The Many Causes of Data Disasters

Many companies close down permanently as they are unable to operate after suffering such losses. In cases of data loss, the first priority of anyone is to get the data back as quickly as possible. But this is easier said than done. Data recovery is a specialised work undertaken by trained professionals using specially built equipment and software. It is by no means inexpensive.

Actually, recovering data from the hard disks of hundreds of computers of a company may cost a small fortune. The companies hit by data loss have it both ways. Not only are they unable to conduct business for months, they also end up paying through their nose for getting the data recovered. It is very clear thus that in cases of digital data loss, prevention is certainly way better, cheaper and quicker than cure.

Companies can lose all their data due to many kinds of disasters, both man-made and natural. The following are the main ones:

Fire: : This is the most common cause of data loss. A fire may be started inadvertently due to a carelessly thrown cigarette butt or an electric short circuit. It may also be the result of arson where somebody, such as a disgruntled ex-employee, sets fire to the office premises as a way to settle old scores. Fire has a devastating effect on digital devices. The heat usually melts optical disks and everything else made of plastic (such as outer shells of USB drives) as well as aluminium (such as soldering on integrated circuits).

The heat and fire char the exterior metal casing of a hard disk while smoke enters its insides, covering the platters and their data-recording surface with soot. After this, more damage is done when the fire trucks arrive and spray everything with water and foam. The submerged digital storage devices undergo more damage.

Storms and Floods: : What with the increased global warming, weather everywhere has become quite unpredictable. Sometimes, it rains heavily over a small area within a very short period of time, resulting in flash floods. The rivers in these cases break their banks and flood the surrounding area. Flood water is very harmful for hard disks and other storage devices. It is very dirty water that is carrying with it sand and other dissolved sediments. Once the hard disk is taken out of the water, the sediments and particles settle down on the data-recording surface, become dry and hardened.

This sedimentary layer is very difficult to get rid of. If you scratch it, you risk damaging the recording surface. That is why it is advised that if a hard disk has got submerged in water, you should not allow it to dry out. Instead, put it in a container full of water and take it to a professional recovery company where professionals will drain out the water and flush out the platters with special cleaning fluids.

Volcano Eruption: : Volcanoes represent one of the most fearsome forces of nature. Their eruption can absolutely devastate a large area for miles around. When a volcano erupts, lava flows out of it and rushes in all directions. Anything coming in its path is burnt to a cinder and cannot be salvaged. The volcano also ejects super-heated ash – the para-plastic flow – into the atmosphere. This can bury buildings and everything under it under tonnes of ash.

Terrorist Strike: : Terrorism is becoming a serious threat the world over. The 9/11 World Trade Center incident showed what deadly destruction it can inflict. Terrorist incidents mainly include bomb blasts that may level entire buildings. Many companies that got sucked up in the 9/11 terrorist strike could never recover from the abrupt and absolute loss of all their data and just folded up operations.

Earthquakes: Earthquakes can be quite violent and flatten entire cities. They may trigger the collapse of buildings, burying data-storage devices under tonnes of debris. They may even cause dams to rupture, thus flooding the entire countryside. Every year, earthquakes cause destruction in some area or the other of the world. The countries around the dreaded Pacific Ring of Fire are especially vulnerable to earthquakes.

Storms and Cyclones: These are quite common occurrences in many parts of the world. The cyclones may inflict heavy damage on an office building, lifting every object and throwing it kilometres away. Storms are usually accompanied by rains which may flood an area. The lightning may course through the electric cabling of an office and fry the motherboard and hard disks of computers, thus resulting in data loss.

Data disasters are a very serious business. Data backup devices such as external hard disks and tape drives are of no use in such cases as they are usually stored in the same building and get destroyed along with the original data. The only fool-proof way to prevent data loss when hit by disasters is remote data backup, which is getting very popular in the world today because of its reliability and convenience.

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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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