Buffalo and the rest — across every RAID level, SHR, Btrfs and ext4, from a two-bay box up to a rack of bays. The make sets the method; it doesn’t decide whether we can help.
Synology (DSM, SHR, Btrfs), QNAP (QTS), WD My Cloud, NETGEAR ReadyNAS, Buffalo TeraStation, Asustor, TerraMaster and Drobo · RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and SHR · ext4 and Btrfs · 2-bay, 4-bay, 8-bay and rack units, plus expansion bays.
NAS recovery means reading your data off the disks, not the box. A NAS keeps everything on a Linux RAID volume — not a format Windows can read — so we image every disk, reassemble the array and file system, and recover your shares independently of the NAS itself.
Give us the NAS — make, how many bays, RAID type, what went wrong. We assess it and send a written quote, usually inside 48 hours. Make a note of each disk’s bay if you can.
Every disk in the NAS, failing ones included, is imaged read-only on specialist hardware — so all the work runs on copies and your originals are never touched.
Where a disk has failed mechanically or electronically, we repair it — swapping heads, rebuilding the board — enough to image it. Drive-level repairs need 50% of the fee upfront.
We reassemble the RAID or SHR array, the LVM layer and the ext4 or Btrfs file system from the images — exactly as the NAS had it, off the box.
We extract your shared folders, files, photos, backups, virtual machines and snapshots from the rebuilt volume, pulling the most consistent copy of the data.
We check the recovered shares and files actually open and are complete before any of it comes back to you.
We return your data on a fresh drive or NAS sized for the volume, ready to put back into service.
Every NAS — Synology, QNAP, WD, NETGEAR and the others — recovered by imaging every disk and rebuilding the RAID or SHR volume off the box, so a dead NAS never means lost shares.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
Clear, tiered pricing for NAS recovery — with a free diagnostic and a quote in writing before any work starts.
A handful of recent NAS recoveries across crashed volumes, dead boxes, failed rebuilds and reconfiguration. Identifying details removed, every result verified.
A disk had failed and the Btrfs volume corrupted. We imaged all four, reassembled the SHR array and recovered every share.
The NAS hardware was dead but the disks were intact. We rebuilt the RAID 5 volume off the box and recovered the lot.
Neither disk was fully dead. We repaired and imaged each, then rebuilt the mirror to recover the family photos.
The rebuild had partly overwritten the volume. We imaged every disk and reconstructed the original layout to recover it.
The box had failed but the disk was healthy. We read the Linux volume off it and recovered everything.
Little new had been written. We reconstructed the original SHR volume and recovered the shares and backups.
Real client stories from our two-decade testimonial archive.
We had a Qnap Raid 5 eight disk system. Two of the hard disk failed, we replaced disks and attempted a rebuild. After rebuild completed system would not start. We had business critical accounts, SQL Database and Exchange Database on Qnap server. Newcastle Data Recovery provided us with reassurance from the start that they could recover the data. They got the system in on Thursday and we downloaded the SQL and Exchange files from them on Sunday afternoon so all staff could work as normal on Monday. 1st class customer service.
I run a small photography business and our Drobo 5N Raid 5 External NAS system stopped working last week. We contacted Drobo support but they could not do anything. You guys recovered all our clients data within 4 days and backed up the 8tb of data onto 2 external drives. Great expertise and good communication.
Send the device in for its free diagnostic and tell us briefly what happened; an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before anything starts.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
The things people most often ask us about recovering a NAS unit.
Usually not. A crashed volume normally means a disk has dropped out or the Btrfs or ext4 file system is damaged, not that the data’s gone. We image every disk, reassemble the SHR or RAID array and repair the volume to recover your shares. Don’t let the NAS repair or rebuild it first.
Usually, yes. A NAS that won’t boot has almost always failed at the box — the mainboard or power — while the disks inside are fine. Once you take the disks out and send them to us, we rebuild the volume off the box and recover your shares, so you don’t even need the NAS working.
No — and please don’t try. A NAS stores data on a Linux RAID volume with an ext4 or Btrfs file system, which Windows can’t read, and it will offer to initialise or format the disk, which destroys the data. Bring us the disks and we’ll rebuild the volume properly.
Yes, please — send every disk, failed ones included, and note which bay each came from if you can. NAS recovery works by reassembling the volume from all the disks together, and even a dead disk often holds data we need to fill the gaps.
Two-bay NAS mirror recoveries start at £500 + VAT. Multi-bay units — RAID 5, 6, 10 and SHR — start at £800 + VAT, depending on the number of disks and the work involved. Every job opens with a free diagnostic and a written quote, and most are no fix, no fee.
On most jobs, yes. For drive-level repairs we take a 50% deposit upfront and the rest is only due if we recover your data — so if we can’t, you’re not left with the full bill.
Every make — Synology, QNAP, Western Digital, NETGEAR, Buffalo, Asustor, TerraMaster, Drobo and the rest, every RAID level and SHR, ext4 and Btrfs. The make decides the method, not whether the data can be recovered.
Sometimes. NAS units are a common ransomware target, and where there are unencrypted files, snapshots or earlier versions left, we can often recover those. Ransomware that’s fully encrypted the volume needs special handling, so ask us about that separately — and don’t pay anything before you do.
Usually, yes. More NAS volumes are lost to a failed rebuild than to anything else, precisely because rebuilding writes to the disks. We halt it, take a read-only image of every disk and rebuild the original SHR or RAID array from those copies — so a rebuild that went wrong seldom means the end.
Most two-bay NAS units are done within 3 to 4 working days. Multi-bay units usually take 4 to 7 working days, depending on the number of disks and whether any need drive-level repair first. The free diagnostic is normally finished within 48 hours, and urgent business cases can often be prioritised.
For a NAS you can do it either way: send the unit whole, or take the disks out yourself and send just the disks — both are fine. If you remove the disks, label which bay each came from and pack them so they can’t knock together. Drop it off at our Newcastle location Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, or post it fully insured, and include your name, address, phone number and email so we can book it in and quote before any work begins.
Less than you’d think. The badge on the front — Synology DiskStation, QNAP, Buffalo LinkStation or TeraStation, Netgear ReadyNAS, WD My Cloud, D-Link ShareCenter, LaCie, Iomega — matters far less than the platform underneath, which is nearly always Linux RAID (mdadm and LVM) or a vendor variant of it. Whatever the make, every member disk is imaged first, before any array logic is touched.
A free diagnostic, clear tiered pricing from £500 for multi-bay units, and no fix no fee on most jobs — every NAS recovered, Synology, QNAP and the rest, off the box. Begin your recovery today.