How is Data Recovered in Professional Data Recovery Lab?

In this guide, we cover the professional data recovery process, from initial media submission and diagnostics to data retrieval in cases of physical and logical damage. We also discuss Stellar's specialized tools, Class 100 Clean Room setup, and stringent data security measures to ensure a seamless recovery experience.

With proliferation of digital devices, digital data creation and accumulation 

is increasing exponentially, and so is the data loss.Stellar® Data Recovery

offers a complete range of data recovery option to recover deleted data 

according to different data loss scenarios. Choose the most preferable 

data recovery option as per your need.Following are some of the common 

situations that might result in data loss from devices such as Laptops, 

PCs, Memory Cards, Pen Drives, and

Hard Drives etc.:

1. Hard Drive Failure
2. SSD failure
3. Broken Laptop
4. Damaged Mobile
5. Formatting the drive
6. Data deletion
7. SD card, pen drive, and flash drive damage, or corruption
8. Crashed RAID/NAS/SAN server etc.

The root causes of the above mentioned situations could be logical damages

—Accidental deletion, software related issues, virus attacks, etc. — or physical 

damages. Lost data can be recovered by using a data recovery software, but 

only if the damage is logical and is minor. Also, doing this involves a risk of 

permanent data loss, as you might not know if the damage is logical, physical 

or both—logical and physical. Therefore, it’s a must to identify a right service 

provider who not only can conduct risk-free data recovery, but can also ensure

the privacyand security of your data. It's crucial for you to understand the 

data recovery process in a professional data recovery lab.

Stellar’s Data Recovery Process

1. Submission of Media
2. Media Diagnosis
3. Consultation with Customer
4. Data Recovery

1. Submission of Media

The first step of the data recovery process is the submission of affected 

storage media at the data recovery center. After receiving the media, we assign 

a unique Job Id to it and submit it to our lab.

2. Media Diagnosis

The technicians use proprietary tools to do a thorough analysis of the affected 

media. Based on the analysis they create a report called the media assessment 

report which essentially contains the following information:

1. State of media (detectable or non-detectable)
2. Problem type (Physical failure, logical failure, or both)
3. Possibility of Data Recovery
4. Time estimation

3. Consultation with Customer

Our lab technician shares the assessment report with customer service team 

and they forward this to the end customer. The customer service team 

discusses the findings of media analysis on the basis of assessment report. 

They also address all the customer queries.

4. Data Recovery

Post the customer’s approval of quotation and time estimate, we finally 

proceed 

with data recovery. Based on the type of failure—logical or physical—the 

technicians use proprietary tools, innovative techniques, and huge inventory

of resources.For physical failures, the storage media such as hard drives 

require specialized environment i.e. Class 100 Clean Room. Read here,

Importance of Class 100 Clean Room.

Data Recovery: Physical Damage Case

Data loss caused due to physical damages need physical recovery which

is carried out in a controlled environment. Some of the data loss situations

that need physical recovery are:

1. PC doesn’t detect the hard drive
2. Issues with head assembly
3. Physically damaged drive/storage media
4. Damaged PCB
5. Scratches on platters
6. Malfunctioning drive motor
7. Faulty drive spindle

Data Recovery from Physical Damage Device at Stellar®

Physically damaged storage media, such as hard drive is dismantled in Class 

100 Clean Room lab, where several tasks are conducted to bring it in working

 condition and recover the lost data.

Spare Transplantation

Spare transplantation is an exceptionally complex task as it involves

replacement of damaged part(s) with new one. The first step before we do a 

spare transplantation is to identify right spare for your hard drive from a 

huge inventory that has over 50,000 spare parts of different Hard Drive 

makes and models. With the required spare(s), the data recovery specialists 

fix the damaged hard drive and proceed to the next data recovery step, 

i.e. "Cloning".

Cloning

Cloning is a task which creates an exact, uncompressed replica of affected 

drive on a new drive. Cloning can take minimum 1 day to several days for 

completion, depending upon various factors like scratches on platters, bad 

sectors, ageing etc. Technicians conduct all the data recovery tasks on this

cloned drive.

