The other fields of science started taking interest in these rooms from the early 1960s. During this period, there were a plenty of improvements done to increase the quality of clean rooms.
Let us have a look at how the clean rooms are constructed and what purposes do these rooms serve.
What are Clean Rooms?
As stated above, the clean rooms provide an environment that contains very small amount of dust, microbes, chemical vapours, particulate matter such as aerosols and other pollutants. The air that enters a clean room is filtered by the means of HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) or ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air) filters.
The individuals who work in the clean rooms wear specialised clothing consisting of gloves, masks, coveralls etc. Usually, the entry to the clean room is through airlocks and may include air showers. Airlocks are contraptions that do not allow the air on either side of the contraption to mix. While air showers are devices that shower a person with air in order to remove the dust particles present on his body.
The equipment present in clean rooms is designed specially with materials that do not produce a large amount of dust. Also, their design facilitates easy cleaning. The furniture and the cleaning equipment are also specially made to produce small amount of contaminants.
Many day-to-day articles such as pens, pencils, paper etc. cannot be used within the clean rooms. However, low dust-producing replacements of the same are available. The clean rooms may also have systems to control humidity. This is done in order to prevent discharge of static electricity.
Usually, the air pressure in a clean room is greater than the pressure outside the room. This is done in order to avoid the entry of outside air into the clean room in case of leaks.
Usually, the clean room is enclosed in another room that separates it from the outside environment and thus helps in controlling the air within the clean room. However, with the advancements in technology, mobile clean rooms are available as well. Such rooms find their application in industries that have units which move from place to place.
Classification of Clean Rooms
The classification of clean rooms is based on the number of dust particles that are present in a given volume of air and also the size of these particles. There are two systems of classification of clean rooms such as US FED 209E and ISO. Former is used for those with particles of greater size and latter for those with particles with lesser size.
In the first method of classification mentioned above, the value is determined from the number of particles of size greater than 0.5 micrometres present in a cubic foot of air. For example, a ‘class 100 clean room’ has at most 100 particles of size greater than 5 micrometres in a cubic foot of air.
As far as the second method of classification is concerned, the value represents the logarithm to the base 10 of the number of particles present in a cubic metre of air. The size of the particles is greater than 0.1 micrometres. For example, a ‘class 5 clean room’ has at most 10000 particles of size 0.1 micrometre or greater in a cubic metre of air.
Need for Clean Rooms
These days, clean rooms are extensively used in the semiconductor industry. Apart from this, they also find their application in medicine, food processing, industries manufacturing electronic gadgets and computer hardware and other industries that need a dust-free environment. Clean rooms are also important as far as data recovery industry is concerned. This industry usually makes use of class 100 clean rooms.
In case a data storage medium (especially ones that store data in the magnetic form) that has suffered physical damage, the device needs to be opened in order to repair it and recover data from the same. If this operation is carried out in the normal environment, then the dust particles in air are likely to damage the medium and may even lead to permanent loss of data. To avoid the same, a clean environment is necessary and hence a clean room is made use of.
It can be seen that clean rooms are indispensable as far as data recovery industry is concerned. Thus, whenever you need to hire a data recovery firm, ensure that it has a clean room of good quality.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Taking Care of Your Backup Media
Most of the data storage devices are prone to failure that may result in disastrous repercussions for the end users.
Backup seems to be the only remedy against data disasters. Today backup happens to be a vital and important aspect of the business strategy and planning of a majority of big and small businesses. Institutions and organizations prefer to meticulously back up their mission critical data as a precaution against data disasters occurring due to a variety of technical, man-made and natural causes.
Expectations from a Good Backup Media
A genuine backup media needs to fulfil certain criteria so as to be accepted as a popular and preferred choice. A good backup media should be reliable, easily accessible, user-friendly and fast. It should have a long shelf-life and should be resistant to wear and tear and rough handling. High speed happens to be the most sought after trait in a backup device.
A popular backup device should be easily available in the market at a reasonable price. It should be easy to use and should not demand any special knowledge and expertise on the part of the end user. Moreover, a pragmatic backup choice should be highly compatible with the existing hardware.
Choice of Backup Media
Choice of a backup media depends upon a lot of factors such as the importance and cost of the data that is to be backed up, quantity of data to be backed up, budgetary considerations, compatibility with the existing hardware, reasons for which the data is to be backed up, length of time for which the data is to be preserved, portability, hardiness and accessibility. Most of the backup media being mechanical and electronic devices need to be taken care of so as to prolong their life.
Various Types of Backup Media
1. Tape
Magnetic tapes happen to be the most preferred media for network backups. They offer the lowest cost per gigabyte of storage as compared to any other media. However, they do not provide random access to data and need to be rewound and fast forwarded to retrieve data. Thus they happen to be very slow. Tapes are physically most fragile as compared to other media and are highly sensitive to heat and dust. Tape reels and cassettes should be stored in a clean environment to prevent contamination. Exposure to heat and strong magnetic fields needs to be avoided.
2. Hard Drives
Hard drives are not only the primary storage media in all types of computers, but are also extensively used for backup purposes. They not only provide random access to data, but offer significant speed as compared to other storage media. Hard drives can be used as RAID arrays to maximize efficiency and performance. Though they are not so fragile, yet they are prone to failure because of being mechanical devices. Hard drives should be handled with care to avoid mechanical failures. Relevant antivirus software needs to be installed to avoid crashes and failure. Hard drives should be protected against overheating and must be placed in clean, cool and dry areas.
3. Optical Media
In a way, optical discs stand to be the most secure backup media. They have a high tolerance for heat and the data stored on them is not vulnerable to electrical and magnetic disruptions. If stored and handled carefully, they happen to have a long life span. Optical disks are very slow as compared to fixed backup media such as hard drives. They have a relatively limited storage capacity and are not suitable for server and network backups. Optical discs are ideal for archival purposes. They should be handled with care and must be stored in a protective covering, when not in use. It is vital to store optical discs in a cool, dark and dry environment, so as to increase their shelf-life.
4. USB Flash Drives
Currently, USB flash drives are becoming popular as a backup media because of their reasonable cost, high capacity, speed, portability and compatibility with most of the computers. They offer random access to data like a hard drive. At present, they have a storage capacity of up to 2GB. They are ideal for transporting data from one place to another. Though hardy, flash drives are prone to theft and loss because of their small size.
Backup seems to be the only remedy against data disasters. Today backup happens to be a vital and important aspect of the business strategy and planning of a majority of big and small businesses. Institutions and organizations prefer to meticulously back up their mission critical data as a precaution against data disasters occurring due to a variety of technical, man-made and natural causes.
Expectations from a Good Backup Media
A genuine backup media needs to fulfil certain criteria so as to be accepted as a popular and preferred choice. A good backup media should be reliable, easily accessible, user-friendly and fast. It should have a long shelf-life and should be resistant to wear and tear and rough handling. High speed happens to be the most sought after trait in a backup device.
A popular backup device should be easily available in the market at a reasonable price. It should be easy to use and should not demand any special knowledge and expertise on the part of the end user. Moreover, a pragmatic backup choice should be highly compatible with the existing hardware.
Choice of Backup Media
Choice of a backup media depends upon a lot of factors such as the importance and cost of the data that is to be backed up, quantity of data to be backed up, budgetary considerations, compatibility with the existing hardware, reasons for which the data is to be backed up, length of time for which the data is to be preserved, portability, hardiness and accessibility. Most of the backup media being mechanical and electronic devices need to be taken care of so as to prolong their life.
Various Types of Backup Media
1. Tape
Magnetic tapes happen to be the most preferred media for network backups. They offer the lowest cost per gigabyte of storage as compared to any other media. However, they do not provide random access to data and need to be rewound and fast forwarded to retrieve data. Thus they happen to be very slow. Tapes are physically most fragile as compared to other media and are highly sensitive to heat and dust. Tape reels and cassettes should be stored in a clean environment to prevent contamination. Exposure to heat and strong magnetic fields needs to be avoided.
2. Hard Drives
Hard drives are not only the primary storage media in all types of computers, but are also extensively used for backup purposes. They not only provide random access to data, but offer significant speed as compared to other storage media. Hard drives can be used as RAID arrays to maximize efficiency and performance. Though they are not so fragile, yet they are prone to failure because of being mechanical devices. Hard drives should be handled with care to avoid mechanical failures. Relevant antivirus software needs to be installed to avoid crashes and failure. Hard drives should be protected against overheating and must be placed in clean, cool and dry areas.
3. Optical Media
In a way, optical discs stand to be the most secure backup media. They have a high tolerance for heat and the data stored on them is not vulnerable to electrical and magnetic disruptions. If stored and handled carefully, they happen to have a long life span. Optical disks are very slow as compared to fixed backup media such as hard drives. They have a relatively limited storage capacity and are not suitable for server and network backups. Optical discs are ideal for archival purposes. They should be handled with care and must be stored in a protective covering, when not in use. It is vital to store optical discs in a cool, dark and dry environment, so as to increase their shelf-life.
4. USB Flash Drives
Currently, USB flash drives are becoming popular as a backup media because of their reasonable cost, high capacity, speed, portability and compatibility with most of the computers. They offer random access to data like a hard drive. At present, they have a storage capacity of up to 2GB. They are ideal for transporting data from one place to another. Though hardy, flash drives are prone to theft and loss because of their small size.
Pros and Cons of USB Flash Drives
The Advantages
Noted below are the unique advantages of using a USB flash drive.
A pen drive has from 32 MB to 64 GB (not yet in circulation in the domestic market) of storage capacity. This is not only more than the floppy ever had, but has also surpassed the average CD or DVD.
The USB drive can run on all commonly used OSs circulating in the market such as MS Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac and AMD.
The flash drive does not need a separate programme to be installed, nor is there any need to reboot the computer after it is plugged in. In other words, we don’t need to interrupt other activities to use a pen drive.
The USB drive is easy to carry and is small, compact and lightweight. Unlike the CD, which directly exposes the surface of the disc on which data has been written, the pen drive is encased in a protective hard plastic case, making it much more resilient.
Its design makes it less prone to exposure to dust and getting scratched. Some manufacturers have claimed that their casing is even waterproof (but it may not be a good idea to dip your drive in water and find out).
Given the lightweight compact structure, attached chain or string to wear it around the neck, and adaptability to any system, data sharing is easier, faster and more handy with the flash drives.
The USB drive is also compatible for all file types, and can save and read all data, including audio visuals.
High capacity USB drives can even accommodate certain OSs. This has made it an easy to use installation drive for loading software into a system anywhere.
Disadvantages and Data Loss
Nothing is perfect, and the USB drive too has imperfections that lead to data loss from it.
We have to remember that the USB is a compact flash drive. The most common cause of data erasure from any device with CF memory is removing it while it is still being used. Does this sound like remote jargon? We keep pulling out USB drives everyday from various systems while the programmes are still running, because our immediate work is over. Taking it out without using the safe removal option will cause the data in it to be corrupted, or even worse, not saved at all.
The propensity to use zip files and store data such as worksheets, photographs, and other large files in the form of archives, has become extremely popular for transporting large chunks of information in a tiny device. Unfortunately, accidental deletion of one archival file results in deletion of the matter in it equally fast.
USB drives are not suited for the purpose they are used by SMEs that substitute them for hard disks. We need to remember that flash memory can generically support only a certain number of read-write cycles before its capability to function in the given area of the memory expires. In other words, if you are a businessman, do not expect your data to sit around beyond five years in a USB drive that you use frequently.
Like all digital devices, virus infection can wipe data from a USB flash drive. Unfortunately, measures such as using write protection or encryption systems or even simply scanning the drive before plugging it into a system are not part of most USB user’s habits. This has made this device a boon for virus makers.
Overwriting can erase data in all media, and fragmentation is a graver problem with the flash memory, mainly because of its usually smaller size.
The advantages of using the flash drive can be its disadvantages too. Thanks to its ‘compact’ shape, the USB drive is very handy – and therefore very easy to lose or steal. Instances of physical theft of data devices have gone up dramatically thanks to the USB drive. After the cell phone, the flash drive is the next most easily forgotten digital device. Everyday, owners are plugging in their drives, and then walking away blissfully.
Like all digital goods, USB drives can suffer data loss from heat, humidity, pressure and impact. The disadvantage is that we are more careless thanks to the false sense of security generated by the plastic cover.
Noted below are the unique advantages of using a USB flash drive.
A pen drive has from 32 MB to 64 GB (not yet in circulation in the domestic market) of storage capacity. This is not only more than the floppy ever had, but has also surpassed the average CD or DVD.
The USB drive can run on all commonly used OSs circulating in the market such as MS Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac and AMD.
The flash drive does not need a separate programme to be installed, nor is there any need to reboot the computer after it is plugged in. In other words, we don’t need to interrupt other activities to use a pen drive.
The USB drive is easy to carry and is small, compact and lightweight. Unlike the CD, which directly exposes the surface of the disc on which data has been written, the pen drive is encased in a protective hard plastic case, making it much more resilient.
Its design makes it less prone to exposure to dust and getting scratched. Some manufacturers have claimed that their casing is even waterproof (but it may not be a good idea to dip your drive in water and find out).
Given the lightweight compact structure, attached chain or string to wear it around the neck, and adaptability to any system, data sharing is easier, faster and more handy with the flash drives.
The USB drive is also compatible for all file types, and can save and read all data, including audio visuals.
High capacity USB drives can even accommodate certain OSs. This has made it an easy to use installation drive for loading software into a system anywhere.
Disadvantages and Data Loss
Nothing is perfect, and the USB drive too has imperfections that lead to data loss from it.
We have to remember that the USB is a compact flash drive. The most common cause of data erasure from any device with CF memory is removing it while it is still being used. Does this sound like remote jargon? We keep pulling out USB drives everyday from various systems while the programmes are still running, because our immediate work is over. Taking it out without using the safe removal option will cause the data in it to be corrupted, or even worse, not saved at all.
The propensity to use zip files and store data such as worksheets, photographs, and other large files in the form of archives, has become extremely popular for transporting large chunks of information in a tiny device. Unfortunately, accidental deletion of one archival file results in deletion of the matter in it equally fast.
USB drives are not suited for the purpose they are used by SMEs that substitute them for hard disks. We need to remember that flash memory can generically support only a certain number of read-write cycles before its capability to function in the given area of the memory expires. In other words, if you are a businessman, do not expect your data to sit around beyond five years in a USB drive that you use frequently.
Like all digital devices, virus infection can wipe data from a USB flash drive. Unfortunately, measures such as using write protection or encryption systems or even simply scanning the drive before plugging it into a system are not part of most USB user’s habits. This has made this device a boon for virus makers.
Overwriting can erase data in all media, and fragmentation is a graver problem with the flash memory, mainly because of its usually smaller size.
The advantages of using the flash drive can be its disadvantages too. Thanks to its ‘compact’ shape, the USB drive is very handy – and therefore very easy to lose or steal. Instances of physical theft of data devices have gone up dramatically thanks to the USB drive. After the cell phone, the flash drive is the next most easily forgotten digital device. Everyday, owners are plugging in their drives, and then walking away blissfully.
Like all digital goods, USB drives can suffer data loss from heat, humidity, pressure and impact. The disadvantage is that we are more careless thanks to the false sense of security generated by the plastic cover.
Data Recovery Service Insights
When searching for a data recovery service provider, millions of websites are claiming to be the expert. It 's painful enough to have to click through the first ten sites to understand who 's out there and what they offer. But, how do you differentiate between the endless list of data recovery service companies, so that you have the best opportunity to reclaim your data?
If You Don't Already Know
The first thing to help you separate all the sites into two distinct groups is to understand that very few professional data recovery service companies exist; and that there are lots of local IT businesses cross-marketing data recovery service as a side business. If I do my job right, in the next few minutes, you should be able to distinguish a data recovery service specialist from the area computer technician, and know how to use each one to help you recover your data.
Determining Who 's Who
The next way to determine who you are dealing with is to try hiring them for another computer related service, besides data recovery service. For example, ask them for a quote to install a data backup system, or inquire about setting up a lot of workstations for the office. When they start asking additional questions, instead of responding, "Sorry, we only do data recovery service and forensic computer investigation cases", you have reached your area 'computer hardware repair man'.
The Role of the Local Computer Shop
Just about everybody considers using the tech nearby or someone within their company when seeking data recovery help, because they want to get back to what they were doing, with the data they have lost, right now!
What you need to know is that these people can help you reclaim your data in two specific ways: By using a drive imaging tool to make a sector clone of your data for safety precautions; and afterwards, by using an automated file recovery software to revive your lost files.
Here 's the most important point: You must get the second copy of your data in hand, before letting them attempt the recovery process. The reason being is, if you do not have this backup, and if an irreversible mistake is made, you will most likely have no recourse to get your data back. With the extra cloned drive in your possession, you can always send your drive to an data recovery service group if something like this happens.
Another Way To Differentiate
Here 's the quick test to find out if the data recovery service site you are looking at is a pro or not: Does the company you are considering make, not just market, data recovery software? If so, nine out of ten times you have found a full-scale data recovery service company.
How do I know this? Because I have specialized in data forensics and data recovery service for almost two decades, and know the other major players in the industry. They also make recovery utilities: for the home users who cannot afford in-lab data recovery service; and for computer repair shops. These small businesses feed us cases when software fails, or when they receive a dead hard drive that needs clean-room work to recover the data.
Your Final Insight
Time is also an important factor in every data loss situation. To make the data recovery service process go as quickly and smoothly as possible, I suggest that you use all avenues to get your data back as quickly as possible. Here 's how...
First, get that second sector-copy of your drive from someone in town. While you are at it, get them to make you a third one, too. Safe-keep the first one; let someone in town try their data recovery techniques on the second; and finally, ship the third one to a professional data recovery service organization. This ensures you are giving yourself the best possible outcome for any data recovery service case.
By the way, while the demand for hard drive data recovery services has dramatically increased, the number of full-scale firms in the industry has still remained small. This means that since there are not many data recovery service experts out there, you will probably not find one in your state, much less in your city or town. So, in the extreme cases, you may have to overnight your drive to one of these data recovery service firms.
If You Don't Already Know
The first thing to help you separate all the sites into two distinct groups is to understand that very few professional data recovery service companies exist; and that there are lots of local IT businesses cross-marketing data recovery service as a side business. If I do my job right, in the next few minutes, you should be able to distinguish a data recovery service specialist from the area computer technician, and know how to use each one to help you recover your data.
Determining Who 's Who
The next way to determine who you are dealing with is to try hiring them for another computer related service, besides data recovery service. For example, ask them for a quote to install a data backup system, or inquire about setting up a lot of workstations for the office. When they start asking additional questions, instead of responding, "Sorry, we only do data recovery service and forensic computer investigation cases", you have reached your area 'computer hardware repair man'.
The Role of the Local Computer Shop
Just about everybody considers using the tech nearby or someone within their company when seeking data recovery help, because they want to get back to what they were doing, with the data they have lost, right now!
What you need to know is that these people can help you reclaim your data in two specific ways: By using a drive imaging tool to make a sector clone of your data for safety precautions; and afterwards, by using an automated file recovery software to revive your lost files.
Here 's the most important point: You must get the second copy of your data in hand, before letting them attempt the recovery process. The reason being is, if you do not have this backup, and if an irreversible mistake is made, you will most likely have no recourse to get your data back. With the extra cloned drive in your possession, you can always send your drive to an data recovery service group if something like this happens.
Another Way To Differentiate
Here 's the quick test to find out if the data recovery service site you are looking at is a pro or not: Does the company you are considering make, not just market, data recovery software? If so, nine out of ten times you have found a full-scale data recovery service company.
How do I know this? Because I have specialized in data forensics and data recovery service for almost two decades, and know the other major players in the industry. They also make recovery utilities: for the home users who cannot afford in-lab data recovery service; and for computer repair shops. These small businesses feed us cases when software fails, or when they receive a dead hard drive that needs clean-room work to recover the data.
Your Final Insight
Time is also an important factor in every data loss situation. To make the data recovery service process go as quickly and smoothly as possible, I suggest that you use all avenues to get your data back as quickly as possible. Here 's how...
First, get that second sector-copy of your drive from someone in town. While you are at it, get them to make you a third one, too. Safe-keep the first one; let someone in town try their data recovery techniques on the second; and finally, ship the third one to a professional data recovery service organization. This ensures you are giving yourself the best possible outcome for any data recovery service case.
By the way, while the demand for hard drive data recovery services has dramatically increased, the number of full-scale firms in the industry has still remained small. This means that since there are not many data recovery service experts out there, you will probably not find one in your state, much less in your city or town. So, in the extreme cases, you may have to overnight your drive to one of these data recovery service firms.
Benefits of External Hard Drives
Portable hard drives provide an excellent data storage option to users because they offer huge storage capacity along with other user-friendly features such as low price and portability.
What is an External Hard Drive?
External hard drives are very similar to the hard drives that exists inside your computer system. Due to their portable nature, these drives are increasingly being used as a data backup option. External hard drives offer storage capacity ranging from 40 GB to over 250 GB and can easily be used by users who need to backup large amounts of data. It is very easy to transfer your data using an external hard drive because these drives offer excellent data transfer speeds.
Pros of an External Hard Drive
External hard drives offer many benefits to its users. We will analyse some of the advantages of using external hard drives in this section.
Easy to Use
External hard drives are very easy to use because there is no complicated installation process required to start using them for data storage purposes. Unlike tapes, CDs, and DVDs, an external hard drive does not require a CD writer or tape system for the user to start using it as a storage device. An external hard drive is easy to install because all you need is a USB port that allows you to start using the hard drive instantly.
Can be Stored Off-site
Since the external hard drives are portable and very easy to carry, they provide an ideal option for backing up data to an offsite data storage location. Users can easily store large amounts of data on a single hard drive and store it in an external location so that their data is safe if something happens to the primary business site.
Compatible With Every Computer System
Unlike some data storage devices, an external hard drive is compatible with all the computer systems. The user only needs a USB port, which is available on all the new personal computers and laptops.
Durable
External hard drives are very durable and provide a much safer data storage option to its users. Therefore, these drives can be safely used as a data storage device and are a good option for people and businesses that require long-term data storage.
Affordable
Unlike USB drives, portable hard drives provide a much better value for your money because the cost per MB of data is significantly lower. An external hard drive allows the users to store large amounts of data at affordable prices.
Speed
It is very important for a data storage device to store and backup data at a fast pace. Otherwise, the users tend to waste a lot of time storing their data and may not be as regular with their data backup routine. External hard drives transfer large amount of data at a very fast speed, which allows the users to backup their data everyday with minimal effort.
Cons of an External Hard Drive
Like any other data storage device, an external hard drive has its own set of disadvantages. We will analyse some the cons of using an external hard drive in this section.
Data recovery can be expensive Hard drives are complex data storage devices with very fragile components. Due to this, data recovery for a hard drive can be more expensive than other data storage devices.
Can be Expensive if Data Storage Needs are Huge If your business or work requires you to store very large amounts of data you will need to purchase multiple external hard disks, which can be an expensive option in the long run.
How Can External Hard Drives Suffer Data Loss?
In as much as external hard drives offer more user-friendly features than an in-built hard drive of a computer, they are more prone to data loss because of their portable nature. External hard drives, because of their portability feature, are very commonly mishandled or dropped.
In such cases, data loss is common because the delicate components of the hard drive are very easily disturbed and cannot sustain any manhandling. External hard drives can face a head crash, mechanical failure, virus attack, or an electrical failure. All these failures will result in a data loss event.
What is an External Hard Drive?
External hard drives are very similar to the hard drives that exists inside your computer system. Due to their portable nature, these drives are increasingly being used as a data backup option. External hard drives offer storage capacity ranging from 40 GB to over 250 GB and can easily be used by users who need to backup large amounts of data. It is very easy to transfer your data using an external hard drive because these drives offer excellent data transfer speeds.
Pros of an External Hard Drive
External hard drives offer many benefits to its users. We will analyse some of the advantages of using external hard drives in this section.
Easy to Use
External hard drives are very easy to use because there is no complicated installation process required to start using them for data storage purposes. Unlike tapes, CDs, and DVDs, an external hard drive does not require a CD writer or tape system for the user to start using it as a storage device. An external hard drive is easy to install because all you need is a USB port that allows you to start using the hard drive instantly.
Can be Stored Off-site
Since the external hard drives are portable and very easy to carry, they provide an ideal option for backing up data to an offsite data storage location. Users can easily store large amounts of data on a single hard drive and store it in an external location so that their data is safe if something happens to the primary business site.
Compatible With Every Computer System
Unlike some data storage devices, an external hard drive is compatible with all the computer systems. The user only needs a USB port, which is available on all the new personal computers and laptops.
Durable
External hard drives are very durable and provide a much safer data storage option to its users. Therefore, these drives can be safely used as a data storage device and are a good option for people and businesses that require long-term data storage.
Affordable
Unlike USB drives, portable hard drives provide a much better value for your money because the cost per MB of data is significantly lower. An external hard drive allows the users to store large amounts of data at affordable prices.
Speed
It is very important for a data storage device to store and backup data at a fast pace. Otherwise, the users tend to waste a lot of time storing their data and may not be as regular with their data backup routine. External hard drives transfer large amount of data at a very fast speed, which allows the users to backup their data everyday with minimal effort.
Cons of an External Hard Drive
Like any other data storage device, an external hard drive has its own set of disadvantages. We will analyse some the cons of using an external hard drive in this section.
Data recovery can be expensive Hard drives are complex data storage devices with very fragile components. Due to this, data recovery for a hard drive can be more expensive than other data storage devices.
Can be Expensive if Data Storage Needs are Huge If your business or work requires you to store very large amounts of data you will need to purchase multiple external hard disks, which can be an expensive option in the long run.
How Can External Hard Drives Suffer Data Loss?
In as much as external hard drives offer more user-friendly features than an in-built hard drive of a computer, they are more prone to data loss because of their portable nature. External hard drives, because of their portability feature, are very commonly mishandled or dropped.
In such cases, data loss is common because the delicate components of the hard drive are very easily disturbed and cannot sustain any manhandling. External hard drives can face a head crash, mechanical failure, virus attack, or an electrical failure. All these failures will result in a data loss event.
When Backups Fail: Data Recovery from Server Computers
There are different types of servers and each server is dedicated to performing a specific task. Therefore, a printer server is a computer or device that will be dedicated to managing one or more printers. Similarly, a database server is a device that will be dedicated for processing database queries.
Different Types of Servers
There are many types of servers. Each of these servers functions in a different manner and will have a specific purpose. We will discuss some of the most commonly used servers in our following section.
• Email Servers
Imagine working with a large company and not being able to communicate via email. Companies survive and thrive on email-based communication to get work done across various functions and sub-divisions within the company. While having an effective email server may not be the key to success, it can definitely affect the productivity of the company as well as the employees if it is not functioning properly.
An email server receives email from mail servers or other email clients. The email server moves and stores the mail via WANs and LANs. An email server consists of a storage area and a set of rules that can be defined by the user. The storage area is the place where in the mail is stored for the local users. If some messages are in transit then they are temporarily stored in the storage area as well.
We all tend to have our own setting on programs such as Outlook Express to personalise our mailing experience. For example, we may block certain email addresses so that we do not receive any mail from those senders. Similarly, the users can define the rules to establish how the mail server should respond while determining the destination of a mail message while using mail servers. In addition to the storage area and user-defined rules, an email server also consists of various communication modules as well as list of users.
• Web Servers
We all tend to browse web pages for gathering data, shopping, or emailing friends or colleagues. A web server allows us to view these web pages by serving static content to a web browser. This task is performed by loading a film from a disk and sending it across the network to the end-user’s web browser. The server and the browser interact with each other throughout this process by using HTTP.
• Database Servers
In a database server, a client passes the Structured Query Language (SQL) requests as messages to the server. Subsequently, the server sends across the results of the query back to the network. The SQL request and the data are processed by a code that resides on the server. This enables the server to use its own processing abilities to find the requested data.
In What Configuration are Hard Drives Used Inside Servers?
Most servers consist of multiple hard drive partitions. Some companies choose to create two partitions for the hard drive used inside the server. The creation of two partitions enables the hard drive to be segregated into 2 portions.
Whereas one partition is used for the operating system and applications, the other partition is used for storing data. Creating partitions on the hard disk is extremely beneficial in coping with catastrophic events. If something disastrous occurs on one partition, the other partition will be secure. Therefore, data recovery and technical support will be very easy.
What is RAID?
Redundant Array of Independent Drives (RAID) is a common term used for computer data storage systems that divide data amongst multiple hard drives. There are many RAID schemes that have been designed to make data storage on servers an effortless yet productive activity.
What Does RAID Data Recovery Entail?
To make any future data loss situation simpler, most people choose to mirror their hard drives using RAID 1 system. This system has two hard drives. Each hard drive acts as a complete backup of the other hard drive. Therefore, in the event of data loss, if one of the hard drives fail, the other hard drive keeps the data intact.
All types of RAID systems are designed in such a way that the servers keep working even when there is a data loss incident. It is very easy to swap the disks and data can be recovered even when the systems are running. In addition, data recovery becomes an automated process.
