Data Recovery - What Does It Entail?

By Author: James Walsh
Total Articles: 68
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The converse is also true, that data recovery is a viable possibility in a majority of data loss scenarios. Simply speaking, data recovery is the process of retrieving data from corrupt or inaccessible media such as hard disks, CDs or tapes. It also involves salvaging deleted information from a storage device.

Generally speaking, a storage media loses data because of two reasons i.e. a physical damage or a logical damage. The tools used and the procedures followed by the data recovery experts tend to differ in both the scenarios.

Physical Damage

Storage devices may get physically damaged due to a variety of reasons. The data storing layer of CDs may get spoiled or scratched due to mishandling or exposure to heat and moisture. The hard drives may crash due to some damage to their internal mechanical or electronic components. In most of the cases, data recovery experts are often able to recover the data lost due to a physical damage. Many a times, it involves opening the storage media and replacing its damaged components with new ones. However, it requires state of the art data recovery tools and can ...
... be performed only under Class 100 Clean Room facilities.

Logical Damage

Logical damage occurs due to damage to a file system because of a variety of reasons such as power outages, human error or virus attacks. It often results in a file system left in an inconsistent state, which may be accompanied by a loss of data.

Often highly specialized and sometimes customized data recovery software is used by the data recovery firms, to salvage the lost data. It basically involves two approaches, which are consistency checking and zero-knowledge analysis. In consistency checking, the recovery software is used to check the Master File Table to locate and recover deleted or lost files. The zero-knowledge analysis involves scanning the entire disk to recover whatever data is retrievable.

Clean Room

A Class 100 Clean Room facility is an indispensable part of any genuine data recovery company. Most of the storage media available in the market are sensitive to even microscopic contaminants. A high-precision repair and handling of these sensitive devices necessitates a highly sanitized environment. The main purpose of a clean room is to keep temperature, humidity, air borne contaminants, light and other environmental parameters, strictly controlled, so as to dismantle and repair the fragile storage media.

A clean room requires various specialized filters such as Pre-filters, HEPA filters and Bag filters, which are inevitably required to be replaced on a regular basis. Often certified contractors are required to sanitize and maintain the clean rooms. All the furniture, tools, equipment, stationery, apparel, etc used inside a clean room are of approved standards. A clean room is not a one time investment, but a continuous process that needs to be financed and maintained till the company is in business. Hence, it involves a considerable investment and expenditure on a regular basis.

Why do Data Recovery Companies Charge so Much?

Time and again we come across opinions that suggest that data recovery companies often overcharge their customers. Most of the time it is owing to a lack of awareness about the way a data recovery firm works. The dearness of a data recovery service is inversely proportional to the value of the lost data. Well established data recovery companies often have to incur massive investments and expenditures to ensure a high success rate and customer satisfaction.

As we have already discussed, clean room facilities are almost indispensable for a data recovery company and demand large investments on a continuous basis. Data recovery companies often require highly skilled and experienced technical staff. Most of the times, the inexperienced staff are hired and trained at the in-house facilities over a long period of time. So as to keep pace with latest technical innovations, huge investments need to be made in developing in-house expertise and solutions. An assorted inventory of hardware and software tools needs to be maintained to successfully execute any type of recovery job. All this expenditure certainly justifies the prices charged by any genuine data recovery company. Success and satisfaction come at a cost, especially in the data recovery business.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk