Six Articles on Electronic - Craig Ball

Craig Ball © 2007
Data Recovery: Lessons from Katrina
By Craig Ball
[Originally published in Law Technology News, April 2006]
When the sea reclaimed New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast, hundreds of lawyers saw
their computers and networks submerged. Rebuilding law practices entailed Herculean efforts
to resurrect critical data stored on the hard drives in sodden machines.
Hard drives operate within such close tolerances that a drop of water or particle of silt that works
its way inside can cripple them; yet, drives aren't sealed mechanisms. Because we use them
from the beach to the mountains, drives must equalize air pressure through filtered vents called
"breather holes." Under water, these breather holes are like screen doors on a submarine.
When Hurricane Katrina savaged thousand of systems, those with the means and motivation
turned to data recovery services for a second chance.
Data recovery, in the words of John Christopher, a veteran data recovery engineer at
DriveSavers Inc., (www.drivesavers.com) is "open heart surgery" for hard drives. Companies
such as Novato, Calif.-based DriveSavers and Ontrack Data Recovery (a division of Kroll
Ontrack Inc., www.ontrack.com) are the courts of last resort for damaged drives. DriveSavers
worked on dozens of Katrina-damaged drives, some submerged for weeks. Drive housings
were full of crud, and recovery required finding identical drives and sacrificing them for
compatible parts. DriveSavers reported that it was able to resurrect data from about two-thirds
of the Katrina drives sent in.
Keep Them Wet
Ontrack's vice president of operations Todd Johnson reports that his company recovered
useable data from about 70 percent of the 425 Katrina-damaged drives they received. All the
drives required clean room treatment, with the best outcomes seen in those kept immersed in
water or sealed in airtight plastic bags until delivery.
"Don't dry them out," Johnson warned, because that causes the heads that read data to become
affixed to the platters.
Another factor favoring recovery was quick action. Whether you proceed with full-scale data
recovery or not, promptly getting a drive cleaned and processed by a professional keeps your
options open.
DriveSavers' Christopher echoed the need to move quickly and resist turning on the power to
"see what works." He lamented that too many dim their prospects for recovery by letting a techsavvy
relative or electronics superstore take a stab at it.
Back It Up and Lock It Down
Despite the miracles performed by professional disk doctors, data recovery is unpredictable and
very expensive. Add the cost of business interruption and frustrated clients, and the IT lesson
from Katrina is back it up and lock it down. Even when systems survive, they may be
inaccessible for prolonged periods due to closed or clogged roadways, hazardous conditions,
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