Different Types of Servers
There are many types of servers. Each of these servers functions in a different manner and will have a specific purpose. We will discuss some of the most commonly used servers in our following section.
• Email Servers
Imagine working with a large company and not being able to communicate via email. Companies survive and thrive on email-based communication to get work done across various functions and sub-divisions within the company. While having an effective email server may not be the key to success, it can definitely affect the productivity of the company as well as the employees if it is not functioning properly.
An email server receives email from mail servers or other email clients. The email server moves and stores the mail via WANs and LANs. An email server consists of a storage area and a set of rules that can be defined by the user. The storage area is the place where in the mail is stored for the local users. If some messages are in transit then they are temporarily stored in the storage area as well.
We all tend to have our own setting on programs such as Outlook Express to personalise our mailing experience. For example, we may block certain email addresses so that we do not receive any mail from those senders. Similarly, the users can define the rules to establish how the mail server should respond while determining the destination of a mail message while using mail servers. In addition to the storage area and user-defined rules, an email server also consists of various communication modules as well as list of users.
• Web Servers
We all tend to browse web pages for gathering data, shopping, or emailing friends or colleagues. A web server allows us to view these web pages by serving static content to a web browser. This task is performed by loading a film from a disk and sending it across the network to the end-user’s web browser. The server and the browser interact with each other throughout this process by using HTTP.
• Database Servers
In a database server, a client passes the Structured Query Language (SQL) requests as messages to the server. Subsequently, the server sends across the results of the query back to the network. The SQL request and the data are processed by a code that resides on the server. This enables the server to use its own processing abilities to find the requested data.
In What Configuration are Hard Drives Used Inside Servers?
Most servers consist of multiple hard drive partitions. Some companies choose to create two partitions for the hard drive used inside the server. The creation of two partitions enables the hard drive to be segregated into 2 portions.
Whereas one partition is used for the operating system and applications, the other partition is used for storing data. Creating partitions on the hard disk is extremely beneficial in coping with catastrophic events. If something disastrous occurs on one partition, the other partition will be secure. Therefore, data recovery and technical support will be very easy.
What is RAID?
Redundant Array of Independent Drives (RAID) is a common term used for computer data storage systems that divide data amongst multiple hard drives. There are many RAID schemes that have been designed to make data storage on servers an effortless yet productive activity.
What Does RAID Data Recovery Entail?
To make any future data loss situation simpler, most people choose to mirror their hard drives using RAID 1 system. This system has two hard drives. Each hard drive acts as a complete backup of the other hard drive. Therefore, in the event of data loss, if one of the hard drives fail, the other hard drive keeps the data intact.
All types of RAID systems are designed in such a way that the servers keep working even when there is a data loss incident. It is very easy to swap the disks and data can be recovered even when the systems are running. In addition, data recovery becomes an automated process.
Effects of Data Loss on Research & Development Companies
This pace of change is not limited to the development of towns and cities only. It covers the entire spectrum of various technologies. New and even more potent technologies are being developed by every passing day.
All this development has not come about on its own. There have been concerted efforts behind this rapid advancement of mankind in various fields. The main factor, on which the onus of this development falls, is undoubtedly the varied research and development projects which have been and are being carried out across the globe.
Research and development projects are crucial for every government and Major Corporation. All the advancements that have been made are on account of the research and development projects that had been put in place years ago.
Most of the governments spend billions of dollars on research and development projects of all kind. The research can be on soil testing, in the field of medicine or sociological aspects of some programme, such as relocation of people from a site intended for a large dam or any other.
Perhaps the most outstanding and obvious results of research and development can be found in terms of what man has achieved in space. Had it not been for thousands upon thousands of man hours spent on research and development, man’s dream of leaving his footprint on the moon may have remained a mere dream.
Same can be said of other sciences. In marine technology, man has conquered the seas. Just as reaching the moon is an exemplary achievement, so is reaching the ocean depths. Today man can go hundreds of leagues below the ocean surface, and yet the research and development in the field is still continuing.
All this has stemmed from man’s incessant quest to improve upon his existing pool of technology. A major factor has also been his insecurity from his own kind. Thus the billions spent by nations on defence projects.
In fact most of the developments in relation to our conquest of space and the seas has arisen out of the research and development carried out for defence purposes. The development of missiles led to advancement in rocketry.
Similarly the need to secure old trade routes and the new routes of oil led to the major developments on the oceans. The submarines took the initiative of carrying man to the ocean deep and now it is a vast area for exploration.
In the field of medicine, most ills that plagued the mankind whether they are from air borne mosquitoes to water borne diseases, man has conquered most of them. Still new heights are being scaled and ever new and more effective medicines are being developed.
All the data collected by research and development is very valuable to its owners. One cannot even imagine the kind of loss that mankind as a whole may have to suffer if some of this valuable data were to be lost.
Irrespective of other variables such as the finance involved, a loss of data in any of the fields can set back the human civilisation by several decades and innumerable man hours from dedicated and trained scientists and technicians.
How can one compute the loss where life saving medicines is involved? It takes several years of dedicated research, hit and trial methods for one truly effective medicine to be launched in the open market. Such a loss cannot be computed in numerical terms alone.
Similarly in the context of defence establishments, nuclear establishments and others also, a computation based on monetary terms alone cannot suffice. There is no way that the loss of data pertaining to the development of futuristic radar can be dealt with as a financial loss alone.
The importance of research and development in various fields goes far beyond the sums of money invested in any given project. Hopes of millions of men and women ride upon the success of virtually all such projects. That is a different issue that the man on the street may not be able to relate to the project directly. Nevertheless their impact is far reaching.
This data can and must be prevented from getting lost by all suitable means. Appropriate back up files can and should be made at every stage of data generation. If a data loss does occur on account of a hardware or software malfunction then a good and reliable data recovery company should be approached immediately.
All this development has not come about on its own. There have been concerted efforts behind this rapid advancement of mankind in various fields. The main factor, on which the onus of this development falls, is undoubtedly the varied research and development projects which have been and are being carried out across the globe.
Research and development projects are crucial for every government and Major Corporation. All the advancements that have been made are on account of the research and development projects that had been put in place years ago.
Most of the governments spend billions of dollars on research and development projects of all kind. The research can be on soil testing, in the field of medicine or sociological aspects of some programme, such as relocation of people from a site intended for a large dam or any other.
Perhaps the most outstanding and obvious results of research and development can be found in terms of what man has achieved in space. Had it not been for thousands upon thousands of man hours spent on research and development, man’s dream of leaving his footprint on the moon may have remained a mere dream.
Same can be said of other sciences. In marine technology, man has conquered the seas. Just as reaching the moon is an exemplary achievement, so is reaching the ocean depths. Today man can go hundreds of leagues below the ocean surface, and yet the research and development in the field is still continuing.
All this has stemmed from man’s incessant quest to improve upon his existing pool of technology. A major factor has also been his insecurity from his own kind. Thus the billions spent by nations on defence projects.
In fact most of the developments in relation to our conquest of space and the seas has arisen out of the research and development carried out for defence purposes. The development of missiles led to advancement in rocketry.
Similarly the need to secure old trade routes and the new routes of oil led to the major developments on the oceans. The submarines took the initiative of carrying man to the ocean deep and now it is a vast area for exploration.
In the field of medicine, most ills that plagued the mankind whether they are from air borne mosquitoes to water borne diseases, man has conquered most of them. Still new heights are being scaled and ever new and more effective medicines are being developed.
All the data collected by research and development is very valuable to its owners. One cannot even imagine the kind of loss that mankind as a whole may have to suffer if some of this valuable data were to be lost.
Irrespective of other variables such as the finance involved, a loss of data in any of the fields can set back the human civilisation by several decades and innumerable man hours from dedicated and trained scientists and technicians.
How can one compute the loss where life saving medicines is involved? It takes several years of dedicated research, hit and trial methods for one truly effective medicine to be launched in the open market. Such a loss cannot be computed in numerical terms alone.
Similarly in the context of defence establishments, nuclear establishments and others also, a computation based on monetary terms alone cannot suffice. There is no way that the loss of data pertaining to the development of futuristic radar can be dealt with as a financial loss alone.
The importance of research and development in various fields goes far beyond the sums of money invested in any given project. Hopes of millions of men and women ride upon the success of virtually all such projects. That is a different issue that the man on the street may not be able to relate to the project directly. Nevertheless their impact is far reaching.
This data can and must be prevented from getting lost by all suitable means. Appropriate back up files can and should be made at every stage of data generation. If a data loss does occur on account of a hardware or software malfunction then a good and reliable data recovery company should be approached immediately.
Hidden Cost of Data Loss
Its repercussions are reverberating throughout individual homes and across businesses and governments. The loss of a memorable and unique digital photograph of a loved one, the loss of your digital phone book, losing the accounting data of your Company and losing vital defence research data etc., are very great losses that cannot be compensated for easily. Recovery from such data losses is time-consuming, energy depleting, financially depriving and mentally disturbing. The consequences could vary from loss of a touching memory, folding up of a profitable Company or, worse still, the loss of national identity or physical boundaries.
The most common and crippling consequence of data loss is felt by industry and business, globally. Loss of sales tracking data is like trying to find your customer, blindfolded. Future business opportunities end up in dead alleys. Large-sized client lists get progressively smaller due to lesser interface with customers, who you do not know anything about, thanks to the loss of your comprehensive client profile database. Customer migration to the competitors is the next logical step.
Direct loss of money, due to breaches in future payment schedules and past billing information (which were accidentally lost) also manifests itself. Debtors, creditors, receivables, payables, and financial performance are caught up in chaotic mess. Can anyone make sense out of anything?
Spending hard-earned money on retrieving lost data, further taxes the financial resources of a Company threatened with data loss.
Statistics exist to prove that businesses fold up due to data loss. In the United States alone, $12 billion is consumed annually by business losses, suffered as a consequence of data loss. Research has observed that a majority of the companies which lost their data for more than 10 days, filed for bankruptcy within a year of the data loss. Almost 50% of the companies which suffered a data loss for more than 10 days but did not have a recovery plan in place instantly became bankrupt. The cost of losing a single customer’s record increased to US$197 per record (in 2007), compared to $182 (in 2006). Alarmingly, in the event of a major data loss, the daily revenue of a Company loses ground by 25%!
The prime reason, why data loss is continuing its increasingly destructive march, is because of the fact that human intervention and human negligence are necessary occurrences. Someone has to ensure that the tape cartridge is to be fed into the tape drive and check that it is working. Technology is yet to automate this simple step.
The second most important reason for a nonchalant attitude towards data protection and data loss is because of the fact that the individual concerned responsible for data protection or facilitating the data loss just does not see the long term consequences of the negligence to the Company. The individual in the EDP section may not be able to visually see the effect of the data loss on the 25% revenue hit (in its daily revenues) absorbed by the Company, one week after a data loss.
To understand the gravity of data loss and its cost, it is only correct to quantify the monetary cost in terms of:
• Can the Company continue its existing operations without the data? (No database of sales / vendors / prospective clients means time spent in physically contacting them over phone or personally, instead of the routine automated e-mail and obtaining copies of previous transactions or future agreement details.) What about the cost to goodwill, efficiency and reliability of service in monetary terms?
• Recreating the data by entrusting the time-consuming job to the professional data recovery companies. The cost of recovering the data should include the other ancillary costs like administrative expenses (maintaining a customer call centre without having the customer’s background data!), legal expenses (customer law suits due to poor service) and the resulting damage to reputation and goodwill.
Not just on the home front, but also in respect of other sectors of society, it is good to remember that ‘Money saved or time spent on recovery from data loss, is money earned or time saved.’
The most common and crippling consequence of data loss is felt by industry and business, globally. Loss of sales tracking data is like trying to find your customer, blindfolded. Future business opportunities end up in dead alleys. Large-sized client lists get progressively smaller due to lesser interface with customers, who you do not know anything about, thanks to the loss of your comprehensive client profile database. Customer migration to the competitors is the next logical step.
Direct loss of money, due to breaches in future payment schedules and past billing information (which were accidentally lost) also manifests itself. Debtors, creditors, receivables, payables, and financial performance are caught up in chaotic mess. Can anyone make sense out of anything?
Spending hard-earned money on retrieving lost data, further taxes the financial resources of a Company threatened with data loss.
Statistics exist to prove that businesses fold up due to data loss. In the United States alone, $12 billion is consumed annually by business losses, suffered as a consequence of data loss. Research has observed that a majority of the companies which lost their data for more than 10 days, filed for bankruptcy within a year of the data loss. Almost 50% of the companies which suffered a data loss for more than 10 days but did not have a recovery plan in place instantly became bankrupt. The cost of losing a single customer’s record increased to US$197 per record (in 2007), compared to $182 (in 2006). Alarmingly, in the event of a major data loss, the daily revenue of a Company loses ground by 25%!
The prime reason, why data loss is continuing its increasingly destructive march, is because of the fact that human intervention and human negligence are necessary occurrences. Someone has to ensure that the tape cartridge is to be fed into the tape drive and check that it is working. Technology is yet to automate this simple step.
The second most important reason for a nonchalant attitude towards data protection and data loss is because of the fact that the individual concerned responsible for data protection or facilitating the data loss just does not see the long term consequences of the negligence to the Company. The individual in the EDP section may not be able to visually see the effect of the data loss on the 25% revenue hit (in its daily revenues) absorbed by the Company, one week after a data loss.
To understand the gravity of data loss and its cost, it is only correct to quantify the monetary cost in terms of:
• Can the Company continue its existing operations without the data? (No database of sales / vendors / prospective clients means time spent in physically contacting them over phone or personally, instead of the routine automated e-mail and obtaining copies of previous transactions or future agreement details.) What about the cost to goodwill, efficiency and reliability of service in monetary terms?
• Recreating the data by entrusting the time-consuming job to the professional data recovery companies. The cost of recovering the data should include the other ancillary costs like administrative expenses (maintaining a customer call centre without having the customer’s background data!), legal expenses (customer law suits due to poor service) and the resulting damage to reputation and goodwill.
Not just on the home front, but also in respect of other sectors of society, it is good to remember that ‘Money saved or time spent on recovery from data loss, is money earned or time saved.’
Server (RAID) Data Recovery!
We understand that data is an important feature but how it is stored and what happens with it are things a lot of us are clueless about. We even use the terms hard drive, software, server etc. without too much thought about what each is. As long as the computer functions, we are happy to be ignorant.
Servers
Appropriate software is the core of the system that makes a computer function. A piece of hardware is referred to as the server but, actually, what it means is that this hardware is running one or more pieces of server software. Requests are sent to a server by a “client”. An example of a client is the garden variety Web browser, typically used as client to a Web server. The Internet and Intranets have resulted in a wide variety of servers. In fact, networks are the backbone of client/ server relationships.
