How S.M.A.R.T. are hard drives?

Hard drives can actually repair themselves
but data recovery is not dead just yet!

How can hard drives repair themselves?

As you know, hard drives are a combination of sophisticated electronic and mechanical systems that incorporate a number of specialized motors and electro-mechanical components to read and write data. Hard drive technology has substantially advanced in the past 10 years. In fact, hard drives are designed to manage themselves in addition to reading and writing data. Hard drives today use a number of algorithms to verify data on the drive and also maintains a ‘Defect Management’ list internally that constantly monitors their own health and performance . If a sector is beginning to fail, the hard drive’s electronics will remove that sector from use. In addition to this, S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) circuitry has been incorporated on many hard drives and is used to monitor all of the internal systems.

Despite these safeguards, hard drives can fail. There can be a number of reasons for hard drive failure, for instance physical damage can result when the hard drive or case is jarred while operating or even when powered off. Power spikes or fluctuations can damage the electronics or corrupt the data on the drive. Internal mechanical parts can seize up due to high temperatures if the drive does not have enough airflow to keep the unit cool.

A common misconception about data recovery is that repairing hard drives means replacing parts. If only it were that easy! Data recovery is always changing— manufacturers are constantly using different mechanical designs. Today’s hard drives have no room for errors when it comes to platter and head alignment. The tolerances are so exacting that hard drive manufacturers even design ways to keep the Base-Casting Assembly, where all the components are attached to, from shifting due to high temperature situations.

For instance, one hard drive manufacturer of high performance SCSI based drives actually designs their Base-Casting Assembly with pre-stress points. The assembly does not line up from corner to diagonal corner—it’s pre-torqued. When the casting assembly heats up, the unit actually twists back (thermal expansion) into a true line-up from corner to corner. With the byte-density of most large hard drives today being 4gb to 6gb per square inch, absolute precision is required for these high capacity and high speed drives to operate reliably. Hard disk manufacturers are working to increase how many bytes can be squeezed into a square inch.

The mechanical precision of today’s hard drives makes head assembly replacement nearly impossible without specialized tools. Platter removal is dangerous and will affect how the drive reads the sectors. As previously mentioned if just one component is out of alignment, the drive will not find the required sectors. If the hard disk electronics cannot find the sectors requested by the controller, it may endlessly try to find those sectors or it will shut down the unit.

Free Data Recovery Evaluation

"Our free hard drive data recovery evaluation service will tell you whether your data can be recovered, exactly how much it will cost and how long the data recovery will take. Simply phone or email us for a job number and send your data recovery to us. Your hard drive or media will be photographed, catalogued and bar-coded and the data recovery evaluation will start within an hour of receipt."

File Listing Of Recoverable Files

"Once in the laboratory, your media will undergo a comprehensive data recovery evaluation to determine the extent of the data loss. We aim to complete this process within 24 hours depending on the complexity of work involved. The engineers will provide a no obligation recovery prognosis, with a guaranteed list of recoverable files and an estimated timescale. You can then decide whether to proceed with the recovery. Should you choose not to proceed, we will return your media by secure data courier."

Completing the Data Recovery

"Should you choose to proceed, the data recovery process will be completed and the data will be safely stored on our servers. We will then copy out the data to your preferred choice of output media - either 64Gb memory stick or HDD (for purchase or loan). Your data will be dispatched on our secure, next day courier service. Once you have received your data any copies of your data will be permanently and securely erased from our servers after 7 days."

Established and Trusted

"40 years experience in the data recovery industry chairing ISO and BSI standards, we have developed a reputation for excellence at a price that is affordable. With extensive data recovery research and development capabilities, our success rates are second to none - without compromising on our prices! This is why over 36,000 companies and individuals come to us every year."

Safeguarding Your Data

"Your data is important to us, which is why all our data recovery procedures comply with the Association of Chief Police Officers Guidelines and Civil Procedure Rules for handling electronic evidence. Great care is taken when recovering and handling your data to ensure that its integrity is maintained and that there is a clear audit trail through the entire data recovery process."

