Hard drive data recovery is highly specialized work. While modern IT departments are extremely capable, most do not have the necessary equipment or training to repair damaged actuator heads or perform a platter swap. 

 

Appropriate backup and archival practices can help your business minimize the need for hard disk drive (HDD) data recovery — but even the best disaster recovery strategies can fail under the wrong circumstances. 

If you’re selecting a data recovery provider for your business, here are essential factors to keep in mind. To learn about Total Data Migration’s data recovery services, send us a message or call (800) 460-7599.

Hard drive data recovery requires cleanroom technology.

Hard drives may fail for dozens of reasons, but in most cases, engineers will need to replace damaged components with functional parts from a working (or donor) drive. All physical repairs must be performed in a cleanroom. 

Otherwise, the hard drive’s internal components may be exposed to contaminants. Modern HDDs have read/write heads that float less than 5 nanometers above the surface of the platters. The platters store data on a thin layer of magnetic material. If the heads come into contact with that material, permanent data loss can occur.

A cleanroom or cleanflow bench prevents contaminants from compromising the data recovery process. As a rule of thumb, a data recovery firm is not capable of providing services if they do not maintain cleanrooms. 

As you research data recovery providers for your business, it’s a good idea to ask about other technologies:

• Determine whether the provider has firmware repair tools. Firmware repair is frequently necessary for physical data recovery work, since modern hard drives have exceptionally specific firmware parameters. 
• Ask whether the data recovery provider has an onsite hardware library. Total Data Migration maintains extensive libraries of legacy hard drives, tape drives, and other storage media, which ensures fast turnaround times and high recovery rates. 
• Ask about cleanroom certification. Total Data Migration’s locations are equipped with ISO 5 cleanroom technology, which ensures that we’re able to perform all necessary component repairs on-site.

Related: Hard Drive and Server Recovery

HDD data recovery providers must have comprehensive experience with various file systems and file formats.

Data recovery providers must work directly with data to repair corruption and verify the results of each recovery. This is especially important for business data recovery: If you need to recover PSTs, databases, or other high-value files, your data recovery provider will need extensive experience with those files. 

Total Data Migration has experience with thousands of file types, along with every widely used file system and operating system. Through decades of research and development, we’ve built an extensive array of tools for responding to every type of disaster scenario — from deleted files and hard drive failures to mishandled RAID rebuilds.

Related: Tape Vs. Cloud: Creating a Business Continuity Plan

Data recovery providers must have excellent data security controls.

Whether you operate a small business or manage systems for a major enterprise, security is an essential consideration. 

Total Data Migration can provide chain of custody (COC) reports throughout the data recovery process to aid in compliance. All data is held on secure, closed systems. When data recovery is complete, all unwanted media is disposed of in accordance with NNIST’s Special Publication 800-88 standards. 

To learn more, read: Data Tape Destruction: Maintaining Compliance at Scale.

Trust Total Data Migration for compliance-ready data recovery.

Total Data Migration provides a comprehensive set of data solutions for businesses of all sizes. Our services include data recovery for hard drives, data tape cartridges, and RAID systems, along with expert options for data migration and ransomware recovery. 

If you’re looking for an HDD data recovery provider, we’re ready to help. Reach out to a data recovery expert today.