Types of Servers
Typically, there are different kinds of servers, each dedicated to a particular role. There are Web servers, Application servers, Proxy servers, e-mail servers, DHCP servers, fax servers and firewalls. It actually sounds more complicated than it is and the average user needs to understand just the basic functioning of servers.
Web Servers
A Web server functions in a very straightforward manner. A client makes a request, perhaps for a file, and the role of the Web server is to get the file and send it to the client. The Web server is usually not conditioned to read or scan the file but just transfers it to a client, when a request is made. However, modern Web servers are more sophisticated and can multi-task at great speed.
Application Servers
An application server is also known as an information server. These servers have an amazing capacity to process information. The applications server’s potential is maximised by using it with existing technologies. An open source developer might connect an Apache Web server with PHP scripting language. Simply put, however, an application server is a bundled solution that contains all the necessary component technologies needed. Application servers are useful for some organizations as it eases development by unifying development models.
Proxy Servers
Proxy servers do not require a client to have Internet access at all. Proxy servers are a popular way to bridge a local network to an external network. This is possible as long as one computer, which is running the proxy server, is linked. Proxy servers can be configured to allow or deny particular types of network requests. It takes on the guise of a firewall and can inspect each piece of data that passes through its defined territory.
RAID
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Drives or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives. It refers to computer data storage schemes. These schemes divide and replicate data among multiple hard disk drives. The focus of RAID is to increase data reliability and increase input/ output performance. Originally, there were five standard levels of RAID but newer variations have increased the number.
RAID uses special hardware or software to combine physical hard disks into single logical units. RAID drives are presented as single drive applications by software solutions which are implemented in the operating system.
RAID Concepts
There are three definitive concepts in RAID. They are -- mirroring, striping and error correction. Mirroring refers to the copying of data to more than one disk. The splitting of data across more than one disk is known as striping. Error correction refers to redundant data being stored to allow detection and resolution of problems. Depending on system requirements, different RAID levels use one or more of these techniques. RAID ensures reliability, data protection and speed.
RAID Data Recovery
Reconstructing RAID is not easy. There can be many reasons that lead to the software being unable to create the correct setting to ensure a properly constructed array. However, luckily, there are always solutions to most technological problems. There are software available in the market that will be able to recreate the correct settings. Even if one is not familiar with RAID parameters like drive order or block size, there are software available that can analyze the drives and determine correct values. Once this is done, a user will be able to create a copy of the reconstructed RAID on a physical drive.
Servers
Appropriate software is the core of the system that makes a computer function. A piece of hardware is referred to as the server but, actually, what it means is that this hardware is running one or more pieces of server software. Requests are sent to a server by a “client”. An example of a client is the garden variety Web browser, typically used as client to a Web server. The Internet and Intranets have resulted in a wide variety of servers. In fact, networks are the backbone of client/ server relationships.
Types of Servers
Typically, there are different kinds of servers, each dedicated to a particular role. There are Web servers, Application servers, Proxy servers, e-mail servers, DHCP servers, fax servers and firewalls. It actually sounds more complicated than it is and the average user needs to understand just the basic functioning of servers.
Web Servers
A Web server functions in a very straightforward manner. A client makes a request, perhaps for a file, and the role of the Web server is to get the file and send it to the client. The Web server is usually not conditioned to read or scan the file but just transfers it to a client, when a request is made. However, modern Web servers are more sophisticated and can multi-task at great speed.
Application Servers
An application server is also known as an information server. These servers have an amazing capacity to process information. The applications server’s potential is maximised by using it with existing technologies. An open source developer might connect an Apache Web server with PHP scripting language. Simply put, however, an application server is a bundled solution that contains all the necessary component technologies needed. Application servers are useful for some organizations as it eases development by unifying development models.
Proxy Servers
Proxy servers do not require a client to have Internet access at all. Proxy servers are a popular way to bridge a local network to an external network. This is possible as long as one computer, which is running the proxy server, is linked. Proxy servers can be configured to allow or deny particular types of network requests. It takes on the guise of a firewall and can inspect each piece of data that passes through its defined territory.
RAID
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Drives or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives. It refers to computer data storage schemes. These schemes divide and replicate data among multiple hard disk drives. The focus of RAID is to increase data reliability and increase input/ output performance. Originally, there were five standard levels of RAID but newer variations have increased the number.
RAID uses special hardware or software to combine physical hard disks into single logical units. RAID drives are presented as single drive applications by software solutions which are implemented in the operating system.
RAID Concepts
There are three definitive concepts in RAID. They are -- mirroring, striping and error correction. Mirroring refers to the copying of data to more than one disk. The splitting of data across more than one disk is known as striping. Error correction refers to redundant data being stored to allow detection and resolution of problems. Depending on system requirements, different RAID levels use one or more of these techniques. RAID ensures reliability, data protection and speed.
RAID Data Recovery
Reconstructing RAID is not easy. There can be many reasons that lead to the software being unable to create the correct setting to ensure a properly constructed array. However, luckily, there are always solutions to most technological problems. There are software available in the market that will be able to recreate the correct settings. Even if one is not familiar with RAID parameters like drive order or block size, there are software available that can analyze the drives and determine correct values. Once this is done, a user will be able to create a copy of the reconstructed RAID on a physical drive.
DATA RECOVERY SERVICES
The high reliance on computer technology of companies and individuals alike have spawned a different area of concern – that of data recovery. With database failure being fairly common, the computer has proven not to be a fool-proof method of storing information. However, barring such scenarios, it remains to be the most convenient and reliable means of doing so.
The progress in providing the increase in memory capacity of data storage devices has likewise resulted to the tendency of considerable data loss arising from a single incident. With the possibility of accidents and natural disasters, a comprehensive data recovery program from certified hard disk data recovery providers is a great comfort. The data that is continuously being stored in computers have a very big impact on personal lives and company operations.
Data recovery involves locating data that may have vanished from one’s computer. There is always the possibility that such data may have left an imprint on a different format on the computer’s hard drive or other storage devices. Hard drive data recovery locates these data and transforms them in a form that is humanly readable.
Data recovery software can assist in disk recovery but the process can prove to be more complicated if the storage device that has lost the data ends up being overwritten. The kind of data recovery procedure that will be used will depend mainly on the storage device and other factors such as the amount of damage done or the operation system used. A professional service can assist the user in solving the problem due to its expertise and availability of the appropriate settings and tools.
Data recovery services can either address a physical or logical problem. A physical damage may be caused by spilling something on to the hard drive or dropping a laptop. Logistical services are basically for accidentally-deleted files, corrupted files or virus-attacked files.
Hard drive or hard disk data recovery is a specialized process that would require the right software, hardware and advanced techniques. Professional data recovery experts will have to check the hard drive to assess the probable cause of the problem before attempting to do any recovery technique. It is also a standard procedure to get the user’s approval of the fee and course of action before work is initiated. In choosing the company that will perform the disk recovery, the service quality, the professional’s expertise and the specific requirement to recover the lost data should be considered along with the price.
Hard drive data recovery would also involve replacing failed components such as read/write head assemblies, logic control components and drive motors in a clean room environment. Attempts of disk recovery may further necessitate data restructuring to determine the fixes required for the file system structure to enable access to the logical data.
Data remanence or the continued existence of deleted data on the hard drive makes hard disk data recovery possible. The act of deleting a file simply makes the operating system mask it with characters that makes it known to the computer that the file has been deleted. The deleted data remains on the drive until the file system overwrites it. This is why getting professional help may be critical to determining whether data that is lost may be recovered or has gone forever. www.datarecoveryspecialist.com
The progress in providing the increase in memory capacity of data storage devices has likewise resulted to the tendency of considerable data loss arising from a single incident. With the possibility of accidents and natural disasters, a comprehensive data recovery program from certified hard disk data recovery providers is a great comfort. The data that is continuously being stored in computers have a very big impact on personal lives and company operations.
Data recovery involves locating data that may have vanished from one’s computer. There is always the possibility that such data may have left an imprint on a different format on the computer’s hard drive or other storage devices. Hard drive data recovery locates these data and transforms them in a form that is humanly readable.
Data recovery software can assist in disk recovery but the process can prove to be more complicated if the storage device that has lost the data ends up being overwritten. The kind of data recovery procedure that will be used will depend mainly on the storage device and other factors such as the amount of damage done or the operation system used. A professional service can assist the user in solving the problem due to its expertise and availability of the appropriate settings and tools.
Data recovery services can either address a physical or logical problem. A physical damage may be caused by spilling something on to the hard drive or dropping a laptop. Logistical services are basically for accidentally-deleted files, corrupted files or virus-attacked files.
Hard drive or hard disk data recovery is a specialized process that would require the right software, hardware and advanced techniques. Professional data recovery experts will have to check the hard drive to assess the probable cause of the problem before attempting to do any recovery technique. It is also a standard procedure to get the user’s approval of the fee and course of action before work is initiated. In choosing the company that will perform the disk recovery, the service quality, the professional’s expertise and the specific requirement to recover the lost data should be considered along with the price.
Hard drive data recovery would also involve replacing failed components such as read/write head assemblies, logic control components and drive motors in a clean room environment. Attempts of disk recovery may further necessitate data restructuring to determine the fixes required for the file system structure to enable access to the logical data.
Data remanence or the continued existence of deleted data on the hard drive makes hard disk data recovery possible. The act of deleting a file simply makes the operating system mask it with characters that makes it known to the computer that the file has been deleted. The deleted data remains on the drive until the file system overwrites it. This is why getting professional help may be critical to determining whether data that is lost may be recovered or has gone forever. www.datarecoveryspecialist.com
Destroying Data Permanently
In an age where most people are spending millions in saving and salvaging their data, there are some who have a tough time destroying their data. Your data may contain very confidential information. So, once you decide to throw your computer or dispose off your hard disk, are you going to throw it away without deleting this information permanently? It is very easy for malicious users to misuse data. Digital data, once created can be very difficult to destroy. What options do you have? What are the common myths about data destruction? We will explore the answers to these questions in this article.
Common Myths about Data Destruction
People tend to think that when they delete a file using the usual methods, the data gets deleted forever. However, this is far from the truth. While creating data may appear to be a Herculean task, deleting your data permanently is no child’s play either. It is important for users to maintain the confidentiality of their valuable data, even when they do not need the data any longer. Therefore, it is important to understand the misconceptions related to data destruction, what works, and what does not.
• Reformatting the Hard Disk
Many people think that reformatting the hard disk will help delete the files permanently. However, when you perform a disk reformat, the data simply gets hidden from you. The reformatting procedure hides the files from the operating system and the user is tricked into thinking that the data was permanently deleted.
• Formatting and Partitioning the Hard Disk
Formatting and partitioning the hard disk does not permanently delete your data either. When you format the hard disk, the data on the hard disk gets reorganised. When the data gets reorganised, it looks like free space on the hard disk. However, the data can still be easily accessed.
• Emptying Your Recycle Bin
Most people think that if they have emptied their recycle bin, they have deleted their files permanently. In fact, many people think that they have encountered a data loss tragedy by accidentally deleting the files from the recycle bin. However, these files do not actually get deleted. These deleted files simply add up to the free space on your disk. The data deleted by you will remain intact on the disk until you overwrite on this free space. However, overwriting will occur only when the remaining unused areas on the hard disk are filled up.
How to Destroy Data Permanently
Have you ever lost sleep over this question when you are desperately trying to get rid of their data? We have provided you some options in our following section, which can prove to be very helpful in destroying your data permanently.
• Overwriting
You can destroy your data permanently by overwriting new data on your existing data. When you do this, the old data gets deleted. Even the most advanced data recovery systems will not be able to access your data once it has been overwritten several times. So, what is the ideal number of times a person should overwrite their data?
While there is no “ideal” number, experts believe that approximately overwriting on your existing data 7 to 11 times should serve the purpose. Before you start worrying about the time and energy you will waste if you have to sit and overwrite on your data, we have good news for you. You can easily overwrite on your existing data without wasting your time and effort by using secure deletion software that is especially designed for this purpose.
The software allows you destroy your data by running a special application that writes patterns of senseless data on the sectors of the hard disk. The procedure of overwriting senseless data is repeated several times by this software till it achieves its goal. At the end of the procedure, your data will be removed from the hard drive permanently.
• Physically Damaging the Hard Disk
If you do not want to try the software, you can try to physically destroy the hard disk. Now, when we talk about physical destruction of the hard disk, we mean that you will really have to destroy it well. It is very easy to access data even from physically damaged hard disks. Therefore, you will have to ensure that the hard disk is damaged beyond repair so that no one can access the data. Punching a hole in the hard disk is a sure way to destroy the data. You can also try pouring acid on the surface of the hard disk.
Common Myths about Data Destruction
People tend to think that when they delete a file using the usual methods, the data gets deleted forever. However, this is far from the truth. While creating data may appear to be a Herculean task, deleting your data permanently is no child’s play either. It is important for users to maintain the confidentiality of their valuable data, even when they do not need the data any longer. Therefore, it is important to understand the misconceptions related to data destruction, what works, and what does not.
• Reformatting the Hard Disk
Many people think that reformatting the hard disk will help delete the files permanently. However, when you perform a disk reformat, the data simply gets hidden from you. The reformatting procedure hides the files from the operating system and the user is tricked into thinking that the data was permanently deleted.
• Formatting and Partitioning the Hard Disk
Formatting and partitioning the hard disk does not permanently delete your data either. When you format the hard disk, the data on the hard disk gets reorganised. When the data gets reorganised, it looks like free space on the hard disk. However, the data can still be easily accessed.
• Emptying Your Recycle Bin
Most people think that if they have emptied their recycle bin, they have deleted their files permanently. In fact, many people think that they have encountered a data loss tragedy by accidentally deleting the files from the recycle bin. However, these files do not actually get deleted. These deleted files simply add up to the free space on your disk. The data deleted by you will remain intact on the disk until you overwrite on this free space. However, overwriting will occur only when the remaining unused areas on the hard disk are filled up.
How to Destroy Data Permanently
Have you ever lost sleep over this question when you are desperately trying to get rid of their data? We have provided you some options in our following section, which can prove to be very helpful in destroying your data permanently.
• Overwriting
You can destroy your data permanently by overwriting new data on your existing data. When you do this, the old data gets deleted. Even the most advanced data recovery systems will not be able to access your data once it has been overwritten several times. So, what is the ideal number of times a person should overwrite their data?
