Data Recovery Digest

A hard drive will fail at some point. It may not be while you’re ever using it, but it’s a fact that a drive isn’t going to last forever. For a hard disk drive, with all its physical and moving components, that chance of failure is higher over flash storage like a solid state drive. Nevertheless, failure does happen, and it can sometimes mean sending your device in to a professional recovery company. One such company is DriveSavers, having been in the business since 1985.

The DriveSavers support team works 24x7 and is usually the first port of call for every customer. This team will advise users on what to do now that their drive has failed. Understandably, a lot of users are panicked at the idea of losing their data; they may even try and recover it themselves. If the damage is physical, this is highly inadvisable. Recovering from physical hard drive damage is extremely complicated, thus the support team will offer tips on how to minimise further damage and then have the drive sent to them.

One component of DriveSavers is the purchasing department. This is a group who source drive components that will be used to repair damaged drives. Of course, there are many different types of drives and it is important that a well-stocked inventory is maintained. Having the required components in hand will mean that turnaround time is kept low and the customer can get their drive back quickly. Not only do DriveSavers deal with old drives, but they also have unreleased devices so that they can test them, get to know them and be prepared for future failure.

Once DriveSavers has received the drive, they will make a diagnosis and determine whether the drive failure is logical or physical. The firm have many ISO Class 5, 6, 7 and 8 compliant clean rooms, allowing them to open up the drives and study them without air particles damaging them. Their clean rooms can handle multiple drives at the same time, ensuring efficiency and a speedy recovery.

DriveSavers has partnerships with drive manufacturers, ensuring that they are kept up-to-date and can access industry tools that help with the repair. Nevertheless, all employees are knowledgeable in drive repairs and often rely on reverse engineering to repair drives.

Throughout the whole process, security is paramount. DriveSavers works on recovery for the American government, let alone the everyday consumer, so it’s understandable that security is such a top priority. All doors have keypads and there are many areas that the average person isn’t allowed into. Even when taking a tour, all signs of identification of a customer (such as a label on a drive) is removed.

If the customer has opted for their old drive to be destroyed, it’ll be done so in a NSA-approved TS-1 Degausser. It’s then onto a PD-1 Physical Drive Destroyer to ensure the drive is never coming back. Alternatively, the customer can choose to have their failed drive returned to them along with, hopefully, their data safe on another drive.

Working at DriveSavers is certainly no easy task and it’s admirable the amount of knowledge that flows through data recovery companies. Having helped Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Conan O’Brien throughout the years, it’s clear that DriveSavers is a popular and well-respected drive recovery company.