Data Recovery Expert

Data Recovery Expert

Viktor S., Ph.D. (Electrical/Computer Engineering), was hired by DataRecoup, the international data recovery corporation, in 2012. Promoted to Engineering Senior Manager in 2010 and then to his current position, as C.I.O. of DataRecoup, in 2014. Responsible for the management of critical, high-priority RAID data recovery cases and the application of his expert, comprehensive knowledge in database data retrieval. He is also responsible for planning and implementing SEO/SEM and other internet-based marketing strategies. Currently, Viktor S., Ph.D., is focusing on the further development and expansion of DataRecoup’s major internet marketing campaign for their already successful proprietary software application “Data Recovery for Windows” (an application which he developed).

Seagate ST3000DM001 data recovery

Seagate has always been the brand leaders in hard drive quality. Sure, they’ve had some issues with firmware bugs in the past, but that is behind them and generally speaking their hard drives are some of the best around. Lately though, they have had some issues with their 3TB series in particular the ST3000DM001, 000 and 002 suffixes.

Take a look at Backblaze’s statistics and the ST3000DM001 has the highest failure rate of all the drives. Ok so Backblaze put hard drives through their paces, but this model has a 28% failure rate. Similarly Apple have a replacement program for any Seagate 3TB drives that fit into this category.

If you have any of the 3TB DM series of hard disk drives, make sure you religiously keep your data backed up. Better still replace the drive. If this is installed in an Apple product check out their replacement program – you may be eligible for a new hard drive!

So what is the problem with these Seagate hard drives? Once again the problems seem to relate to corrupted firmware code stored in the hard drive’s service area. Other issues include the media cache.

Typically we are seeing twice the number of Seagate hard drives for data recovery and most are the DM series. Before you judge though, remember that Seagate are one of the biggest manufacturers and they are still making high quality hard drives. The failure rate is still only proportional with the number of hard drives they produce. So don’t worry unduly unless you have the DM series!

How can the new RAID 10 technology help

After RAID 6 comes RAID 10 which combines mirroring and data striping in a nested array. This is also known as RAID 1 + 0 and is very fast and reliable, but does require at least four hard drives to work. Unlike RAID 5 whereby the user will experience data loss if two hard disks fail, RAID 10 can cope with multiple failures with only a minimal impact on performance. Whilst you may think the chances of two or more disks failing is remote, it is certainly not! RAID arrays use identical disks to maintain disk geometry. However this does mean that any manufacturing defects are likely to be evident across all disks in the array. If a hard drive fails, the strain on the others can often cause multiple failures.

The advantages of RAID 10 are clear. Higher performance combined with greater stability is one of the most important. Indeed, all disks in a single mirror have to fail for the system to collapse. Similarly, striping larger mirror sets also allows users to create larger virtual drives. Data can be read back from more than one disk simultaneously, meaning that read speeds are drastically improved.

In contrast, it should be remembered that mirroring means the data must be written twice. RAID 10 quite simply eats disk space, cutting what’s available in half! Also an additional disk drive is required for the mirror set which does effect the write speeds. Yet hard disks are cheap in comparison to data recovery services and this is often a sacrifice many users are willing to take to protect their data.

Setting up RAID 10 couldn’t be easier. We suggest two methods – software RAID and FakeRAID. Software RAID is driven by the operating system which handles all the logic. Fake RAID on the other hand is implemented at BIOS level and is often denoted by motherboard manufacturers. Always use hard drives of identical make, model, interface and capacity, ensuring they are flashed with the latest firmware. If you are using FakeRAID, make sure your motherboard has the ‘on board RAID’ feature. Unlike other RAID levels, Windows has no obvious options for creating RAID 10. So the user has to combine RAID 1 created in Storage Spaces and RAID 0 in the Disk Management utility. It may take a while to format the disks, but it is a straight forward process.

5 Options If You’re Still Using Windows Server 2003

It is hard to miss the news that today marks the very end of the road for Microsoft’s popular Windows Server 2003 operating system. After that date, Microsoft will no longer offer support, maintenance or security patches for computers running Server 2003 leaving businesses reliant on the OS unprotected against software flaws or security vulnerabilities.

With only a few days until the deadline, the chances of realistically planning and executing a migration to another OS are very, very slim. So what are your options moving forward?

