This case study documents the successful emergency restoration of a 65 GB PostgreSQL 12.0 database following a severe storage subsystem malfunction. By utilizing low-level data carving to bypass missing system files, the AS Data Recovery team achieved 100% data integrity.

Client & Data Information

• Client Name: Confidential
• Data Type: PostgreSQL 12.0
• Data Capacity: 65 GB
• Primary Issue: Storage Hardware Anomaly / Missing Data Files / Startup Failure
• Recovery Tools: Proprietary sql110PGrecovery suite

Incident Summary

The client’s production server suffered a storage-level anomaly that led to the partial loss of underlying PostgreSQL data files (located in the base/ directory). Following the incident, the client attempted a self-recovery by moving files and restarting the service. However, because critical metadata files and Write-Ahead Log (WAL) segments were among the missing data, the PostgreSQL 12 engine failed to initialize, preventing access to the remaining 65 GB of business data.

Technical Analysis

Upon forensic analysis of the PostgreSQL storage directory, AS Data Recovery engineers identified:

• Catalog Inconsistency: The System Catalog tables (which contain the OID mapping for user tables) were partially corrupted or missing.
• Header Mismatches: The remaining data files showed versioning inconsistencies due to the improper shutdowns and manual recovery attempts.
• Data Persistence: Despite the logical failure of the database engine, a deep-sector scan confirmed that the Data Heaps—the actual pages containing row data—were still physically present on the disk platters.

[Image showing PostgreSQL 12.0 directory structure with focus on the base/OID folders]

Recovery Solution

The recovery strategy utilized Low-Level Heap Carving and Schema Reconstruction. Since the PostgreSQL 12 instance could not be started, our engineers bypassed the SQL layer. Using our proprietary sql110PGrecovery tool, we performed a raw binary scan of the remaining data files. By identifying the unique internal headers of PostgreSQL 12 data pages (8KB blocks), we were able to extract the table records directly from the binary stream without the need for the original system catalog.

Recovery Process

• Forensic Environment Setup: Created a sector-by-sector clone of the storage media to ensure the recovery process was non-destructive.
• Binary Signature Scanning: Utilized the sql110PGrecovery tool to scan all files for PostgreSQL page headers and tuple (row) signatures.
• Logical Table Re-mapping: Manually reconstructed the table structures by analyzing the data types (integers, varchars, timestamps) found within the carved blocks.
• Data Extraction: Successfully extracted the records into SQL format, bypassing the missing metadata.
• Final Restoration & Import: Imported the extracted data into a fresh, healthy PostgreSQL 12 instance and performed a full row-count audit.

Recovery Results

• Recovery Integrity: 100% (All critical tables successfully reconstructed)
• Recovered Volume: 65 GB
• System Status: Database fully operational on a new, stable server environment.
• Customer Satisfaction: Extremely Satisfied.

Expert Reminder from AS Data Recovery: When PostgreSQL fails to start due to “missing files,” do not try to ‘initialize’ a new database in the same directory. This will overwrite the headers of your original data files and make recovery significantly more difficult. Contact AS Data Recovery professionals immediately for low-level forensic parsing.