While there is no “ideal” number, experts believe that approximately overwriting on your existing data 7 to 11 times should serve the purpose. Before you start worrying about the time and energy you will waste if you have to sit and overwrite on your data, we have good news for you. You can easily overwrite on your existing data without wasting your time and effort by using secure deletion software that is especially designed for this purpose.
The software allows you destroy your data by running a special application that writes patterns of senseless data on the sectors of the hard disk. The procedure of overwriting senseless data is repeated several times by this software till it achieves its goal. At the end of the procedure, your data will be removed from the hard drive permanently.
• Physically Damaging the Hard Disk
If you do not want to try the software, you can try to physically destroy the hard disk. Now, when we talk about physical destruction of the hard disk, we mean that you will really have to destroy it well. It is very easy to access data even from physically damaged hard disks. Therefore, you will have to ensure that the hard disk is damaged beyond repair so that no one can access the data. Punching a hole in the hard disk is a sure way to destroy the data. You can also try pouring acid on the surface of the hard disk.
Windows XP Backup Tool - Is It Any Good?
Considering the increased amounts of data that you save to your computer each day, more and more users embark on a quest for the most effective and reliable backup solution. However, very few know that Windows XP has its own backup utility.
You may sigh with relief because this means you don't have to buy special backup software, though you should know that such software gives you a number of important advantages above those that the operating system offers. In this article we will compare a standard functionality backup program with the Windows XP backup tool (WXBT).
The WXBT allows backing up all user files in just one task. If you select the option of the My Documents backup, it will copy the entire contents of the Documents and Settings folder including MS Outlook/Outlook Express messages and settings as well as your profile settings.
However, in most situations full backup is not necessary. In all likelihood the My Documents folder of your computer will be large in size and contain a lot of irrelevant information. If this is the case, WXBT suggests that you manually specify files that you want to include or exclude from the backup set.
A standard backup program has the option of file filtering so you don't have to manually specify each file, but rather specify file extensions of the needed files. For example, if you want to back up only the MS Word documents, you only have to specify the doc. file extension and the program will automatically find and copy all Word files.
Besides, it allows doing target backup of data from specific applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Windows Media Player, ICQ etc. This means that you only have to specify the program whose data you are going to back up.
When you do a backup, it is extremely important where you keep the resulting files. It is recommended to keep such files as far as possible from the local computer.
The farthest location WXBT suggests is a network drive or an external drive. By default, it will even offer you to back up to a floppy drive, and that 's the only removable storage it has in store for you. Now think how many floppy diskettes it will require to back up 30GB of critical information!
A standard program allows backing up your data to virtually any known type of removable media including CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, USB flash and external drives, as well as remote locations such as LAN, FTP, SFTP, remote online server.
WXBT offers five types of backup: normal, copy, daily, differential, and incremental. To be honest, this abundance of backup types causes nothing, but confusion especially if this is your first time backup.
Most backup programs offer two most common types of backup: full and incremental. These two types should be enough to meet all your requirements and cause no user confusion as the definition of the two types is very clearly stated in the program.
WXBT allows backing up the System state data that include Registry, Boot files, COM + Class Registration database. However, you cannot include or exclude specific components.
A professional backup program allows creating a hard drive image including the operating system and all system settings. It also has the option of copying Windows Registry and even allows backing up specific Registry components such as user keys, configuration keys etc.
Conclusions
Having considered the pros and cons of Windows XP backup tool, as compared to a standard backup program, we can say that WXBT is a viable solution for home computers, however the major fault with it is that it cannot back up to optical disks and allows recording your data only to a floppy disk which is outdated and does not meet today storage requirements.
The main advantage of a professional backup program is that it can record your data to any type of optical disk, even the new generation disks such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Besides that such a program offers flexible file filters to simplify the process of data files selection.
You may sigh with relief because this means you don't have to buy special backup software, though you should know that such software gives you a number of important advantages above those that the operating system offers. In this article we will compare a standard functionality backup program with the Windows XP backup tool (WXBT).
The WXBT allows backing up all user files in just one task. If you select the option of the My Documents backup, it will copy the entire contents of the Documents and Settings folder including MS Outlook/Outlook Express messages and settings as well as your profile settings.
However, in most situations full backup is not necessary. In all likelihood the My Documents folder of your computer will be large in size and contain a lot of irrelevant information. If this is the case, WXBT suggests that you manually specify files that you want to include or exclude from the backup set.
A standard backup program has the option of file filtering so you don't have to manually specify each file, but rather specify file extensions of the needed files. For example, if you want to back up only the MS Word documents, you only have to specify the doc. file extension and the program will automatically find and copy all Word files.
Besides, it allows doing target backup of data from specific applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Windows Media Player, ICQ etc. This means that you only have to specify the program whose data you are going to back up.
When you do a backup, it is extremely important where you keep the resulting files. It is recommended to keep such files as far as possible from the local computer.
The farthest location WXBT suggests is a network drive or an external drive. By default, it will even offer you to back up to a floppy drive, and that 's the only removable storage it has in store for you. Now think how many floppy diskettes it will require to back up 30GB of critical information!
A standard program allows backing up your data to virtually any known type of removable media including CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, USB flash and external drives, as well as remote locations such as LAN, FTP, SFTP, remote online server.
WXBT offers five types of backup: normal, copy, daily, differential, and incremental. To be honest, this abundance of backup types causes nothing, but confusion especially if this is your first time backup.
Most backup programs offer two most common types of backup: full and incremental. These two types should be enough to meet all your requirements and cause no user confusion as the definition of the two types is very clearly stated in the program.
WXBT allows backing up the System state data that include Registry, Boot files, COM + Class Registration database. However, you cannot include or exclude specific components.
A professional backup program allows creating a hard drive image including the operating system and all system settings. It also has the option of copying Windows Registry and even allows backing up specific Registry components such as user keys, configuration keys etc.
Conclusions
Having considered the pros and cons of Windows XP backup tool, as compared to a standard backup program, we can say that WXBT is a viable solution for home computers, however the major fault with it is that it cannot back up to optical disks and allows recording your data only to a floppy disk which is outdated and does not meet today storage requirements.
The main advantage of a professional backup program is that it can record your data to any type of optical disk, even the new generation disks such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Besides that such a program offers flexible file filters to simplify the process of data files selection.
Saving Memories and Protecting Yourself Against Data Loss
Old photographs which are physically stored in an album face the danger of fading away with time. Old documents may become frayed and get torn. There is a great danger of wear and tear. In comparison, proper protection and maintenance of data storage devices ensures the longevity of memories.
Protection and Maintenance: It is imperative to maintain data storage devices. These can be internally built within the computer or external from the computer. They can be portable or bulky in nature. But all data storage devices cease to function properly if there is a fault in their maintenance.
Data storage devices need to be cleaned regularly with gloved hands. One must never handle data storage devices with oily fingers.
A user must always ensure that the device is not thrown from a great height. The user must not holiday with the device.
Always wipe the device with wet-dry tissue cloth to keep it free of dust and pollutants.
Keep the device away from pets to avoid chewing and urination.
Always run virus scans before opening the digital device in a PC.
Always check your power and network connections.
Data Saved: The type of data saved is dependent on the type of storage media. CDs are used to save audio-visual material. In addition, data relevance and user characteristics also determine type of data that is saved. Research shows that multinational corporations which outsource labour, capital and data tend to save employee records, monthly and annual financial statements, performance review tables and mission statements.
Manufacturing companies can be classified as small manufacturing enterprises and medium scale manufacturing firms. These organisations save:
Company S.W.O.T. analysis
Profit and loss accounts and statements
Production figures, techniques and processes
Employee details
Financial institutions and retail outlets along with wholesale houses save data dealing with loan accounts and future growth rate. Thus, data saved by commercial enterprises is futuristic in nature. It centres more on present needs, goals and demands. Personal users tend to save data which is past. They tend to save memories in the form of old family photographs, videos of important family events and even nostalgic songs.
My Memories: I do believe in living and remembering the past. I belong to a generation which believes that the present is most important. The present is the only time concept we have in our hands to mould and shape according to our expectations. The past has gone and is beyond our control. We cannot turn back time. So, why bother to remember it and wallow in memories?
It is a positive thing to remember past events and learn from them. But there is no plausible logic in saving memories. It is unhealthy to allow ourselves to cling to the past. Social psychologists state that there is an age to reflect and ponder on past events. Middle-aged and old couples tend to wallow in memories. These memories are usually child-specific and familial in nature. Old people tend to keep a record of all events in their child’s life. These can be birthdays, weddings, and graduation ceremonies, birth of grandchildren, birthdays and school functions of grandchildren. Such memories are usually audio-visual in nature. Some tend to even store old songs. It reminds them of a time when they were young and vibrant.
But right now, I feel that I would be wasting my time saving memories instead of creating them. My past should be a memory of my parents. But, if given the opportunity of time and money to purchase the data storage device, I would save:
Group photographs of my siblings, cousins and myself
School photographs with friends, teachers
Holiday photographs and video recordings
University research papers including PowerPoint presentations
Social psychologists further argue that it is not a positive sign for young people to save memories. Youth has to be the time of achieving milestones. It should be that chapter of life where one is creating pleasant and unpleasant memories. They state wallowing in memories also tends to bring about stunted mental and emotional development. People would still want to cling to the past and refuse to move on. They may refuse to accept changes in personal and professional lives. Young people do take photographs but do not save them digitally.
Thus, the issue of saving memories and past events has two sides. On the one hand, commercial enterprises spend billions to refine methods of saving relevant data. On the other hand, personal users tend to think that saving memories when young is unhealthy and regressive.
Protection and Maintenance: It is imperative to maintain data storage devices. These can be internally built within the computer or external from the computer. They can be portable or bulky in nature. But all data storage devices cease to function properly if there is a fault in their maintenance.
Data storage devices need to be cleaned regularly with gloved hands. One must never handle data storage devices with oily fingers.
A user must always ensure that the device is not thrown from a great height. The user must not holiday with the device.
Always wipe the device with wet-dry tissue cloth to keep it free of dust and pollutants.
Keep the device away from pets to avoid chewing and urination.
Always run virus scans before opening the digital device in a PC.
Always check your power and network connections.
Data Saved: The type of data saved is dependent on the type of storage media. CDs are used to save audio-visual material. In addition, data relevance and user characteristics also determine type of data that is saved. Research shows that multinational corporations which outsource labour, capital and data tend to save employee records, monthly and annual financial statements, performance review tables and mission statements.
Manufacturing companies can be classified as small manufacturing enterprises and medium scale manufacturing firms. These organisations save:
Company S.W.O.T. analysis
Profit and loss accounts and statements
Production figures, techniques and processes
Employee details
Financial institutions and retail outlets along with wholesale houses save data dealing with loan accounts and future growth rate. Thus, data saved by commercial enterprises is futuristic in nature. It centres more on present needs, goals and demands. Personal users tend to save data which is past. They tend to save memories in the form of old family photographs, videos of important family events and even nostalgic songs.
My Memories: I do believe in living and remembering the past. I belong to a generation which believes that the present is most important. The present is the only time concept we have in our hands to mould and shape according to our expectations. The past has gone and is beyond our control. We cannot turn back time. So, why bother to remember it and wallow in memories?
It is a positive thing to remember past events and learn from them. But there is no plausible logic in saving memories. It is unhealthy to allow ourselves to cling to the past. Social psychologists state that there is an age to reflect and ponder on past events. Middle-aged and old couples tend to wallow in memories. These memories are usually child-specific and familial in nature. Old people tend to keep a record of all events in their child’s life. These can be birthdays, weddings, and graduation ceremonies, birth of grandchildren, birthdays and school functions of grandchildren. Such memories are usually audio-visual in nature. Some tend to even store old songs. It reminds them of a time when they were young and vibrant.
But right now, I feel that I would be wasting my time saving memories instead of creating them. My past should be a memory of my parents. But, if given the opportunity of time and money to purchase the data storage device, I would save:
Group photographs of my siblings, cousins and myself
School photographs with friends, teachers
Holiday photographs and video recordings
University research papers including PowerPoint presentations
Social psychologists further argue that it is not a positive sign for young people to save memories. Youth has to be the time of achieving milestones. It should be that chapter of life where one is creating pleasant and unpleasant memories. They state wallowing in memories also tends to bring about stunted mental and emotional development. People would still want to cling to the past and refuse to move on. They may refuse to accept changes in personal and professional lives. Young people do take photographs but do not save them digitally.
Thus, the issue of saving memories and past events has two sides. On the one hand, commercial enterprises spend billions to refine methods of saving relevant data. On the other hand, personal users tend to think that saving memories when young is unhealthy and regressive.
The Most Common Causes of Data Loss
Internet and electronic data rule our lives, as do various other technological devices such as hard drives, USB drives, and flash memory. People these days are creating data at a very fast pace. While storing data electronically has surely made our lives simpler, it has also posed a huge risk to the security of our valuable data. Data loss incidents are very common and 99% of the companies have already faced one or more severe data loss incidents.
Data Loss: The Reality of Our Times
Data loss can happen to anyone at any point in time. Our computers and other data storage devices are not as reliable as we would like them to be. Just as any other piece of electronic equipment, they can fail at any time, taking away our precious data with them. Data can suddenly become inaccessible and this can lead to business downtime, loss of time and money, and loss of business reputation. While you can do your bit to protect your data by backing up your data regularly, you cannot prevent data loss incidents entirely.
Top Causes of Data Loss
There are primarily three reasons for data loss for an average computer user. We have discussed these causes in detail below:
Hardware Errors
Hardware errors can be very serious in nature because they are likely to damage the hard disk of your computer. According to recent studies, hardware errors are responsible for as many as 44% of the data loss incidents. In addition, research has also proved that since the users are increasingly storing large amounts of data on their hard drives, the possibility of a hard drive crash has increased significantly. Hardware errors can occur due to any problem with the hard disk or some internal component of the computer such as circuit board or controller board. We will discuss the various types of hardware errors in detail in the following section.
• Mechanical failures can cause problems with the read and write head of the hard disk. Hard disks are extremely fragile and have a complicated internal working mechanism. Any disruption in the normal working mechanism can lead to read/ write head failure. Problems can also arise in the motor of the hard disk because of mechanical failures. Head crashes are the most common form of mechanical failure. A head crash occurs when the read and write head of the hard disk touches the platters of the hard disk. Power surges or physical shocks to the hard disk can also cause damage to the hard disk leading to data loss.
• Electrical failures also result in hardware errors because these types of failures affect the controller board of the hard disk. The most common reason for electrical failures is power surges or spikes. Power fluctuations harm the controller board of the hard disk thereby making it inaccessible to the BIOS of the system. This results in data loss.
Logical Errors
Logical errors can cause data loss. However, when a logical error occurs, there is nothing physically wrong with the hard disk or any other hardware component. Logical errors can occur due to various reasons.