1. Don’t panic!

The end of support for Server 2003 does not mean that servers using that OS variant will simply explode tomorrow. Everything should continue running as normal, giving you time to finalise your migration plans and transfer data, services and roles to a new machine.

You could even use this grace period to seek assistance from a third party migration specialist to help make the transition as smooth as possible.

2. Dig deep

Despite official support ending today, Microsoft will actually continue to provide hotfixes and maintenance for Server 2003 indefinitely under certain conditions:

  • Your business takes out a special support contract for each Windows 2003 server.
  • You agree that each support request you lodge with Microsoft may be chargeable.
  • You are able to pay a vastly inflated sum for the contract – the US Navy just paid $9 million for ongoing support of their Windows XP devices for instance.

RAID data saved after fire damage

We received a RAID-5 array which had failed following a fire. There were four hard drives in the array and two were showing signs of physical damage to the PCBs. Although administrators had remotely logged in and started to extrcat data from the RAID following evacuation, the server crashed shortly into the process.

The server had all the critical data relating to the business and more importantly - all their client files in PSD, PDF, AI, PNG and JPG formats. There was no reliable off site backup. Tape backups stored on site had also been damaged in the fire and it was decided it would be more economical and effective to recover data directly from the RAID.

Upon examination the PCBs on each hard drive in the RAID had literally melted and when the chassis were opened there was considerable smoke damage. Where the hard drive electronics were damaged, it is normally necessary to completely rebuild the circuitry. However the damage was so extensive that we had to find replacements and reprogram them. Each fire damaged drive was carefully cleaned to prevent contamination of the platters by soot and smoke particles. All the hard drives except one responded well to this process and we were able to gain sufficient 'images' of the raw data from the other three drives. Thankfully the redundancy in RAID5 meant we were still confident of a good data recovery

6 Steps To Microsoft Exchange Server Migration

News that Microsoft is to end support for Windows Server 2003 on 14 July this year has masked a more pressing issue for small businesses using Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS2003) – the Exchange email component of their system has not been supported since 8 April 2014. This means that should something go wrong with your email server, Microsoft will not provide any patches, service or support, placing your data in jeopardy.

The obvious solution to this problem would normally be to upgrade to the newest version of Windows Small Business Server, thereby addressing both the Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 problems simultaneously. But Microsoft dropped the Small Business Server (SBS) edition when Windows Server 2012 was released.

This leaves you with a choice – upgrade to SBS 2011 which is already four years old, or make the move to Windows Server 2012 Foundation. The sticking point is that the entry-level Server 2012 Foundation edition offers no native email functionality. Instead Microsoft is encouraging small businesses to adopt the Office 365 service which includes hosted email.

But whether you choose to adopt SBS2011 or Server 2012, you will still need to carry out an Exchange Server migration. Because SBS2011 is relatively aged, this guide will look at the move to Office 365. For further information about upgrading SBS2003 to SBS2011, see this Technet guide.

1. Specify the Office 365 subscription your business needs

Although you can purchase Office 365 subscriptions direct from Microsoft, you may find that in terms of accuracy and speed, using the services of a VAR (value-added reseller) may be more appropriate. They will help you understand how many subscription licenses you need to cover your workforce, and the difference between the available plans.

Because you are replacing your Exchange 2003 server with Office 365, you will need to select the Office 365 Business Premium plan which includes hosted Exchange email. On the plus side

Data recovery from RAID-0

When we received two Samsung 160Gb SATA hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration from an SQL server, visual examinations of the drives showed extensive platter damage to drive one in the array. After further examination in the clean room, it was apparent that the head assembly on drive one had crashed and there was extensive scratching to the platters. RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across several disks in a way that gives improved speed and no lost capacity and as this array has no actual redundancy, data will be lost if any one disk fails.

A ‘head crash’ had occurred and this 'impacted' the rotating platter surface. The head normally rides on a thin film of moving air entrapped at the surface of the platter. A shock to the working hard disk, or even a tiny particle of dirt or other debris had caused the head to bounce against the disk, destroying the thin magnetic coating on the disk. Since most modern drives spin at rates between 7,200 and 15,000 rpm, the damage caused to the magnetic coating was extensive. The data stored in the media that has been scraped off the platter is of course unrecoverable, and because of the way that data is stored in RAID 0, this data may be whole files or parts of many files.

