IT Support Manchester

With the increasing popularity of Virtual Machines comes an issue that many may not be aware of. This problem is an age-old issue that has affected systems from the very early days of storage. It can cause hard drive failure leading to expensive data loss scenarios necessitating data recovery professionals. This problem is, of course, fragmentation.

Virtual machines must still make use of the slowest part of any modern computer system: hard drive technology. Hard Drives can be partitioned to appear as dedicated individual devices, these devices are then often utilized to store virtual partitions and virtual operating systems. Underneath this “virtual” layer, the hardware is storing data as it always has, in a fragmented inefficient manner.

Hard disk fragmentation occurs when files are split in to multiple chunks as they are slotted into spare space on the hard drive. If you are running a solitary OS chances are you have already noticed considerable slow down in your system since purchase. Just imagine two or more OS’s running causing the same file fragmentation! Pretty soon your system could come to a grinding halt.

What is more, the premature wear that all of this fragmentation can cause to the hard disk storage can dramatically reduce the useable life of the storage below. Even complex, high performance, RAID arrays can be reduced to a snail like crawl due to high levels of fragmentation. If this problem starts to show itself on a number of the storage devices in any array you could be left with a situation where data recovery is your only option.

Each operating system will have it’s own method of dealing with file fragmentation (or not as the case may be). Whilst Mac OS X will automatically defragment a file under the size of 20mb, windows pays scant regard to how badly files are fragmented. Other systems use a variety of different methods to combat the problem.

Windows does ship with its own on board defragmentation tool but many would consider it a mere tick in the box as running the utility will mean that the hope of having a usable system in the meantime is improbable, and defragmentation could last for many hours or even overnight in some cases, so what are the other options.

Use automated defragmentation routines: Dependent upon your OS you can normally, either directly in the OS itself or via third party software; schedule defrags to run at times convenient to yourself.
Use separate hard disks for your Virtual Machine software. While this may appear to fly in the face of VM’s in the first place, having a robust and business capable solution is in most cases the driving factor. Some astute companies will even have a dedicated hard disk array solely for the purpose of running VM software if there is a business case for it.

Ensuring your systems are working in tip top condition is vital to maintaining a productive IT infrastructure. For more great computing tips visit data solutions UK , or click here for hard drive recovery information and raid data recovery advice.

Overview
Modern computer system hard drives can contain a vast amount of data. So when a hard drive fails, and there are no recent backups available, data recovery is the only option available.

Introduction
A hard drive consists of a number of component parts. Each of which has its own failure modes.

1. Electronics
2. Mechanics
3. Firmware
4. Logical

Electronics
The electronics on a hard disk is the ‘brain’ of the hard drive and a single component failure will render the drive useless. Recovering data from drives with electronics failures requires highly skilled electronics engineers who are able to make temporary repairs in order to recover the data.
There are also electronic components inside the hard drive that are necessary for the correct functionality of the hard drive and consists of the head pre-amplifier circuit.

Mechanical
The critical mechanical parts of a hard drive comprise of, the actuator arm, the motor and the platters. (There are other Mechanical parts, vibro-acoustic components, filters, VCM Magnets, etc, but these are less critical).

The majority of mechanical breakdowns involve the Head pre-amplifier. Whilst this is not exactly a mechanical failure, the way that the head pre-amplifier is fixed to the head stack means that when it fails it involves the replacement of the entire head stack assembly.

The next biggest cause of failure is motor failure. This is a very significant problem and requires specialist equipment so that platter alignment is not lost when removing and replacing the motor. Main problems with motors are burnt out coils and seized bearings.

Firmware
The firmware region or System Area (SA) is a region on the hard drive where the manufacturer’s proprietary information such as

• ROM overlays.
• Head maps
• Zone Tables
• SMART Logs
• Operational code
• Security Data
• ATA Password Information
• Translator Tables

and many others

For a hard drive to work properly it is vital that the Firmware Zone is error free. Repairing the Firmware on a hard drive is a highly skilled job and requires specialist equipment. Making a mistake when modifying the information in the Firmware of a hard disk can render a drive unrecoverable.

Logical
Logical problems are where there is no physical problem with the hard drive and it is fully functional. Logical problems are where data has become inaccessible for some reason, for example, the user has deleted the files, the computer has come under virus attack. The skill set of the engineer requires experience of how the operating system that the data was stored on works. Also, knowledge of the file format for different file types so that quality of files can be determined on a bulk and individual basis.

Data Recovery from Hard Disk Drives
MjM Data Recovery Ltd

Mobile computing isn’t only restricted to laptops these days. Portability of data is increasing and it is becoming every more easier to carry around masses of data on USB memory sticks otherwise known as flash memory sticks or pen drives.

Sony patented the term “memory stick” when they came out with a new storage device for their digital cameras and digital files. Original drives were quite small but it was still cutting edge technology, but look where we are today?

Memory sticks allow Pc users to quickly and easily transfer data from one computer to another or to carry their data with them which is all well and good but one of the issues this raises is the sheer amount of data they can hold.

It is nothing to have 2,3 or even 4gb of data just sat on the memory stick dangling on the your key ring, This is more than the average hard drive was capable of holding even only 8 years ago, but every technology has a down side. Due to there portability even though they are quite robust it is quite common to damage a memory stick even to the point of losing all your data which for many is an absolute disaster.

Fortunately for the unlucky ones (which are more than you would guess) memory stick repair is a viable option so if the worse does happen it shouldn’t be the end of the world, even if your memory stick does contain all your data.

In the worse case scenario a good data recovery company can even retrieve data from a microwaved drive or even one that has be submersed,and in some cases even run over, which is a good thing when you consider the amount of data they can hold. There are of course no guarantees that USB memory stick recovery will work but the odds are good so don’t panic if you break your pen drive or memory stick as the situation may not be as bad as it first seems.