There are times when the software embedded in the system fails to respond to certain complex commands because of a conflict between the software and the hardware. When such a software error occurs, the computer or the program crashes before the user can save any data. Logical errors can also occur due to corrupted file system structure. A corrupted file system structure can lead to data loss.
Operating System Failure
Operating system failure is one of the most common reasons for data loss for an average computer user. Virus attacks are very common these days and these virus attacks are the most common cause of operating system failures. Sometimes, critical operating system components get deleted. This too can cause data loss. If the operating system is located on the same drive that has encountered a hard disk failure, the operating system will not boot. In such cases, the system will not be able to locate the operating system.
How to Prevent Data Loss?
• The best way to prevent data loss due to hardware failures is to make sure that you use a surge protector at all times.
• Desktops should never be moved from one place to another while they are still powered on.
• Laptops are extremely fragile and should never be dropped or mishandled in any way because this can have a direct impact on the hard disk.
• Make sure you use good anti-virus software to protect your data from malicious virus attacks.
Data Loss: The Reality of Our Times
Data loss can happen to anyone at any point in time. Our computers and other data storage devices are not as reliable as we would like them to be. Just as any other piece of electronic equipment, they can fail at any time, taking away our precious data with them. Data can suddenly become inaccessible and this can lead to business downtime, loss of time and money, and loss of business reputation. While you can do your bit to protect your data by backing up your data regularly, you cannot prevent data loss incidents entirely.
Top Causes of Data Loss
There are primarily three reasons for data loss for an average computer user. We have discussed these causes in detail below:
Hardware Errors
Hardware errors can be very serious in nature because they are likely to damage the hard disk of your computer. According to recent studies, hardware errors are responsible for as many as 44% of the data loss incidents. In addition, research has also proved that since the users are increasingly storing large amounts of data on their hard drives, the possibility of a hard drive crash has increased significantly. Hardware errors can occur due to any problem with the hard disk or some internal component of the computer such as circuit board or controller board. We will discuss the various types of hardware errors in detail in the following section.
• Mechanical failures can cause problems with the read and write head of the hard disk. Hard disks are extremely fragile and have a complicated internal working mechanism. Any disruption in the normal working mechanism can lead to read/ write head failure. Problems can also arise in the motor of the hard disk because of mechanical failures. Head crashes are the most common form of mechanical failure. A head crash occurs when the read and write head of the hard disk touches the platters of the hard disk. Power surges or physical shocks to the hard disk can also cause damage to the hard disk leading to data loss.
• Electrical failures also result in hardware errors because these types of failures affect the controller board of the hard disk. The most common reason for electrical failures is power surges or spikes. Power fluctuations harm the controller board of the hard disk thereby making it inaccessible to the BIOS of the system. This results in data loss.
Logical Errors
Logical errors can cause data loss. However, when a logical error occurs, there is nothing physically wrong with the hard disk or any other hardware component. Logical errors can occur due to various reasons.
There are times when the software embedded in the system fails to respond to certain complex commands because of a conflict between the software and the hardware. When such a software error occurs, the computer or the program crashes before the user can save any data. Logical errors can also occur due to corrupted file system structure. A corrupted file system structure can lead to data loss.
Operating System Failure
Operating system failure is one of the most common reasons for data loss for an average computer user. Virus attacks are very common these days and these virus attacks are the most common cause of operating system failures. Sometimes, critical operating system components get deleted. This too can cause data loss. If the operating system is located on the same drive that has encountered a hard disk failure, the operating system will not boot. In such cases, the system will not be able to locate the operating system.
How to Prevent Data Loss?
• The best way to prevent data loss due to hardware failures is to make sure that you use a surge protector at all times.
• Desktops should never be moved from one place to another while they are still powered on.
• Laptops are extremely fragile and should never be dropped or mishandled in any way because this can have a direct impact on the hard disk.
• Make sure you use good anti-virus software to protect your data from malicious virus attacks.
Importance of Proper Evaluation Before Data Recovery
Aware of the importance of lost time, data recovery experts immediately begin working, upon receiving the hard disk. The process of recovery begins by an evaluation of the device to determine if it was a physical or logical problem that led to the loss. The extent of disk damage is assessed and probable recovery rates are ascertained. This basic examination of the data storage device is called an evaluation of the media.
The entire process of hard drive evaluation ranges between 15 minutes to 48 hours, at times even more, for many variable factors determine the time taken. If the logical structure of the drive is damaged, or if the drive has developed logical and physical problems simultaneously, it might take more time to perform an assessment. Regardless of the time taken, such preliminary investigation is important, for it helps evaluate whether recovering data is worth the effort and cost.
Process of Evaluation
The process of evaluation commences only after data recovery experts scan the details you have provided in the questionnaire. The specifications pertaining to the storage capacity of your hard drive, the partition size in GB, the availability of antivirus software in your personal computer (pc), and similar such information is vital. The column that requires a brief synopsis of the accident which led to this situation is also important information.
Many pc owners often disregard the questionnaire, but the provided information helps the data recovery expert perform a better job on evaluation. Armed with the facts provided by you, the professional opens your hard disk in a class 100 clean room and begins a methodical work on your drive.
The technician first ascertains the nature of damage done to your data storage media. If the disk is physically damaged, the required parts are selected from the huge inventory they have. If matching parts are unavailable, the vendor is contacted for the requisite supply. If your drive is extensively damaged, and has developed both logical and physical problems, the evaluation process turns complex and necessitates the combined effort of many technicians.
After the problem appraisal, a sector by sector mirror image of your hard drive is made. The data structure is then analysed. These are complicated jobs, necessitating many hours of extensive work. Such comprehensive analysis enables the professionals estimate the quantum of data that can be recovered and the cost it entails. Data recovery is a complicated job and the pre-performance of the appraisal work ensures successful retrieval.
Free Evaluation
Performing an evaluation of your damaged hard disk is neither simple nor cheap. It is an expensive process that demands not only the usage of class 100 clean rooms but also of pricey and sophisticated tools. Such expertise comes for a price and if a data recovery company charges for an evaluation, they are justified in doing so. A few data recovery companies do not charge an evaluation fee, but they collect a cancellation fee, if you decide against recovering your data.
Those who offer free evaluation and charge no cancellation fee are too good to be true. You should not hand over your storage device to such service providers. Data storage media evaluation is an expensive process and genuine companies charge appropriately and perform proper appraisal for it is necessary for further progress of the work.
Importance of Disk Evaluation
This thorough and comprehensive analysis of your hard disk will state the condition of your files and directories (if accessible) and recommend the mode of recovery and the recovery cost and time.
Such information is necessary for both the service provider and the client. This enables the data recovery professionals to analyse to what extent the data can be recovered. This also capacitates them to inform you of the probable cost of recovery and the turnaround time. Based on this report, you can make a decision on whether to go ahead with data retrieval or to reconstruct lost data.
Assessment of your damaged data storage device is thus very important. Generally, reputed data recovery companies charge for the data recovery as per the estimated charges. Some companies quote low and charge high. Once you are given the evaluation report, compare and contrast it with that of other data recovery service providers to prevent yourself from getting short-changed.
The entire process of hard drive evaluation ranges between 15 minutes to 48 hours, at times even more, for many variable factors determine the time taken. If the logical structure of the drive is damaged, or if the drive has developed logical and physical problems simultaneously, it might take more time to perform an assessment. Regardless of the time taken, such preliminary investigation is important, for it helps evaluate whether recovering data is worth the effort and cost.
Process of Evaluation
The process of evaluation commences only after data recovery experts scan the details you have provided in the questionnaire. The specifications pertaining to the storage capacity of your hard drive, the partition size in GB, the availability of antivirus software in your personal computer (pc), and similar such information is vital. The column that requires a brief synopsis of the accident which led to this situation is also important information.
Many pc owners often disregard the questionnaire, but the provided information helps the data recovery expert perform a better job on evaluation. Armed with the facts provided by you, the professional opens your hard disk in a class 100 clean room and begins a methodical work on your drive.
The technician first ascertains the nature of damage done to your data storage media. If the disk is physically damaged, the required parts are selected from the huge inventory they have. If matching parts are unavailable, the vendor is contacted for the requisite supply. If your drive is extensively damaged, and has developed both logical and physical problems, the evaluation process turns complex and necessitates the combined effort of many technicians.
After the problem appraisal, a sector by sector mirror image of your hard drive is made. The data structure is then analysed. These are complicated jobs, necessitating many hours of extensive work. Such comprehensive analysis enables the professionals estimate the quantum of data that can be recovered and the cost it entails. Data recovery is a complicated job and the pre-performance of the appraisal work ensures successful retrieval.
Free Evaluation
Performing an evaluation of your damaged hard disk is neither simple nor cheap. It is an expensive process that demands not only the usage of class 100 clean rooms but also of pricey and sophisticated tools. Such expertise comes for a price and if a data recovery company charges for an evaluation, they are justified in doing so. A few data recovery companies do not charge an evaluation fee, but they collect a cancellation fee, if you decide against recovering your data.
Those who offer free evaluation and charge no cancellation fee are too good to be true. You should not hand over your storage device to such service providers. Data storage media evaluation is an expensive process and genuine companies charge appropriately and perform proper appraisal for it is necessary for further progress of the work.
Importance of Disk Evaluation
This thorough and comprehensive analysis of your hard disk will state the condition of your files and directories (if accessible) and recommend the mode of recovery and the recovery cost and time.
Such information is necessary for both the service provider and the client. This enables the data recovery professionals to analyse to what extent the data can be recovered. This also capacitates them to inform you of the probable cost of recovery and the turnaround time. Based on this report, you can make a decision on whether to go ahead with data retrieval or to reconstruct lost data.
Assessment of your damaged data storage device is thus very important. Generally, reputed data recovery companies charge for the data recovery as per the estimated charges. Some companies quote low and charge high. Once you are given the evaluation report, compare and contrast it with that of other data recovery service providers to prevent yourself from getting short-changed.
Data Loss from Optical Disks (CDs, DVDs)
CDs and DVDs are economical data storage devices because the users can store large amounts of data on several CDs or DVDs as they are very cheap. Therefore, the cost per MB of data is greatly reduced. However, what most users do not realise is the fragile nature of these optical disks.
Data Loss Causes for Optical Disks
It is very easy to lose data from CDs and DVDs because they are very prone to scratches. Therefore, the surface of these optical disks gets spoilt very easily. DVDs and CDs have to be handled extremely carefully to ensure that they do not break in anyway. There are times when the entire data or a part of it is lost because a CD or DVD is dropped on the ground.
While some of us enjoy sunbathing whenever we get an opportunity to do so, direct sunlight and excessive heat are not something that your CD or DVD would enjoy. Exposing your optical disks to direct sunlight or excessive heat can spell disaster for the data residing on them. Dust is also supposed to damage CDs and DVDs to a large extent.
How do You Recover Your Precious Data from Damaged CDs and DVDs?
Once you lose your valuable data, chances are you will lose your sleep, peace of mind, and happiness along with it. Not many people can deal with a data loss incident with complete ease, unless, of course, you have a hot site up and running at all times. Therefore, when the data is valuable and time is of the essence, successful data recovery techniques and tools are what you need.
You can either choose a professional data recovery company or DIY data recovery software to recover your valuable data. There are many DIY recovery software available in the market that can recover data from corrupted CDs and DVDs. While choosing a professional data recovery company may be an expensive proposition, the chances of recovering your data successfully are also significantly higher when you choose this option.
DIY data recovery software is a cheaper option and while the software works for most types of data loss, there is no guarantee that it will work for your data loss situation. In addition, if your CD or DVD has been physically damaged, hiring the services of a data recovery professional may be your only option.
Is DIY Recovery Software Helpful in Recovering Data from Damaged Optical Disks?
There are many DIY data recovery software available in the market to choose from. However, to ensure that your data recovery attempts are successful, you will need to make sure that you choose the right data recovery software. Ideally, your data recovery software should be able to recover data from defective, scratched, or damaged DVDs or CDs.
A good data recovery software should be able to give you direct access to the DVD without having to bypass the operating system. In addition, it should be able to scan for the lost sessions whenever you insert a new CD or DVD. You will need to make sure that your data recovery software works with normal DVDs as well as formatted for “drag and drop” data storage type of DVDs.
There are times when users buy a data recovery software but realise later that their software is unable to recover zipped files. Therefore, you will need to make sure that the data recovery software works on all kinds of files.
If you are facing a situation wherein you have accidentally deleted your data file, a good data recovery software can help you recover your data. There are times when users do not close their files properly on CDs or DVDs. This can make the data on the CD or DVD unreadable. In such cases too, data recovery software can be very helpful
Precautions to Take to Protect Your CDs and DVDs from Data Loss
CDs and DVDs are extremely delicate data storage media. Therefore, it is imperative for the users to exert extra caution while using these media. We have highlighted some important precautions that the users should take in order to protect themselves from data loss situations.
• The disc surface of a CD or DVD is extremely delicate. Therefore, make sure that you do not attach protective sheets, labels, or chemical preparations of any kind to the disc surface.
• The recording side of the disc should be handled with extreme caution. Make sure that you do not allow dust, water or any form of liquid, fingerprints etc. to come in contact with the disc.
• Do not expose a CD or DVD to humidity, extreme high or low temperatures, or direct sunlight.
• If you need to label a CD or DVD, make sure that you only use the label side to do so.
Data Loss Causes for Optical Disks
It is very easy to lose data from CDs and DVDs because they are very prone to scratches. Therefore, the surface of these optical disks gets spoilt very easily. DVDs and CDs have to be handled extremely carefully to ensure that they do not break in anyway. There are times when the entire data or a part of it is lost because a CD or DVD is dropped on the ground.
While some of us enjoy sunbathing whenever we get an opportunity to do so, direct sunlight and excessive heat are not something that your CD or DVD would enjoy. Exposing your optical disks to direct sunlight or excessive heat can spell disaster for the data residing on them. Dust is also supposed to damage CDs and DVDs to a large extent.
How do You Recover Your Precious Data from Damaged CDs and DVDs?
Once you lose your valuable data, chances are you will lose your sleep, peace of mind, and happiness along with it. Not many people can deal with a data loss incident with complete ease, unless, of course, you have a hot site up and running at all times. Therefore, when the data is valuable and time is of the essence, successful data recovery techniques and tools are what you need.
You can either choose a professional data recovery company or DIY data recovery software to recover your valuable data. There are many DIY recovery software available in the market that can recover data from corrupted CDs and DVDs. While choosing a professional data recovery company may be an expensive proposition, the chances of recovering your data successfully are also significantly higher when you choose this option.