Data Verification

Post successful recovery of data, we share "file lists" with the customers. We

offer two options to the clients for verification of the recovered data:

1. Either the client could visit the desired data recovery center to verify the 
recovered data.
2. Or we arrange a remote access—for the client, so that he/she could 
comfortably verify the recovered data without visiting the Data Recovery 

Center.If the customer doesn’t approve the recovered data, we redo the 

data recovery tasks. We have a strict No Recovery - No Charge policy*.

Data Delivery

Once the customer approves the recovered data, he/she is required to sign 

the verification and acceptance documents. Thereafter, the recovered data is 

handed over to the customer on a new storage media provided by the 

customer. If the customer wants, he/she could also buy a new storage media 

from us, which comes with a data care pack at a discounted price.

Note:

1. Data delivery is subject to agreed terms of payment.
2. We remove the spare(s) transplanted on the affected hard drive, and give 

the hard drive back to the customer.

Data Wiping

We keep your data with us until 7 working days from the delivery date. This is 

done as a temporary data backup plan for you. After this period, we wipe 

the data beyond the scope of recovery by any means.

Note: Any device, media, and data that remains unclaimed or is left with 

Stellar® with or without full payment until 60 days from the date of signing 

the Media Assessment Form will be disposed of at the discretion of Stellar®. 

Customer will lose all the rights on the device, media, and data. And Stellar® will 

not be held responsible for confidentiality of the data stored on the unclaimed

device or media.

Data Recovery: Logical Failure Case

Logical failure is related with software issues—applications or OS. You might 

lose data in case of a logical failure, which could be caused by the followings 

amongst others:

1. Deleted Data
2. Formatted data
3. Virus affected data
4. Ransomware affected data

If the failure is severe, a data recovery software couldn’t recover your data. It 

needs logical recovery by a Professional Data Recovery Service provider like

Stellar® who can recover the data even in the worst cases by using the 

propriety and innovative software, and techniques. The completion time 

of logical data recovery tasks depends upon the number of recovery jobs 

which are under process and complexity of the failure. It ideally takes 1-4 

business days to process a logical job.

Logical cum Physical Cases

As the name suggests, these cases are a mix of both logical and physical 

damage. Data care experts at Stellar® apply both the logical and physical 

data recovery techniques and recover data in such cases.

Stellar’s Data Recovery Lab Overview

All the data recovery cases—physical, logical, and physical cum logical—are

 handled in this lab. The lab has artificially controlled environment, access 

control system, tools, and inventory. The access control system prevents 

unauthorized entry. The tools, inventory, and the controlled environment 

support the data recovery tasks. The lab has different compartments to 

perform different jobs. For instance, it has an ISO certified Class 100 

Clean Room—has much advanced tools, lowest level of airborne particles,

 and a completely different environment in comparison to the other

compartments.

Cases where the media is physically damaged are incredibly complex. 

Data recovery in such cases requires expertise in the domain and good 

infrastructure. For example, to open a physically damaged hard drive, 

Class 100 Clean Room lab is required.

How Does a Class 100 Clean Room Look Like?

A Class 100 Clean Room Lab has artificially regulated environment— 

controlled level of airborne particles and controlled parameters such as 

humidity, temperature and pressure etc.—especially for dismantling 

Hard Drives. The lab is ISO Certified and the density of particles sizing 

0.5 or larger is as low as 100 particles per cubic foot of air as against a 

typical air-conditioned office building containing 5,00,000 to 10,00,000 

particles per cubic foot of air. All data recovery experts wear CLEAN ROOM

 clothing (boots, lab coats, bouffant caps, gloves, hairnets, etc.).

This lab not only provides data recovery solutions but also has a humongous 

inventory of spare parts including hard drive heads, PCB boards, platter 

cleaning equipment, etc.

Note: A Class 100 Clean Room Lab is a must to prevent permanent data loss. 

It’s recommended by hard drive manufacturers to open physically damaged

 hard drives in a Class 100 Clean Room.

Stellar® being an ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified organization ensures that

 all your data inside our premises is entirely safe and secure.

So the next time you visit a data recovery service provider, just make sure 

that they have adequate infrastructure, and use precise data recovery 

process and techniques to recover your data so as to maintain the data safety 

and security.

Source: https://www.stellarinfo.co.in/kb/data-recovery-lab-process-overview.php