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So my server is about to die and all of a sudden my RAID5 isn't accessible anymore.

Is it possible to access the files on those drives some other way? Like maybe plugging them into another comp, cloning them and reconstructing the array with software?

My MOBO is an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe. I'm using the onboard RAID.

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What RAID controller are you using? What exactly are the symptoms you are experiencing? – David Schwartz Nov 20 '11 at 0:02
This is why people always stress "Backups, Backups and Backups." – surfasb Nov 20 '11 at 4:32
@surfasb that's not exactly the most helpful comment. The data isn't crucial, I'm just curious and I'd rather not have to re-download some of the larger files. – dcolumbus Nov 20 '11 at 5:36
@DavidSchwartz I'd updated my post. – dcolumbus Nov 20 '11 at 5:38
Use smart & mfg utilities to figure out which drive is dead. Replace drive, rebuild array on the new drive, and you're off to the races. Doesn't sound to me like you have anything complicated going on, unless you have multiple simultaneous drive failures. If however the drive that died is the one you've installed the bootloader on, you may need to do a bootloader repair. – Garrett Nov 20 '11 at 7:16
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Linux should have no problem accessing the drives through any controller. The onboard RAID is FakeRAID and Linux can do it in software easily. This assumes that no more than one of the drives are corrupt. Otherwise, it's basically hopeless.

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I believe it's only the one. I plugged the drives into my other PC that only has the 4 SATA ports and there was one drive that displays a status of "Error" at boot up. – dcolumbus Nov 20 '11 at 6:07
I've installed Ubuntu ... it can't see anything other than the host drive. What software is required? – dcolumbus Nov 20 '11 at 6:59
The tool that configured the RAID array is called dmraid. I believe the FakeRAID type you want is nvidia. – David Schwartz Nov 20 '11 at 7:03
Could you point me in the direction of what I need to do to solve my problem? I have no idea what do do with dmraid to access my files on the drives... – dcolumbus Nov 20 '11 at 11:43
Read the man page for dmraid. – David Schwartz Nov 23 '11 at 6:49

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