Securing a single HDD from a retired RAID 5 array

In most cases the array metadata on the disks will work with a controller from the same family. For example, the Mylex DAC-FFX series of SAN controllers would take arrays formatted on an ExtremeRAID 3000 card (which was essentially the same controller on a PCI card). The same is true of HP (nee Compaq) Smartarray 64xx and (I believe) PXXX controllers and MSA1K/2K series SANs.

If your RAID controller is from a different manufacturer/series then it will probably not work, however if it is within the same family from the same manufacturer, then it probably will. It is also quite likely to work on later models from the same manufacturer. Most Adaptec SCSI, SAS and SATA RAID controllers produced in about the past 10 years or so use essentially the same firmware. I guess that kit from LSI or 3Ware is similar in this respect, although I've never used them.

Note that some vendors like IBM and Dell sell OEM versions of controllers from third parties, and the models may come from different manufacturers. You would need to do your homework in this case with (for example) a Dell PERC or an IBM ServerRAID.

I hate to say "don't use SATA" in critical production environments, but I've seen this situation quite often. SATA drives are not generally meant for the duty cycle you describe, although you did spec drives specifically rated for 24x7 operation in your setup. My experience has been that SATA drives can fail in unpredictable ways, often times affecting the entire storage array, even when using RAID 1+0, as you've done. Sometimes the drives fail in a manner that can stall the entire bus. One thing to note is whether you're using SAS expanders in your setup. That can make a difference in how the remaining disks are impacted by a drive failure.

But it may have made more sense to go with midline/nearline (7200 RPM) SAS drives versus SATA. There's a small price premium over SATA, but the drives will operate/fail more predictably. The error-correction and reporting in the SAS interface/protocol is more robust than the SATA set. So even with drives whose mechanics are the same, the SAS protocol difference may have prevented the pain you experienced during your drive failure.