So does it cost more to recover data from an SSD? According to Lee, Kroll Ontrack treats SSDs as HDDs when it comes to initial evaluation and recovery cost. The company relies on its extensive suite of customized tools to recover data from SSDs.
Recovering data from an SSD is hardly a cut-and-dry affair, as vendor-specific SSD designs and the incorporation of built-in encryption technologies bring challenges. Reading between the lines, it may make more sense for businesses to buy SSDs from larger or more established vendors than an incumbent SSD vendor utilizing a proprietary controller-the former is far more likely to have the tools and documentation that a data recovery vendor can use. On the plus side, current trends are showing the failure rate of SSD to be lower than that of HDD.
Regular Data Backup Best Data Recovery Defense
One concern businesses may have is the possibility of data being recovered from an apparently empty or damaged drive. As such, a proper data wipe is highly recommended before redeploying an existing storage drive, since formatting or repartitioning a disk drive does not destroy the vast majority of any underlying data. One wipe cycle is usually adequate, though various IT standards and best practices stipulate anything from three to seven wipe cycles. Finally, businesses looking to dispose of old HDDs may also want to consider degaussing (the process of eliminating a magnetic field) to render the HDD unworkable.
It's evident that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to ensuring the integrity of crucial business data. For experts such as DriveSavers and Kroll Ontrack to pull off data recovery miracles on RAID arrays, encrypted data volumes and SSDs, let alone for your own company to do it, a regular data backup regime should always be the first line of defense. Periodically test those backups, too. Do that, and remember to periodically test those backups to ensure that your precious data can be restored successfully should a data loss situation ever hit.
Paul Mah is a freelance writer and blogger who lives in Singapore. Paul has worked a number of years in various capacities within the IT industry. Paul also enjoys tinkering with tech gadgets, smartphones and networking devices. You can reach Paul at paul@mah.sg and follow him on Twitter at @paulmah.
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