DIY data recovery software is a cheaper option and while the software works for most types of data loss, there is no guarantee that it will work for your data loss situation. In addition, if your CD or DVD has been physically damaged, hiring the services of a data recovery professional may be your only option.
Is DIY Recovery Software Helpful in Recovering Data from Damaged Optical Disks?
There are many DIY data recovery software available in the market to choose from. However, to ensure that your data recovery attempts are successful, you will need to make sure that you choose the right data recovery software. Ideally, your data recovery software should be able to recover data from defective, scratched, or damaged DVDs or CDs.
A good data recovery software should be able to give you direct access to the DVD without having to bypass the operating system. In addition, it should be able to scan for the lost sessions whenever you insert a new CD or DVD. You will need to make sure that your data recovery software works with normal DVDs as well as formatted for “drag and drop” data storage type of DVDs.
There are times when users buy a data recovery software but realise later that their software is unable to recover zipped files. Therefore, you will need to make sure that the data recovery software works on all kinds of files.
If you are facing a situation wherein you have accidentally deleted your data file, a good data recovery software can help you recover your data. There are times when users do not close their files properly on CDs or DVDs. This can make the data on the CD or DVD unreadable. In such cases too, data recovery software can be very helpful
Precautions to Take to Protect Your CDs and DVDs from Data Loss
CDs and DVDs are extremely delicate data storage media. Therefore, it is imperative for the users to exert extra caution while using these media. We have highlighted some important precautions that the users should take in order to protect themselves from data loss situations.
• The disc surface of a CD or DVD is extremely delicate. Therefore, make sure that you do not attach protective sheets, labels, or chemical preparations of any kind to the disc surface.
• The recording side of the disc should be handled with extreme caution. Make sure that you do not allow dust, water or any form of liquid, fingerprints etc. to come in contact with the disc.
• Do not expose a CD or DVD to humidity, extreme high or low temperatures, or direct sunlight.
• If you need to label a CD or DVD, make sure that you only use the label side to do so.
Process of Data Evaluation in Data Recovery
Data recovery is the latest initiative in the effort of counteracting loss of data, whether it’s due to bad weather, hardware failure, malicious intent or software failure.
Earlier, there was a lot of confusion and inconsistency regarding information about data loss. This made data loss and data recovery, the most misunderstood concepts in the computer industry. Because of this, many users often considered lost data as permanently damaged with no way of retrieving it.
But now, with the advent of new methods and spread of information on data recovery and loss, experts are focusing more on restoring data back to the systems as the way of overcoming the problems of data loss or corruption.
Data Recovery
Data recovery, according to the data recovery experts, is the process of salvaging deleted or inaccessible data stored on damaged media like magnetic disks and computer hard drives, optical devices and tape cartridges. A large number of data recovery software and data recovery service is designed to help users retrieve their files in case of a computer crash or virus attack. The complete process of data recovery from assessment of the media to actual recovery process takes place inside clean rooms.
A clean room is a controlled environment where the concentration of airborne particles is controlled to specified limits according to international standards. Eliminating and preventing sub-micron airborne contamination is not an easy task and follows a set procedure of control. This is essential for successful data recovery as any micron of a particle can also damage the open media permanently. This will further hinder the process of data recovery.
Data Evaluation Process
The first step of the process of data recovery service usually involves evaluation where the initial analysis of the extent of the data lost is determined. It gives the technician a chance to go through the media, determine what caused the failure and what needs to be done to restore the data. This is an extensive procedure involving a series of steps performed by the technician.
The technician must determine if the problem is logical, physical, or possibly a combination of both. Physical failures result in hardware malfunctions, while the logical problems originate from the software. Once the technician has found the problem and the cause, he can plan out the repair process to recover the information.
After the prognosis, the data recovery experts and technicians would then proceed in cloning or copying the media and assimilating it into their systems. This is possible if the technician is able to gain an access into the media. The data structure comes next, where the technician determines just how much of the data can be saved. This step in the evaluation can be time consuming, as the technician has to go through each sector step by step to identify which data can be retrieved and how much of it can be retrieved.
Once the evaluation process has been completed, the results are given to the client or the owner of the media. The technician goes over everything with the client and explains the options available. This is where he discusses pricing as well as how long will the process take. He also explains how much data can be retrieved and what might be the cause of the problem. This is the goal which the evaluation process is set to achieve.
The client can always get a second opinion. In the rare cases where no data can be retrieved, the technician will tell the client so. The actual data recovery process occurs when the technician secures and extracts the data from the copy of the damaged media.
Time and Cost of Data Evaluation
Normally, most data can be retrieved in as little as 48 hours. The evaluation process may take a few days, as it is more time consuming and planned out than the actual data recovery process. The evaluation process can take longer depending on the parts that are needed, or if other technicians need to be involved with the process. If the technician has all of the necessary parts on hand and the experience, it normally doesn't take long. On the other hand, if the hard drive has a lot of hardware and mechanical problems; it can take a few weeks before they retrieve anything.
Most data recovery services offer free data evaluation and quote a price for the recovery process they foresee. Also, many firms promise no overhead costs or change due to additional costs once they have quoted a price for actual recovery to the client.
Earlier, there was a lot of confusion and inconsistency regarding information about data loss. This made data loss and data recovery, the most misunderstood concepts in the computer industry. Because of this, many users often considered lost data as permanently damaged with no way of retrieving it.
But now, with the advent of new methods and spread of information on data recovery and loss, experts are focusing more on restoring data back to the systems as the way of overcoming the problems of data loss or corruption.
Data Recovery
Data recovery, according to the data recovery experts, is the process of salvaging deleted or inaccessible data stored on damaged media like magnetic disks and computer hard drives, optical devices and tape cartridges. A large number of data recovery software and data recovery service is designed to help users retrieve their files in case of a computer crash or virus attack. The complete process of data recovery from assessment of the media to actual recovery process takes place inside clean rooms.
A clean room is a controlled environment where the concentration of airborne particles is controlled to specified limits according to international standards. Eliminating and preventing sub-micron airborne contamination is not an easy task and follows a set procedure of control. This is essential for successful data recovery as any micron of a particle can also damage the open media permanently. This will further hinder the process of data recovery.
Data Evaluation Process
The first step of the process of data recovery service usually involves evaluation where the initial analysis of the extent of the data lost is determined. It gives the technician a chance to go through the media, determine what caused the failure and what needs to be done to restore the data. This is an extensive procedure involving a series of steps performed by the technician.
The technician must determine if the problem is logical, physical, or possibly a combination of both. Physical failures result in hardware malfunctions, while the logical problems originate from the software. Once the technician has found the problem and the cause, he can plan out the repair process to recover the information.
After the prognosis, the data recovery experts and technicians would then proceed in cloning or copying the media and assimilating it into their systems. This is possible if the technician is able to gain an access into the media. The data structure comes next, where the technician determines just how much of the data can be saved. This step in the evaluation can be time consuming, as the technician has to go through each sector step by step to identify which data can be retrieved and how much of it can be retrieved.
Once the evaluation process has been completed, the results are given to the client or the owner of the media. The technician goes over everything with the client and explains the options available. This is where he discusses pricing as well as how long will the process take. He also explains how much data can be retrieved and what might be the cause of the problem. This is the goal which the evaluation process is set to achieve.
The client can always get a second opinion. In the rare cases where no data can be retrieved, the technician will tell the client so. The actual data recovery process occurs when the technician secures and extracts the data from the copy of the damaged media.
Time and Cost of Data Evaluation
Normally, most data can be retrieved in as little as 48 hours. The evaluation process may take a few days, as it is more time consuming and planned out than the actual data recovery process. The evaluation process can take longer depending on the parts that are needed, or if other technicians need to be involved with the process. If the technician has all of the necessary parts on hand and the experience, it normally doesn't take long. On the other hand, if the hard drive has a lot of hardware and mechanical problems; it can take a few weeks before they retrieve anything.
Most data recovery services offer free data evaluation and quote a price for the recovery process they foresee. Also, many firms promise no overhead costs or change due to additional costs once they have quoted a price for actual recovery to the client.
Dangers of Data Theft
Storing data digitally on networks and systems creates the possibility for anyone to know a lot about us if they can access this data. Given this power vested in data, it is normal that theft and various other misuses of data would also start proliferating.
What is Data Theft?
Data theft is the illegal access to data without the user’s authorisation. In other words, if a company’s server has been accessed by a hacker it is a case of data theft and reading the mails of your colleague would also amount to the same in the eyes of the law. It is irrelevant whether you used this data for misdeeds later or not – what counts is that the data that is not yours has been accessed (read, edited, or copied) – without prior permission of its authorised user who may also be its creator.
Types of Data Theft
Data can be stolen in many ways. Below are a few examples of the way data theft happens.
• Hacking: This is by far the most common way of stealing data with least chances of getting caught. A hacker gets into a system where he or she is not supposed to be, and steals whatever data was aimed at. Hackers find their ‘gate way’ through gaps in the security system or by hoodwinking gullible employees / surfers in order to gain access to a system.
• Posing: Appearances can be deceiving. The attractive website that has popped up offering you a great holiday treat may actually be a data thief trying to get into your system under the ‘mask’ of a piece of harmless spam. In a case of corporate data theft last year, the thief posed as a potential customer and got entry to a company’s data bank through the computer of an employee who did not suspect anything in his eagerness to catch a potential client.
• Remote Access: Is the cursor moving about on its own even when you have not touched the mouse? Does the indicator show that a programme is running even when you are not working on anything and have no windows open? Do not ignore the symptoms – a data thief is already sitting in your computer. Remote access allows the thief to gain control of your machine from wherever he or she is and operate it, steal data from it, and even distribute virus from it!
• Spyware: Spyware is often brought in by adware. The thief may not sit in your system, but your key strokes or mouse clicks would be spied upon, revealing what you are doing and ‘reading’ the data as you put it in. And you have opened the gate by clicking on an innocent looking ad.
• Podslurping: Music is now stored in iPods for almost all domestic users. You would usually not suspect an employee rocking to music while working as usual. The thief knows this and is using the iPod to obtain data outputs from the computer where it is plugged in.
• Bluesnarfing: Bluetooth devices have become popular in a very short while. Using his or her Bluetooth-enabled cell phone or laptop, the data thief lifts data from a restricted computer in silence and mostly unnoticed.
• Thumbsucking: Another tiny and dangerous device is the USB storage drive. All an employee needs to do is plug in a pen drive, and 2 GB of data would flow in quietly into the pocket from the computer.
Who Steals Data
Possible data thieves are:
• Professional hackers are doing the dirty jobs for increasingly high prices.
• Corporate espionage is now a specialised ‘blue collar’ occupation.
• Disgruntled or overambitious employees may also be a threat.
How to Protect Data
A few mandatory steps would include:
• Installing and maintaining antivirus software, firewall, encryption and tracking systems for intranet access.
• Granting limited and monitored use of the internet.
• Not allowing USB ports in office computers and not allowing Bluetooth-enabled devices within the work area.
• Maintaining updated backup.
Dangers Posed by Data Theft to Companies
What kind of damages can be done to corporate houses?
• Loss of business data and accounts is the first step.
• The customer database may be stolen and sold.
• Personal information of employees and customers can be compromised.
• Research data is another favourite with thieves.
• Loss of reputation in the market, police enquiries and negative publicity would follow.
What is Data Theft?
Data theft is the illegal access to data without the user’s authorisation. In other words, if a company’s server has been accessed by a hacker it is a case of data theft and reading the mails of your colleague would also amount to the same in the eyes of the law. It is irrelevant whether you used this data for misdeeds later or not – what counts is that the data that is not yours has been accessed (read, edited, or copied) – without prior permission of its authorised user who may also be its creator.
Types of Data Theft
Data can be stolen in many ways. Below are a few examples of the way data theft happens.
• Hacking: This is by far the most common way of stealing data with least chances of getting caught. A hacker gets into a system where he or she is not supposed to be, and steals whatever data was aimed at. Hackers find their ‘gate way’ through gaps in the security system or by hoodwinking gullible employees / surfers in order to gain access to a system.
• Posing: Appearances can be deceiving. The attractive website that has popped up offering you a great holiday treat may actually be a data thief trying to get into your system under the ‘mask’ of a piece of harmless spam. In a case of corporate data theft last year, the thief posed as a potential customer and got entry to a company’s data bank through the computer of an employee who did not suspect anything in his eagerness to catch a potential client.
• Remote Access: Is the cursor moving about on its own even when you have not touched the mouse? Does the indicator show that a programme is running even when you are not working on anything and have no windows open? Do not ignore the symptoms – a data thief is already sitting in your computer. Remote access allows the thief to gain control of your machine from wherever he or she is and operate it, steal data from it, and even distribute virus from it!
• Spyware: Spyware is often brought in by adware. The thief may not sit in your system, but your key strokes or mouse clicks would be spied upon, revealing what you are doing and ‘reading’ the data as you put it in. And you have opened the gate by clicking on an innocent looking ad.
• Podslurping: Music is now stored in iPods for almost all domestic users. You would usually not suspect an employee rocking to music while working as usual. The thief knows this and is using the iPod to obtain data outputs from the computer where it is plugged in.
• Bluesnarfing: Bluetooth devices have become popular in a very short while. Using his or her Bluetooth-enabled cell phone or laptop, the data thief lifts data from a restricted computer in silence and mostly unnoticed.
• Thumbsucking: Another tiny and dangerous device is the USB storage drive. All an employee needs to do is plug in a pen drive, and 2 GB of data would flow in quietly into the pocket from the computer.
Who Steals Data
Possible data thieves are:
• Professional hackers are doing the dirty jobs for increasingly high prices.
• Corporate espionage is now a specialised ‘blue collar’ occupation.
• Disgruntled or overambitious employees may also be a threat.
How to Protect Data
A few mandatory steps would include:
• Installing and maintaining antivirus software, firewall, encryption and tracking systems for intranet access.
• Granting limited and monitored use of the internet.
• Not allowing USB ports in office computers and not allowing Bluetooth-enabled devices within the work area.
• Maintaining updated backup.
Dangers Posed by Data Theft to Companies
What kind of damages can be done to corporate houses?
• Loss of business data and accounts is the first step.
• The customer database may be stolen and sold.
• Personal information of employees and customers can be compromised.
• Research data is another favourite with thieves.
• Loss of reputation in the market, police enquiries and negative publicity would follow.
Recover Deleted Files
Lost some important files? Can't find your documents anymore? A folder with photos is gone?
The problem of lost or mistakenly deleted files is quite common. Even if you backup your most important files frequently, there 's always a chance that something happens right before the next backup. Home computers are often shared with other family members, so some files may be deleted simply as a matter of misunderstanding. For example, your son may think that you have already those photos and videos from your last vacation burned to a CD. So, he erases the photos and videos to free some space for a new game...
