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[R13]Raid Data Recovery Service

by Mike Freemen, Mik

There is perhaps no worse feeling in the world of technology than having your hard drive crash and realizing you have not made a backup of the valuable data it contains. These days most of us end up storing vast amounts of personal data on their computers, and data recovery services can be a godsend when the worst happens.

The idea behind data recovery is that the data on a failed hard drive is not truly gone. Depending on the physical damage to the hard drive, the actual data may still be intact, and a qualified data recovery service may be able to recover most or even all of the data contained on the failed hard drive.

When shopping for data recovery services, it is important to choose carefully, and it is important to move as quickly as possible. If a physical problem exists with the failed hard drive, that problem is likely to get worse quickly, and the faster you can get that drive to a data recovery service the faster you will get your valuable data back.

It is also important to choose a data recovery service with a good track record of recovering data from failed hardware and failed hard drives. It is a good idea to look for references for those data recovery services. In addition, you may want to check with the manufacturer of your hard drive for recommendations on data recovery services. Some data recovery services will work better with certain brands of hard drives, and the maker of your hard drive may be a good source of information on the type of data recovery services that are most likely to be effective.

When contracting with a data recovery service, it is important to read the fine print carefully and to understand what your financial obligations are in the event of a successful data recovery. In most cases the charges for data recovery will be determined by a combination of the size of the drive and the extent of the damage. It is important to get a good estimate before allowing the data recovery to go forward. Data recovery services can sometimes be expensive, but recovering your personal data can be priceless.

No matter what type of data recovery service you ultimately choose, one thing is fairly certain, and that is that you will suddenly discover the power of a good backup. Nothing causes people to get the backup religion quite like a loss of data.

If you are the administrator or user of a RAID or Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks system, data recovery is a big concern. Are you the kind of person who is always worried about unforeseen data loss situations, and send your server off to data recovery every time there's a problem? Well, don't be. Read on to find out about how some minor tips can go a long way in keeping your server and your data in healthy condition if ever your hard drive crashes.

1. It pays to have redundancy

As an administrator or even a user, make sure that you always keep a backed up mirror image of any striped RAID that you use. Keeping a mirrored image will ensure that you have a fall-back in case of data damage or hard disk failure. If you use RAID Level 0, you can do striping which puts smaller fragments of data into different available hard disks and allows you to put them together later. If you have RAID Level 1, you can do striping which backs up your intire system into one or more hard disk drives. Try to backup as regularly as possible - daily would be an ideal situation. That way you will have a ready copy of your data to fall back on.

2. Don't always listen to the system

If the system finds that there is a damaged or faulty hard drive, DO NOT ATTEMPT to reconfigure the RAID even if the system prompts you to do so at any time. Use your own judgement when it comes to handling the system. Once platters are damaged, striping overwritten or changed completely, the chances of getting your data back are slim. Keeping that in mind, try not to reconfigure the system at all. Leave it as it is, and try to sort out the problem through a different route.

3. Never format any HDD
Permanent data loss generally takes place when hard disks have been swapped, switched from one place to another or installed into other computers in a bid to rebuild or repair the array. Formatting a boot drive or partition can also damage or remove striping, which reduces the recoverability of data and causes permanent loss. So, don't try to format the HDD as you may inadvertently manage to erase all chances of recovering you data.
4. Defragment your hard disk drive regularly

It pays to do regular maintenance on your disk drives. This keeps the data stacks in healthy shape, and helps keep the general data distribution in healthy condition.

5. Backup Important data Separately

Make sure you save copies of files regularly used, by creating a "save as" copy of the file on monthly basis. You can then rename this file and save it to a fresh location, and continue to work on the fresh copy to provide maximum protection to your data.

6. Partition Magic
Make sure you create different partitions apart from the one housing the operating system, and try to use the second partition as far as possible. You can do this through your operating systems management console.

7. Always use anti-virus and a firewall

One cannot stress this enough! Get them both installed and leave them there. Update them both regularly to ensure that you do not have any external attacks on your system! This is a must!

8. Backup using good software
This is a very basic step, and should be done as soon as you get a chance to do so. You should always back up your data, and there is plenty of backup software available that helps create an image of the drive, which can be used in case of any damage.

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Both Mike Freemen & Nahar Dijla are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Mike Freemen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mortgage, Laptops and Cordless Phones. For more information on data recovery go to . Mike Freemen's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.

Nahar Dijla has sinced written about articles on various topics from Software, computers and the internet and Data Recovery. . Nahar Dijla's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.