Data Recovery

scottalanmiller

@ajstringham said:

@pol.darreljade said:

@XeL none! There is no way to recover data from a burnt HD.

Not true. How do you think they get the info off the black boxes from crashed planes? They do as @hubtech describes. Clean room and physically removing the discs, etc. It works but as @scottalanmiller said, it can be several thousand per drive.

I don't believe that black boxes have hard drives. That would make no sense for something designed to be so reliable.

thanksajdotcom

@scottalanmiller Then what would they have? They store data.

scottalanmiller

@ajstringham said:

@scottalanmiller Then what would they have? They store data.

Disk drives are hardly the only means of storing data. In IT we don't use spinning disks in places where resilience is needed. Not even for laptops and desktops or tablets. Seems odd that an airplane would be less reliable than an iPad.

scottalanmiller

Popular Mechanics and Purdue Uni both state that solid state is used.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/safety/air-france-flight-447s-black-box-how-it-works

thanksajdotcom

@scottalanmiller Ok, well it's a disk drive just not platters.

RoguePacket

Where there is the will (& funds), a recovery company can find a way.

Thought DriveSavers still had their success stories bit, but not finding it just now. Did find their YouTube channel with some tidbits—

We have a standing DriveSavers contract for encrypted drive recovery. Only needed 2-3 times. Pricy, but hope the backup process gets motivated after such expenditures.

scottalanmiller

@ajstringham said:

@scottalanmiller Ok, well it's a disk drive just not platters.

Yes, but the physical nature of spinning disks was the issue. SSDs don't burn, not easily. You're point above was that because platters were used in airplanes that you assumed black boxes were going through forensic recovery and that that was a reliable process. But flight recorders do not use spinning rust as it is too fragile (and slow for their needs.)

Bud

@scottalanmiller said:

@ajstringham said:

@scottalanmiller Ok, well it's a disk drive just not platters.

Yes, but the physical nature of spinning disks was the issue. SSDs don't burn, not easily. You're point above was that because platters were used in airplanes that you assumed black boxes were going through forensic recovery and that that was a reliable process. But flight recorders do not use spinning rust as it is too fragile (and slow for their needs.)

Those FDRs and CVRs have to be able to withstand a lot of shock and still retain the data. Prior to using the same tech that is available in SSDs, tape was used for a long time. Basically 8-track looking things. The more moving parts, the more potential for some kind of failure.

Dashrender

I used Drive savers last year for a drive - very spendy but the service was good and fast.

scottalanmiller

@Dashrender said:

I used Drive savers last year for a drive - very spendy but the service was good and fast.

What kind of price range?

scottalanmiller

@Bud said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@ajstringham said:

@scottalanmiller Ok, well it's a disk drive just not platters.

Yes, but the physical nature of spinning disks was the issue. SSDs don't burn, not easily. You're point above was that because platters were used in airplanes that you assumed black boxes were going through forensic recovery and that that was a reliable process. But flight recorders do not use spinning rust as it is too fragile (and slow for their needs.)

Those FDRs and CVRs have to be able to withstand a lot of shock and still retain the data. Prior to using the same tech that is available in SSDs, tape was used for a long time. Basically 8-track looking things. The more moving parts, the more potential for some kind of failure.

Yes, has always been special shock resistant technology. Traditional platter HD are designed for motionless, vibration free scenarios.

Dashrender

@scottalanmiller said:

@Dashrender said:

I used Drive savers last year for a drive - very spendy but the service was good and fast.

What kind of price range?

just over 2 TB for $2600 in about 10 days. I didn't pay for rush service that would have been another $300-400