Author: James Walsh Added: August 31, 2007
<b>How would You Distinguish Good Ones from the Bad?</b>
Today, there is hardly an organisation or individual connected to the modern economy which does not use information technology in its routine operations. In small or big offices and individual homes, everywhere you will find computers being used to execute a mind-boggling array of tasks. Accountants, writers, engineers, doctors, airlines, banks, insurance companies, corporate executives, travellers, almost every one benefits from the ease, convenience and power of digital devices.
These devices have one main purpose – to generate and process data that can be applied in a variety of ways. This data – the lifeblood of modern economy – is crunched by computers and other digital equipment to deliver results. Is it any wonder that the most dreaded word in the digital world today is “data loss.” It is a serious problem that can have fatal consequences for many companies which have totally digitised their information flow and depend on digital technology for carrying out day-to-day operations.
Data can be lost in many ways. Most of the data of organisations is stored on the hard disks of desktop computers and servers. The hard disk is a very complex piece of engineering. There are a dozen things that can go wrong with it without notice, related to hardware or software. The read / write head may crash on the surface of the platters, the spindle motor that spins the platters may develop a fault and the controller card or circuit board may get spoilt.
Software-related errors include deletion of files accidentally by the user, termination of hard disk partitions, corruption of system files and a virus attack. Sometimes, there may be a natural or man-made disaster like fire, flood, storm, electric surge, lightning strike and earthquake that may damage the company premises and destroy all data.
Data loss is nothing unexpected. It is very much a certainty. The question is not “if”, but “when?” There is hardly any individual or company that has not gone through some kind of data loss over the years. In some cases, it can be an absolute catastrophe. Just imagine a full-length movie residing on the hard disk of an editing studio disappearing in an instant due to a hard disk crash! An astronomical sum of money goes down the drain and the entire future of the company is put at stake.
There are two ways you can get your data back. For minor software errors like accidental deletion of files, there is a variety of DIY software available online that can downloaded. You just have to follow the simple instructions and recover the file. However, in cases of hardware-related failure or where the data loss is severe or the files are so critical that you must absolutely get them back, there is no option but to approach a professional data recovery company.
Such companies have the proper infrastructure required to extract data from damaged storage media like hard disks, CDs, DVDs, flash memory cards and tape drives. The most important such facility is a clean room. It is an enclosed space where the air flow is strictly regulated and all impurities from it removed to make it as clean as possible. In this clean room, dust-sensitive media like hard disks can be safely opened, repaired and sealed again, or data extracted and handed back to the customer.
Apart from the clean room, another crucial thing is an experienced and qualified technical team, since any infrastructure is only as good as the people running it.
How to choose a data recovery company to whom your crucial and precious data can be entrusted for extraction? As a rule, steer clear of all outfits whose only USP is their low cost. Such companies are surely cutting corners somewhere and may not have the entire infrastructure or outsourcing your work to some other company that may even be cheaper. Ask about the clean room. If a company has its own clean room, that is a signal that it is serious about data recovery and its commitment is backed by required investments.
Consider how old a company is. If it has been in business for a long time, this would have given it good experience and ensured that its technical staff got exposed to a wide range of data recovery challenges and situations. Also, things like the size of staff and a reputed client list can also separate men from the boys in the business of data recovery.
Go for companies which offer free no-strings-attached consultation and examination of your damaged data device and give you an estimate beforehand about how much it will cost and the time it will take. Choose an outfit which has a ‘no-data, no-charge’ policy so that you do not get any nasty surprises later.
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on <a href="http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk">Data Recovery</a> see http://www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk
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