Is there a way to recover deleted files?
Yes. This operation is known as undelete, or unerase. Many years ago, before the introduction of Windows 95 with its Recycle Bin, small command-line utilities named 'undelete' or 'unerase' were supplied with operating systems to make possible recovering of mistakenly removed files. The undelete feature was also built into File Manager of earlier versions of Windows. In Windows 3.1, if you removed a file by mistake, you could choose to recover it by clicking the corresponding option in File Manager.
At this point, you may wonder: why those small utilities aren't there in the modern versions of Windows?
The Recycle Bin offers far better way to deal with removed files. It 's safe and user friendly. You don't need to type commands with mysterious keys and switches anymore. Just click your Recycle Bin and recover files, if you need to do so.
Starting with Windows 95, files are not really deleted. Instead they are put into a special folder and are preserved there for a given period of time. Settings of the Recycle Bin can be adjusted by the user, including the general capacity and the preservation time. Defaults are pretty safe: files are stored for several weeks, and the general capacity of the Recycle Bin is around 10% of your hard disk 's space. When the time is over, files are finally deleted and can't be recovered. Well, if you didn't care about the deleted files for several weeks, most probably you don't need them at all. It 's reasonable.
Convenient?
In some ways, yes. However, you shouldn't forget that the files aren't deleted if they are put into the Recycle Bin. No space is freed. If it 's space that you need right now, you should empty your Recycle Bin, or shouldn't use it at all.
Windows offers an alternative way to delete files. You can press a "Shift" key (left or right, it doesn't matter) on your keyboard while deleting to avoid putting the file into the Recycle Bin. Thus the space occupied by the file is freed immediately.
But with this method, you are risking to wipe out important files. This operation can't be undone. At least, not with the usual recovery from the Recycle Bin.
That 's where you may need a recovery tool, like Advanced NTFS Recovery (http://ntfsrecovery.com). This easy to use utility is able to scan your hard disk for lost and deleted files. If the required files can be recovered, the program will recover them, even if the file system itself is damaged. The program takes advantage of all NTFS features (http://ntfsrecovery.com/a-ntfs.php) (if you are still using FAT, it 's no problem, as Advanced NTFS Recovery can deal with different file systems; but you may consider (http://ntfsrecovery.com/fat-ntfs.php) upgrading to NTFS (http://ntfsrecovery.com/fat-to-ntfs.php)), and it can even access files in the 'raw' mode. Using its preview feature, you can see content of deleted files even without recovering them, which allows to estimate chances.
The worst part of it is that, once a file is deleted, your system can overwrite it any time. This can't happen if the file is in the Recycle Bin, but once the Recycle Bin is emptied, a new file can be written in the same area any moment. You can't control the process. You can't tell the system which of the deleted files are more important for you than the rest.
So, let 's consider the above example with a son wanting to install a new game.
If you catch him right after he deletes your pictures, there are very good chances that you will be able to restore all your photos and videos. However, if he has already managed to install his game, some of the valued files (if not all) may be overwritten. If so, they can't be recovered anymore.
But don't jump to quick conclusions. File system (http://ntfsrecovery.com/ntfs.php) follows its own rules when writing data, so you may find that although there 's virtually no space left on your hard disk, the deleted files are still recoverable. Don't hesitate to perform a scan. Advanced NTFS Recovery doesn't write any data while scanning for lost files, so there is no danger of accidental overwriting.
Well, and if you don't have recovery tools on your computer yet? Before using a program you need to install it, which means that program files should be written to your hard disk. Won't they overwrite your valuable files?
The answer is... they may. Every single file, even a small one, can damage deleted files. It is impossible to say what files will be overwritten. Most important? Completely unimportant?
At this point, it is clear that if you want to restore deleted files, you should allow the system to write as few files as possible. If you can prevent the system from writing at all, chances to recover files are about 100%!
Yes. If you avoid saving files on the partition where the deleted files were, you may be able to restore every single file. No magic, just a bit of good programming.
But then, what about installing the program? Is there a possibility to install it safely, without damaging the files you need to restore?
Even if your computer has only one hard disk, there can be several logical drives. It 's quite a common practice to create at least two logical drives: C and D. If that 's the case with your computer and if you have lost files only on one of the drives, you can with no worry install Advanced NFTS Recovery onto another drive. The deleted files will remain absolutely safe.
However, there may be other situations. For example, what if your computer has only one logical drive? Or if you don't remember where exactly the files to restore were?
In such circumstances you may install the program onto removable or external media. Your USB memory stick or external hard drive are ideal solutions.
The most important thing to remember when you want to recover deleted files is the following: avoid using the drive where you lost files. Don't save anything there. Shut down programs that need to save something from time to time (for example, Microsoft Word creates a backup copy every 10 minutes), but be careful, as some programs save different kinds of files when shutting down. And, of course, don't panic. Your nerves are more important than any documents, even if it doesn't seem so in the moment.
The problem of lost or mistakenly deleted files is quite common. Even if you backup your most important files frequently, there 's always a chance that something happens right before the next backup. Home computers are often shared with other family members, so some files may be deleted simply as a matter of misunderstanding. For example, your son may think that you have already those photos and videos from your last vacation burned to a CD. So, he erases the photos and videos to free some space for a new game...
Is there a way to recover deleted files?
Yes. This operation is known as undelete, or unerase. Many years ago, before the introduction of Windows 95 with its Recycle Bin, small command-line utilities named 'undelete' or 'unerase' were supplied with operating systems to make possible recovering of mistakenly removed files. The undelete feature was also built into File Manager of earlier versions of Windows. In Windows 3.1, if you removed a file by mistake, you could choose to recover it by clicking the corresponding option in File Manager.
At this point, you may wonder: why those small utilities aren't there in the modern versions of Windows?
The Recycle Bin offers far better way to deal with removed files. It 's safe and user friendly. You don't need to type commands with mysterious keys and switches anymore. Just click your Recycle Bin and recover files, if you need to do so.
Starting with Windows 95, files are not really deleted. Instead they are put into a special folder and are preserved there for a given period of time. Settings of the Recycle Bin can be adjusted by the user, including the general capacity and the preservation time. Defaults are pretty safe: files are stored for several weeks, and the general capacity of the Recycle Bin is around 10% of your hard disk 's space. When the time is over, files are finally deleted and can't be recovered. Well, if you didn't care about the deleted files for several weeks, most probably you don't need them at all. It 's reasonable.
Convenient?
In some ways, yes. However, you shouldn't forget that the files aren't deleted if they are put into the Recycle Bin. No space is freed. If it 's space that you need right now, you should empty your Recycle Bin, or shouldn't use it at all.
Windows offers an alternative way to delete files. You can press a "Shift" key (left or right, it doesn't matter) on your keyboard while deleting to avoid putting the file into the Recycle Bin. Thus the space occupied by the file is freed immediately.
But with this method, you are risking to wipe out important files. This operation can't be undone. At least, not with the usual recovery from the Recycle Bin.
That 's where you may need a recovery tool, like Advanced NTFS Recovery (http://ntfsrecovery.com). This easy to use utility is able to scan your hard disk for lost and deleted files. If the required files can be recovered, the program will recover them, even if the file system itself is damaged. The program takes advantage of all NTFS features (http://ntfsrecovery.com/a-ntfs.php) (if you are still using FAT, it 's no problem, as Advanced NTFS Recovery can deal with different file systems; but you may consider (http://ntfsrecovery.com/fat-ntfs.php) upgrading to NTFS (http://ntfsrecovery.com/fat-to-ntfs.php)), and it can even access files in the 'raw' mode. Using its preview feature, you can see content of deleted files even without recovering them, which allows to estimate chances.
The worst part of it is that, once a file is deleted, your system can overwrite it any time. This can't happen if the file is in the Recycle Bin, but once the Recycle Bin is emptied, a new file can be written in the same area any moment. You can't control the process. You can't tell the system which of the deleted files are more important for you than the rest.
So, let 's consider the above example with a son wanting to install a new game.
If you catch him right after he deletes your pictures, there are very good chances that you will be able to restore all your photos and videos. However, if he has already managed to install his game, some of the valued files (if not all) may be overwritten. If so, they can't be recovered anymore.
But don't jump to quick conclusions. File system (http://ntfsrecovery.com/ntfs.php) follows its own rules when writing data, so you may find that although there 's virtually no space left on your hard disk, the deleted files are still recoverable. Don't hesitate to perform a scan. Advanced NTFS Recovery doesn't write any data while scanning for lost files, so there is no danger of accidental overwriting.
Well, and if you don't have recovery tools on your computer yet? Before using a program you need to install it, which means that program files should be written to your hard disk. Won't they overwrite your valuable files?
The answer is... they may. Every single file, even a small one, can damage deleted files. It is impossible to say what files will be overwritten. Most important? Completely unimportant?
At this point, it is clear that if you want to restore deleted files, you should allow the system to write as few files as possible. If you can prevent the system from writing at all, chances to recover files are about 100%!
Yes. If you avoid saving files on the partition where the deleted files were, you may be able to restore every single file. No magic, just a bit of good programming.
But then, what about installing the program? Is there a possibility to install it safely, without damaging the files you need to restore?
Even if your computer has only one hard disk, there can be several logical drives. It 's quite a common practice to create at least two logical drives: C and D. If that 's the case with your computer and if you have lost files only on one of the drives, you can with no worry install Advanced NFTS Recovery onto another drive. The deleted files will remain absolutely safe.
However, there may be other situations. For example, what if your computer has only one logical drive? Or if you don't remember where exactly the files to restore were?
In such circumstances you may install the program onto removable or external media. Your USB memory stick or external hard drive are ideal solutions.
The most important thing to remember when you want to recover deleted files is the following: avoid using the drive where you lost files. Don't save anything there. Shut down programs that need to save something from time to time (for example, Microsoft Word creates a backup copy every 10 minutes), but be careful, as some programs save different kinds of files when shutting down. And, of course, don't panic. Your nerves are more important than any documents, even if it doesn't seem so in the moment.
Microsoft Exchange Backup – Everything You Should Know About It
What can be worse for a business than to lose time and money? Today businesses depend more on the servers and network deployed applications rather than anything else. For example, if you rely on MS Exchange Server in your everyday business operations, you can easily translate server downtime into lost revenues. And if you happen to lose data stored on the MS Exchanger Server (MES), the consequences for your company may be even more tragic.
This raises an important issue: how to efficiently protect data stored on MES without having to stop operations? The answer to this question is a good MES backup program. The use of the backup program gives you a number of important advantages. Firstly, the program allows doing automatic MES backup and restore. This means that once you have assigned a backup task of the MES databases, you may rest assured that in case of server failure or data loss, you will be up and running in no time.
So how do you choose a good MES backup program? Well, to start with, you need to make sure that the MES backup feature is included in its functionality. Be careful there, because some backup software only offer this functionality as an additional upgrade, so make sure you do not buy a program to find out that the key feature is missing. To avoid the trouble, use a free trial option. This will allow you to test the MES backup feature in real action i.e. to do MES backup and restore.
Also, make sure that the MES backup program supports your version of MES. It would be a huge mistake to purchase a MES backup program which supports only MES 2003, while you need to back up MES 2007. This information should be clearly stated on the developer�¢ï¿½ï¿½s website.
Another feature you would be interested in is MES data selection. The MES backup program should be flexible enough to allow the user select specific sever data components such as email, calendar, contact and tasks as well as user data. Normally, it works like this. You click a button �¢ï¿½ï¿½MES backup�¢ï¿½ï¿½ and the data are automatically added to the backup set. Then you manually select which components to back up, or use the file filters.
To ensure convenient MES backup, you need to automate the task, so the MES backup program must be able to perform a backup task without much effort required from the user. This is normally implemented with the help of a backup scheduler. Talking about a scheduler, you need to make sure that the scheduler allows for maximum flexibility. So do some research on the scheduler options: how often can you repeat backup, can you link your backup to an event such as an execution of a third party program, for example. Can you shut down an application after the backup has been done?
Also make sure that the MES backup program allows backing up MS Exchange Server while it is running. It would not be very convenient, if you had to stop the application every time you needed to back it up. So make sure that your MES backup program allows backing up the MES databases in real time while the application is running.
The process of MES restore is extremely important too. Learn beforehand how you can restore MES. Does your Exchange backup program allow doing it automatically by just launching the MES restore task? What are other restore options? Most likely you will have to dismount the databases before doing MES restore. Are there any other useful options concerning MES restore?
This raises an important issue: how to efficiently protect data stored on MES without having to stop operations? The answer to this question is a good MES backup program. The use of the backup program gives you a number of important advantages. Firstly, the program allows doing automatic MES backup and restore. This means that once you have assigned a backup task of the MES databases, you may rest assured that in case of server failure or data loss, you will be up and running in no time.
So how do you choose a good MES backup program? Well, to start with, you need to make sure that the MES backup feature is included in its functionality. Be careful there, because some backup software only offer this functionality as an additional upgrade, so make sure you do not buy a program to find out that the key feature is missing. To avoid the trouble, use a free trial option. This will allow you to test the MES backup feature in real action i.e. to do MES backup and restore.
Also, make sure that the MES backup program supports your version of MES. It would be a huge mistake to purchase a MES backup program which supports only MES 2003, while you need to back up MES 2007. This information should be clearly stated on the developer�¢ï¿½ï¿½s website.
Another feature you would be interested in is MES data selection. The MES backup program should be flexible enough to allow the user select specific sever data components such as email, calendar, contact and tasks as well as user data. Normally, it works like this. You click a button �¢ï¿½ï¿½MES backup�¢ï¿½ï¿½ and the data are automatically added to the backup set. Then you manually select which components to back up, or use the file filters.
To ensure convenient MES backup, you need to automate the task, so the MES backup program must be able to perform a backup task without much effort required from the user. This is normally implemented with the help of a backup scheduler. Talking about a scheduler, you need to make sure that the scheduler allows for maximum flexibility. So do some research on the scheduler options: how often can you repeat backup, can you link your backup to an event such as an execution of a third party program, for example. Can you shut down an application after the backup has been done?
Also make sure that the MES backup program allows backing up MS Exchange Server while it is running. It would not be very convenient, if you had to stop the application every time you needed to back it up. So make sure that your MES backup program allows backing up the MES databases in real time while the application is running.
The process of MES restore is extremely important too. Learn beforehand how you can restore MES. Does your Exchange backup program allow doing it automatically by just launching the MES restore task? What are other restore options? Most likely you will have to dismount the databases before doing MES restore. Are there any other useful options concerning MES restore?