Industry Leading Diagnostics

"Our data recovery laboratory completes over 120 successful recoveries every day from clients including the BBC, NHS and Ministry of Defence. With ISO 27000 (Information Security) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management) accreditation - we are a data recovery company you can rely upon! Class 100 clean rooms, specialised platter removal jigs and software applications allow us to provide the most comprehensive service in the industry."

"I would definitely recommend them to all"

"I had an employee who kept two years worth of his work, on his local drive rather than his network drive. When the drive died the user was in a panic! I send the drive to Data Recovery Specialists, who were able to recover all the users data, promptly and at a good price too! I would recommend them to all - 5 Stars!" - Gary Mulvihill

"You guys saved my company"

"Laptop died with everything for my business on, all invoices, contacts, emails, resources and financials. One data recovery 'expert' just said "your hard drive is dead", but everything was recovered by DRS... Also, provided an extremely fast turn around for reasonable price, where other companies were asking for a significantly higher fee just to look at the computer. Literally, you guys saved my company. I can not thank you enough!!!" - Andrew Laundy

"Professional and friendly throughout"

"I am so pleased as data recovery specialists managed to recover all of my thousands of photographs which I stupidly didn't back up. Service was great and fast. The service wasn't cheap, but they kept in touch with me the entire time, and were professional and friendly throughout. And they recovered my data too!" - Claire Whalley

"I would definitely recommend them for hard drive recovery"

"What do you do when faced with a data recovery situation - I just wanted to cry. After an internet search and phoning around several companies, Data Recovery Specialists seemed to be the best solution. Even though it was a Saturday, they dealt with my enquiry and assured me they could help. I sent my hard drive to them and within a day of receipt they had already determined what was recoverable. They quote was reasonable and I am so thankful to Data Recovery Specialists. I would definitely recommend them for hard drive recovery!" - Shaun Weston

"I would definitely use them again"

"Our RAID-5 failed after two hard drives went down with mechanical issues. Data Recovery Specialists were recommended and they immediately responded to our enquiry. On reciept of the RAID hard drives they expedited the data recovery process and 24 hours later we received all the RAID data. We were expecting considerable downtime, so to be up and running again so quickly was definitely a bonus. I would definately use them again, but I am hoping we don't have any more data recovery issues!" Willmott Dixon

"Surprised how quick the data recovery was!"

"Thank you for processing our data and copying it to hard drive. We were pleasantly surprised how quick the data recovery was and you kept us informed throughout the process. Data Recovery always raises trepidation, but we found the whole experience quite reassuring. I would not hesitate to recommend Data Recovery Specialists in future." Ministry of Defence

"Fast, effective and professional data recovery"

"I thought we would never get our scans recovered and imported back onto our PACS system, but you came to our rescue. Your RAID data recovery service was fast, effective and professional and the consultants we dealt with were very knowledgeable and helpful. Brilliant data recovery service - thank you!" NHS

"Data Recovery Specialists are a real life saver"

"Thank you so much for all your help - Data Recovery Specialists are a real life saver! I do not know what I would have done without the data you recovered from our external hard drive. We would have probably had to re-record all the location shots, which would have been time consuming and very expensive." BBC Wales

"Your hard drive data recovery service really was second-to-none"

"Thank you for solving our stiction issues so promptly from our reel to reel tapes. We were expecting to lose some of the data, so we were extremely happy when you recovered the full survey. Your hard drive data recovery service really was second-to-none! The data you recovered has proved invaluable." Regal Petroleum

"They really eased my mind"

"I was so worried when I dropped my laptop. It contained all my work and stupidly, I had not backed up the hard drive! I had heard the hard drive data recovery was expensive but had no option. From my first discussion with Data Recovery Specialists, they really eased my mind and I felt confident they could do the job. And to my surprise, the quote for data recovery was not nearly as much as I had budgeted. Thanks for all your help guys! " Victoria Hall

"They really are life-savers!"

"From the moment I called Data Recovery Specialists to receiving the data, I cannot fault the service. They recovered absolutely everything from my hard drive and at a price I was comfortable with. Data Recovery Specialists really are life-savers! Whilst I hope it doesn't happen to me again, I would certainly call their data recovery team if I need to." Shenda Falvey

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