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Last May, a company operating in a critical sector (management of pharmaceutical facilities in Belgium) was faced with a major outage. Following the saturation of a NAS device, the main virtual machine (VM) became completely unusable. In this context of extreme urgency, their IT maintenance partner contacted Recoveo’s emergency response team.
After an initial analysis by our engineers, the recovered VM was in pieces…
According to our engineers, the NAS could not have caused this. There were also no traces of ransomware.
Our engineers then considered a failed reconstruction that had led to significant corruption.
Following a technical call with the client during Whit Monday, the storage media was shipped and received on Tuesday evening: a physical disk containing the damaged VM, along with a backup of it dating back to early January.
Recoveo’s expertise in the face of unprecedented NTFS and MFT corruption
Our engineers began scanning: no NTFS structure, no MFT remaining. Unexplained corruption. A manual repair using the January backup yielded very little—only a few lines from 2026, barely anything of substance!
Faced with the total absence of NTFS structure and Master File Table (MFT), our R&D engineers deployed an advanced manual reconstruction methodology. Although the NAS could not be sent to the laboratory, we ultimately managed to extract all the data by reconstructing SQL tables to obtain the equivalent of an MDF (Master Data File), but in memory rather than physically. Once this was completed, using our proprietary analysis tool, we were able to generate a complete listing for the client.
A technical success: 7.8 million SQL data rows recovered
Thanks to our proprietary tools and R&D department, Recoveo achieved the following results:
- 90% of the database successfully recovered
- +30% additional recovery rate thanks to our proprietary tools and tailored R&D.
- From 30M rows in the January backup to 37.8M rows extracted!
- Zero-friction reinstallation: the client was able to reinstall the January database and merge it with the additional 30% recovered rows without installation (via a Microsoft SQL Server command).
- Data returned on 03/06/2026 for reintegration to begin the following day by the client
- Timeline: 1 week between receipt of the source data and delivery of the recovered data
What should I do immediately after data loss or corruption?
To maximize the chances of successful recovery, follow these instructions carefully:
- Immediately shut down the server or virtual machine hosting the database. This prevents overwriting of free space caused by system activity or SSD automatic processes (TRIM/UNMAP).
- Contact Recoveo experts for a free evaluation.
- Do not attempt any write operations on the affected system.
Can you recover Microsoft SQL Server databases from virtual environments or RAID servers?
Yes. Our teams specialize in rebuilding failed RAID volumes (RAID 5, RAID 6, etc.) and extracting files from corrupted virtual machines (VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, Proxmox), allowing access to SQL Server data directories.
Do I need to physically send my equipment to Recoveo?
Not at all. If your storage device (disk, server) does not have hardware failure (clicking noise, not detected), we can perform analysis and recovery of your Microsoft SQL Server database remotely via secure channels. In the event of physical damage, we will arrange transport of your drives to our clean room laboratory.
Need immediate assistance with a corrupted SQL database?
Request a free evaluation from our MSSQL engineers