The second drive was found to be healthy. Drive one was mechanically repaired using donor parts from the second drive. Drive two was healthy and was 'imaged' before being used as a donor. The extensive scratching to the media surface on drive one, only allowed us to gain a maximum 80% image. Once all the drives were imaged, including all the “white” areas (previously deleted or overwritten data), the RAID parameters, such as start sector, drive order, block size and direction of rotation were analyzed to determine the correct values. We then attempted to create a single copy of the reconstructed RAID in a virtual image file (.img).

Which Windows Server Version Is Right For You?

After 12 years of service, Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on Windows Server 2003 with extended support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ending on the 14th of July – next month. To avoid problems with software compatibility, security weaknesses and general operating system failures, any business still reliant on Server 2003 needs to upgrade to a newer version sooner rather than later. Because maintaining the status quo is not an option.

Here we outline the pros and cons for each of the available operating systems so you have the information you need to make a more informed purchasing decision.

Windows Server 2008

Offering support for both i386 and x64 architectures, Windows Server 2008 was the last Microsoft operating system to work with 32-bit processors.

As the second oldest Microsoft operating system still in use, there is little to recommend Server 2008 for anything other than the oldest hardware.

Pros

  • Windows Server 2008 still supports 32-bit architecture, making it the only “up to date” option for old i386 systems.
  • Provides native support for Windows XP and Vista clients.

One attempt at data recovery

Depending on the type of problem with your hard drive, the user may well only have one attempt at data recovery so make sure you choose the right company! If your hard drive has failed mechanically, a skilled professional is going to rebuild that disk using donor parts. Data recovery after a logical failure can often be attempted many times without effecting the media at all. This is because the technician is not having to open the chassis for a mechanical or electronic repair.

Hard drives are precision instruments and are not designed to be disassembled. Similarly donor parts are often not compatible. To provide a quote for a data recovery and file listing of recoverable files, our experts have already rebuilt the hard drive and recovered the data. Where quotes are declined we will always return the media to its original condition and return to the client. Yet just the fact that the drive has been disassembled means a subsequent attempt at recovery will be more complicated.

Most hard drives these days have multiple platters. To remove platters a specialist extraction tool is required. Platters are aligned to very exact specifications. The tracks are packed so tightly that the actuator is unlikely to pick them up after the chassis is opened, even though the user may not have touched the spindle! Platter extraction is a very delicate procedure on any hard drives over 20Gb in size. Once the rotational alignment of the platters has been altered – even by a hundredth of a millimetre - the game is more or less over unless you are prepared to spend big bucks!

DIY Data Recovery ‘Is Never A Good Idea’

Many companies will face the situation whereby their IT systems fail and they need to act fast in order to recover any lost data and get back up and running as quickly as possible.

However, in some cases, employees might be tempted to resort to DIY data recovery practices, but this invariably is not a good idea and could lead to individuals doing more harm than good in the long run.

This is the view of Richard Cuthbertson, head technician at Xytron, who argued all disc drives clean room environments and to exacting tolerances. It can therefore be extremely risky to try to operate on faulty or unresponsive IT infrastructure if individuals do not have the necessary expertise or training to do so with causing further headaches down the line.

20 Helpful Steps Migrating Windows Server 2003 to 2012 R2

Windows Server 2003 support ends July 14th 2015. While you’ve probably heard this a multitude of times, the severity of support no longer being offered by Microsoft for this aging server offering could be detrimental security wise to the organization you support. The following are 25 steps that I have been walking our customers through at a high level to fast track them off of their aging infrastructure and into Windows Server 2012 R2.

Let’s take a Server that is running Windows 2003 and is a Domain Controller, DHCP, DNS, and some File Services.

  1. Build a new Windows 2012 R2 Server, install all necessary patches and join it to the Domain
     
  2. Install the AD, DHCP, DNS, and File Services (Including De-Duplication) Roles
     
  3. Logon to the Existing Windows 2003 Domain Controller and stop the DHCP Server Service 
  4. Copy the DHCP Database from the from Windows 2003 (%windir%\system32\dhcp\dhcp.mdb) to the new Windows 2012 R2 Server (c:\Export\DHCP\dhcp.mdb)
     
    NOTE: Only grab the DHCP Database and not the associated log files. This will take all of the associated Scopes from the old server to the new one. It is a complete cutover. If you need to take individual scopes you should use NETSH or the Server Migration Toolkit.
     

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