ANY DEVICE

At 24 Hour Data, we know that small businesses and large organizations, alike, use databases for nearly every aspect of operations, from customer relationship management to sales and marketing and more. So when your database fails, you risk losing mission critical data that can cost your company important business… or even cost your entire business. If you are facing missing or corrupt data in your database or you can’t access your database at all, there are typically three common causes. Let’s look at each one and then determine the best steps to take to recover your lost data. Database Hardware FailureA database is just a combination of software and data. Frequently, when a database fails to boot, it’s due to…

With so many choices available for data backups today, there’s no excuse not to backup mission critical files. Or is there? Maybe you’re just overwhelmed with the backup choices and don’t knowto start. First, remember – any backup is better than no backup. Two backups are better than one. And three, with one stored in a remote location, is optimal for a business with mission critical data. Today’s storage options include tape-based backup systems, NAS devices, SAN devices, and RDX cartridges, which combine the benefits of RAID storage and hard disk storage with the mobility of tape-based storage. And, of course, more and more businesses are turning to cloud-based data storage. Is this really the best choice? Benefits of Cloud-based…

Frequent, effective backups are an important part of a business continuity plan and necessary to avoid a data recovery emergency in your business. But should you opt for tape back-ups, hardback-ups, or even newer technology?  Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of each for a small-to-mid-size Dallas business. Pros of Tape StorageEven as hard disk storage gets cheaper and larger, tape storage is not dead. Let’s look at some of the benefits. Virus ProtectionA reduced risk of virus corruption is one benefit. Viruses that may get onto a server will transfer to the hard disk drive, and then be spread through the entire system. A virus that accidentally gets backed up to disk will stay on that…

Just in time for holiday shopping, data storage leader Western Digital™ (WD) has announced a hybrid replacement hard drive for aging laptops. Users suffering from old, slow PCs can upgrade to a new WD Black2 drive that combines 1TB of conventional hard disk data storage with a 120GB SSD for the operating system and programs, all on a single 9.5 mm drive. Not only will users enjoy more storage space than many legacy laptops offer, but the SSD for important operating system files may speed operation of older laptops. The 6Gbps SATA3 connection is compatible with legacy SATA modes, making this an effective upgrade even for older laptops. The Western Digital™ WDBlack2 drive includes a full transfer kit to make…

We recently talked about the benefits of Full Disk Encryption in an organization that is concerned about data security (and who isn’t concerned about data security today?) But there are limits to the level of security FDE can provide. Most of these limits are not inherent in the software, however, but in the level of care users in the organization take to protect the data.  As successful as FDE is to prevent outside theft of important data, there are certain things FDE can’t accomplish. Let’s take a look at some of the limitations of full disk encryption. FDE can slow down processes. – FDE is hardware-based encryption, which means the drive is encrypted at the hardware level, and the encryption must…

Many of our clients don’t realize the connection, but data recovery, data protection and security are inextricably linked within an organization. If your computer is not secure, particularly when you connect to the Internet, you could become a victim of viruses and malware that can damage files and render mission critical data inaccessible. Additionally, organizations that exhibit lax IT security also find they are lacking in data protection that could prevent a data recovery emergency. Data protection, just like data security, is never complete. An organization never reaches an endpoint where they can say, “We are 100 percent secure and protected and no longer have to worry about threats.” IT security specialist Debbie Mahler says it very well in this…

If you’re considering new enterprise level RAID storage, you may have heard about some of the drawbacks of RAID 5. RAID 5 arrays stripe data and provide parity, and can tolerate the failure of one RAID drive. The problem? A RAID drive failure is rarely an isolated event. When one drive in a RAID array fails, it puts stress on the other drives. This leads to cascading failure and, most often, the need for emergency RAID recovery from a professional data recovery service. RAID 6 is very similar to RAID 5, but has become a preferred configuration for enterprise level RAID storage. A RAID 6 array can tolerate the failure of two drives, simultaneously, before facing data loss. RAID 6…

24 Hour Data specializes in encrypted hard disk recovery, which includes drives using full disk encryption (FDE) technology. Let’s take a look at what full disk encryption is and why it is harder than other encrypted drive recovery, requiring more time in the lab and tops-in-their-field, experienced data recovery engineers. What is Full Disk Encryption?FDE is drive encryption that takes place at the hardware level. You can buy disk encrypting software and add it to hard drives to encrypt your data. But with FDE, even if your hard drive is removed from the computer and put into a different machine, the data will be inaccessible.FDE is common on laptop and notebook computers, which may be at risk of theft. If…

There are many options available for home, small business and enterprise level storage. As many large organizations make the shift to virtualization for efficiency and increased storage capacity, simpler options exist using the principles of RAID storage. Let’s explore two common storage devices and how they differ. What Is RAID?To go back to storage technology 101, RAID is a Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent, depending on who you talk to) Disks. Depending on the RAID level and RAID configuration, the device uses two or more disks and either duplicates data across drives for increased stability and protection or stripes data across drives for increased performance. RAID 5 servers and higher provide a blend of increased performance and duplication for…

More computers today, as well as some servers and RAID arrays, rely on solid state drives (SSDs) for storage. The benefits of SSDs are well-documented, including increased reliability since there are fewer moving parts to fail, greater energy efficiency, and faster performance. But how do they really work? Let’s take a peek inside solid state drives, with the objective of understanding why solid state drive data recovery is so complicated, requiring the expertise of a professional data recovery service. How Solid State Drives Store DataSolid state drives store data on flash memory, a collection of NAND chips, which are made up of floating gate transistors that hold a charge of zero or one. The transistors are stored in collections of…