| The worst...
Imagine a scenario whereby your system's cooling process fails, which in turn causes your drives to overheat and ultimately crash. When you try to restore your backup data, you find that the "restore" capabilities have never been tested and the data is unreadable.
Is it damaged data only...?
Data loss is a problem that faces approximately 6%25 of businesses each year and the implications are worrying. Theorists in the US have calculated that the cost to businesses of data loss amount to $11.8 billion. Whilst the cost to UK businesses has not been formalised, Fujitsu have estimated that a typical blue chip business would lose £15million or more, if the data on 30 laptops owned by middle managers was lost. However, taking into account the implications of server downtime, direct revenue losses, cash flow interruptions, resulting lawsuits, loss of customers and reputation, it is not only the value of the lost data that may have financial impacts. Indeed, businesses suffering from data loss lasting more than 10 days will never fully recover financially and half will be out of business within 5 years.
How can it happen to me...?
By far the most common cause of data loss is hardware failure, such as head crashes or problems caused through power surges. Another significant percentage of loss is caused by human error, such as accidental deletion. Incidents of hardware destruction are less common, but still prolific. All these threats share a commonality - they are unpredictable and uncontrollable.
What can you do to protect your data?
There is no guaranteed method of safeguarding your data; however, you can take measures to reduce the threat.
The most obvious and sensible answer is to backup your data. Nevertheless, there are other associated issues, which must be addressed if your backup is to be dependable. Often backups consist of enormous amounts of data and take hours to complete, leaving little time to test the "restore" capabilities. Unreadable backup data will only compound your data loss situation. Have you thought about the life expectancy of your media? Magnetic media, which is the favourite for backups, does not have a determined lifetime and should be replaced at the manufacturer's recommendation, to avoid instances of detached leaders, chewed or snapped tapes etc. It may also be prudent to invest in a system of proven reliability. Many IT managers opt for the cheapest option, forgetting that data recovery can be far more expensive. It is also worth noting that in the event of an incident, there will be a time gap between the last backup and the data loss.
Can we have some clever backup solution than...?
RAID and mirrored systems can provide 100%25 protection against downtime and offer real-time data backup. Nevertheless, if your data is mission-critical, you may also choose to backup your data off-line. However both systems are susceptible to configuration or human errors. Other options to consider are electronic vaulting, anti-virus software, disaster recovery plans, commercial file recovery software or simply data re-entry, all of which have their own associated benefits and drawbacks.
What more can you do...?
Disk diagnostic utilities help the user diagnose the condition of their hard drive, memory and operating systems, thus avoiding data loss situations. This is a self-bootable disk, which can be used even if your system will not boot and can be included as part of a maintenance program. By performing random read and seek analyses, SMART status checks, complete surface scans and file structure tests, diagnostic utilities will give a full report thereby allowing you to identify concerns and take the necessary action.
However what if your data has been stolen, can it still be recovered?
There are means of detecting and locating computer data evidence, if you are the victim of computer crime. Computer Evidence Services can locate and analyse data, with a view to providing the victim with an expert testimony, if the crime results in legal proceedings.
So what if...?
If all your precautions fail, the best advice is to seek the help of data recovery services. Ignorance often accounts for the loss of otherwise recoverable data. For instance, your hard drive crashes and it is making a grinding noise each time you re-boot. This may be a head crash and by re-booting you are chewing the oxide further, making the odds of a successful recovery less likely. Specialist software can also scramble data, if used in the wrong situation.
Which data recovery service is the best?
Specialist data recovery services have many methods of recovering your data depending on your specific problem. However, all service providers do not have the most advanced knowledge or technology and can do more harm than good. Therefore, if your data is critical always seek a professional who will provide an evaluation before proceeding with the recovery. This will give you a listing of all recoverable files and summarise the reasons for the loss, together with a quote to fully recover your data.
The actual recovery may be conducted in a number of ways. If the media is physically damaged, or there are internal mechanical or electrical problems, the recovery may be completed in a laboratory or clean room. Depending on the fault, there are occasions when the recovery can be conducted direct from your location via modem or internet on a secure data link. Alternatively engineers can visit your site if security is an issue, or your data is critical. Regardless, reputable data recovery specialists should be able to work on any operating system or storage medium and be able to recover your data in as little as 24 hours if necessary. With all these means at their disposal, the specialist should be able to recover lost data in 80%25 of situations.
Can you be happy ever again?
Whilst there are ways to combat data loss and precautions that can be taken, statistically you will be a victim one day. Therefore the user needs to be aware so as not to permanently obliterate recoverable data and turn a distressing situation, into a catastrophic one. Before taking any action, discuss your problem with a specialist. It is also worth noting that if your data really is essential, cost should not be an issue. Whilst you can pay for cheap over-the-counter fixes, often their success rate is not high. Questions you should ask your supplier are - Do you have clean rooms? Can you conduct remote data recovery or visit my site if necessary? How do you physically recover the data? Once you are satisfied that your supplier is reputable, be rest assured that if they cannot recover your data then it is probably unrecoverable.
|
