The bottom line is that one could do no more harm to a hard drive, than one of the above traumas.  The largest risk factor of permanent data-loss usually begins with this type of an event.  What you do right after this type of event will greatly determine the outcome, or in other words, the success of, a recovery.  The first action is, immediately disconnect the drive!  Don’t wait for a ‘proper’ shutdown, PULL-THE-PLUG!!

Manufacturers and distributors are misleading us by publishing technical drive specs, that drives should be able to withstand 5 to 10G’s of shock.   What they are not saying is that they are only testing this type of resistance to shock, on media which is not powered.   Even then, if you drop it on the wrong corner, you may be in big trouble.

So, if  you are smart, and you read and obey the first recommended action (above), the next step is do not power that drive again, do not even let your IT guy try!!!   This media is now considered “Highly Fragile”, take it directly to a recovery lab like Cherry Systems Inc. and make absolutely sure they understand what happened to your drive. 

You have about a ZERO chance, or very close to it, to get the data out of the drive on-you-own (we will explain more in following postings).   People who neglected this advice almost always end up with a lot-of-ferrite dust inside the drive, and severe, if not complete, data loss.

For more advice and solutions tune-in to your next blog on this subject.

In our previous post, we listed the 3 primary options for data backup:

In this post, we will tackle the much more difficult issue of selecting the right method for your situation.

If you have limited technical experience, I recommend you engage a data protection professional (an IT professional with advanced knowledge in data protection you can learn more in a coming post on this subject) Who can assess your needs, recommend a solution, and possibly help with implementation.  An hour or two to complete this work is money well spent.

Questions you should ask when evaluating backup solutions:  If we skip the cost for a moment, please consider the following;

1. How much UNIQUE data do you have? Is it under 1Tb or more?
2. Do you know how to take an “inventory of your UNIQUE data”?
3. Is all your data in one location?
   1. Is it one centralized storage (like a server)
   2. Is it distributed on several networked devices in one building?
4. Your comfort zone with file storage structures, and network storage.

• If your comfort zone is minimal, you are better off using as simple a solution as possible like the “clickfree” external backup device like http://tinyurl.com/yaywrr9

Note:  you should have more than one unit to use alternately.

• If you are ready to deal with network and remote locations,  a whole new set of option are available.

1. How often does your UNIQUE data change?  You are going to have to backup often enough so as not to loose too much newer data between backups should a crash occur before your next scheduled backup.

 Look for our next post, part 3 on this very important subject.

In a recent article in eWeek.com the headline read:

 ”Data Storage, Data Backup, and Storage Virtualization: 10 Important Enterprise Disaster Recovery Tips for IT Managers”

The article goes on to explain how Sepaton, www.sepaton.com a data backup provider from Marlboro MA, can backup very large data volumes using VIRTUAL TAPE LIBRARIES at a high rate of 34Tb per hour.   Clearly, this is  an important development for IT departments with large amounts of data to protect.  The article continues with 10 tips for Enterprise IT managers to address in their disaster recovery planning.  All 10 tips are valid and essential.  However, I would like to suggest an 11^th tip which is commonly missing from most such recommendations:

Tip # 11.    Evaluate a Data Recovery lab or two and establish ongoing relations.  We at Cherry Systems have daily proof that is indisputable: systems and processes designed by humans will fail.   Murphy’s Law clarifies it by saying that it will happen at the worst time!  Therefore if our experience is a good indicator and Murphy’s law concurs then the 11^th tip should be included and executed.

By saying executed, what does it mean?   It means that IT management should establish communication and form relations with a P.D.R (Professional Data Recovery) http://www.cherrysystems.com/blog/data-recovery-recognizing-a-professional-part-2 provider, who can consistently recover lost data.   

IT managers:  Don’t wait until that awful day lands in your lap.  Safeguard your disaster recovery plan with a proven data recovery  provider.

For those seeking solutions to recover lost files, there are basically two options:

1.   Choose a professional data recovery lab, see discussions on www.cherrysystems.com/blog posts in late November and December 2009.

2.   Choose a Do-it-Yourself (D.I.Y) data recovery software tool from an ever-increasing array of software tools available, many touting their tool as “the best data recovery tool” you will ever need.   As data loss and data recovery become a mainstream issue, more companies are making an attempt to capitalize on this space.   Therefore we will focus on this subject in the post below and several subsequent ones.

 Clearly not all data recovery tools are the same, so choosing one can be a daunting task for the SMB/home user as well as the IT professional who only comes across this problem a few times a year.  This is partly due to the fact that there are so many variations of operating systems and there are so many ways to loose data on a storage device.

The providers of data recovery software tools can be placed in two major categories:

1.   Software houses selling tools for a wide variety of computing needs including data recovery.  Some of these products are very good but only address a limited scope of data loss problems.  However, many of these software tools are poorly designed and worse yet poorly supported.  Unfortunately, it is not simple to tell the good from the bad based on price alone.  Prices start at $39.95 and up.

2.   Data recovery service providers like Ontrack or MHDD also offer self-directed data recovery tools, in addition to providing a full range of professional data recovery services.  Typically these are well designed professional looking products, but with a hidden motive;  to give the customer a very light version of their in-lab tool, with the hope that should it not recover everything needed, the customer will be inclined to use their in-lab services. Prices start at $79.95

 Users considering D.I.Y. data recovery must keep in mind the following important points:

1.   No one tool, available on the market, solves all data loss problems.  They are typically designed to overcome a limited variety of crashes.  Just like you can’t have only one hammer which works for all jobs requiring hammering

2.   Software tools can only recover data from a fully functioning media.  If the drive is physically failing (which may not be easy to tell) you are at worse risking loosing it all, or at least wasting time and money trying.  (see upcoming blog post on Warning Signs of Physical Failure)

3.   How much time and money do you have, to buy, learn and experiment with the DIY tool?

4.   How important is the data to be recovered?  Truly consider the risk that you could do more harm than good to your irreplaceable data.

 You still have choices of action, but you need to consider them wisely:

1.   First consider your time constraints. Make sure you know how long it will take a pro to recover the data in case the tool you purchased and tried to use has failed.  Add to this the number of days you will allow to experiment with the DIY method, that will enable you to meet your recovery deadline.

2.   Consider the operating system, the type of files you are recovering (all data files are not made equally).

3.    Consider the media type the data is stored on, e.g. hard drive, flash drive, SSD’s etc.  Some tools work better (or not at all) on some of the media types above.

4.    Make sure you have a way to load the software on a system other then the one you have a problem with the data. Make sure you can connect the failed media to that system to perform the recovery. 

5.    NEVER! EVER! install the recovery tool on the failed media.

6.   Have enough available space on the drive you are attaching the failed media, to be able to copy out all the recovered files.

7.    DO NOT reuse the failed media until you have verified and re-verified the critical recovered files.

8.    Make sure that the failed media was not infected with a virus that will be happy to find a new home on the new media.

9.    If all of the above checklist is a go, locate a site that will list and compare data recovery tools, like http://data-recovery-software-review.toptenreviews.com/  (0r others).

10. Be prepared to deal with storage and data-specific unique lingo to be able to use the software. 

Please watch for our next post in this series on this blog “Should professional data recovery service sell data recovery software?”

Yes, there are some “easy fix” data recovery software tools on the market.  Yes, it’s okay sometimes to use them.  How do you know WHEN it’s okay to use them, and how long to keep trying before you call the professionals in.