If you have worked with any type of computers for long, you know that eventually storage medium and processors will fail. This could be because of physical damage, corrupt data sectors, or even malicious attempts to hack information. If you depend upon your data, you need to have reliable backups taken frequently. These good backups can turn a data storage failure into a mere inconvenience, rather than a catastrophe.
Operating System Failure
Actually, the most common reason for data loss is simply the failure of the operating system on the machine that holds your data. In this case, you might still have a perfectly functioning disk drive, and this is probably thee easiest problem for data recovery experts to deal with. They can simply use another device to make tape data backups.
Disk-Level Failures
You might, on the other hand, have no problems with your computer’s operating system. The problem might by an internal disk drive problem. These could include the following:
— Compromised file system
— Bad data partitions
— Hard disk failure
— Reading head failure
— Deleted files
It might be possible to repair the file system. Even if it can be temporarily repaired, it might be enough to retrieve important data for transfer to a new storage medium. If you are simply suffering from a virtual problem, it might even be possible to recover both your data and your drive.
If you have found that your critical files were deleted from the system, this might not be as bad as you fear. This probably means that the logical references to those files have been deleted, but the data might still be intact on your drive. If this problem happened a long time ago, the data could have already been overwritten, so it is best to address this matter before you use the disk drive for anything else.
However, if the data is still on the drive, and only the references have been removed, it is probably possible for a data recovery expert to help you.
Can You Repair Your Own Data?
Some technically-savvy end-users can recover their own data and even fix problems. However, in most cases, it is much better to rely upon the services of a data recover professional.
Well-meaning end-users might actually attempt to fix a problem. But in the end, they might make the problem worse. It is a good idea to contact a data recovery problem as quickly as possible to make sure that damage can be minimized, your data can be recovered, and you can get back to business as fast as possible.
How Does Tape Data Backup Work?
In a perfect world, everybody would back up all of their data and current work as often as possible.
The frequency really depends upon the nature of the business. For example, if you have a small business where you could recover a few day’s work from hard copies, you might only need to do it weekly. However, if you manage a large company or it would be difficult to re-create your work and information from hard copies, you should probably run backups every time a transaction is completed.
Tape Data Backups Are Still A Reliable Solution
You might think that tapes are old-fashioned and slow. Actually, tape backup systems have evolved along with everything else in the computer industry. They can be as fast to use as any but the most expensive disk or cloud based system these days.
Tape backup systems are usually much cheaper. Of course, you might keep your most critical and recent data on backup disk drives. But you can use tapes to store archival data that is rarely going to be needed.
For example, if you run a small business, you could store the past year’s data on a disk. After a year, you are probably not going to regularly need the information, so why not move it to tape to clean up your disk drives? It is not that much more trouble to access one of these archived tapes, and it will allow you to keep your disk drives clean and functioning well for much longer without having to pay for upgrades or additional equipment.
The Importance Of A Data Recovery Plan For Any Business
The only thing you can really count on is that some day you will suffer form a data failure. That failure can be a crisis or a minor bump in the road. If you plan right, your data recovery system can be efficient and inexpensive. In any case, it will certainly be a lot cheaper than the high cost of losing your important business records.
You should plan to work with a data recovery professional before you have a data problem, and that way it will be very easy to work with one to get your data back later!
Learn about Data Clinic’s tape recovery services here.