Physical failure of the hard disk, can it really be recovered? ~Part 2~

A 2.5-inch hard disk with a total capacity of 40 GB, of which only a 23 GB D drive was given a high estimate of over 1 million yen , and the GIGAZINE editorial department trembled with indignation. Stupid, if it was this expensive, there would have been many people who would have had no choice but to give up even if it was important data... Something is wrong with this... It would be nice if there was a level of reliability corresponding to the price, but what the heck? How do you count? I have to verify if this price is reasonable. There's only one way to do that... get quotes from other companies in the same industry.

So, the battle to recover the physical failure of the hard disk, the second part. In the future, if you have lost data due to physical failure of the hard disk in the same way, I think that it will be very helpful for those who want to bet on the possibility of emergency. Here you go.
■ It may be expensive because it goes through an agency.

I was sent a shocking quote and was in a dazed state, but I can't move forward in a stunned state. Consider the rationale for this ridiculously high price. Come to think of it, the quote I mentioned was not from Ontrack, but from ITFO. Although the actual work will be done by Ontrack, it seems that the actual invoice will also be sent to us by ITFO. In other words, ITFO is not a phone receptionist, but an 'agency' so to speak. Not only in this industry, but in any industry, if an agency intervenes, there will be an intermediate margin due to fees, etc., and it will be high. It is self-evident that direct sales are cheaper. Why is it going through ITFO when I requested recovery directly from the Ontrack site? I just don't get it. So I called ontrack.

Q.The agency is always connected by calling the number '0120-413-374' or '04-2932-6365' listed on the page, and the YE Data Co., Ltd. Ontrack Division Does it mean that we are not connected? The page does not say so . Since it was Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and outside of business hours, IT4 was the receptionist, but it went through IT4 as it was. What is the meaning of this?
A. All phone calls and emails outside of business hours are routed to IT4.

Q. An agency came out because it was outside business hours, but there was no mention of business hours anywhere on the page, and there was no mention that if it was outside business hours, it would be sent to an agency. What's going on? When I look at the page, it says that it is open 24 hours a day, and no matter where I look, there is no mention of business hours...?
A.It is not written on the page

I think I should write it, normally... and so on, and ask the next question.

Q.Is there any way to request YE Data Co., Ltd. On-Track Division directly instead of going through an agency? Since it would be expensive to go through an agency, I directly accessed the Ontrack site and requested a restoration, but the agency came in before I knew it. How high is the middle margin added to?
A.It is not high. Even if Ontrack accepts it during business hours, the price does not change even if it accepts it

Q. Does that mean that the quoted price will not change regardless of which agency intervenes, not just IT4?
A.No change.

In other words, you are putting up the face of an agency.

Q. Looking at the page, there is an in-house partner as a way to lower the price, but how much experience is required to become an in-house partner? Also, what is the price of the partner-equivalent discount?
A.We offer discounts for large customers and frequent restoration requests. The discount rate cannot be generalized, but it is generally 10% to 20%.

Q. Regarding the list of affiliated companies, if you ask each of the agencies, partners, and preferential program recipients, it will eventually go to YE Data Co., Ltd. Ontrack Division, so each agency, partner, etc. Is it correct to assume that you do not have your own laboratory or the technology to repair HDD failures?
A. That's right.

Q.Where is the sent hard disk itself?
A. It has arrived and is actually in the lab.

Here, I verbally conveyed the estimate number and asked for confirmation.

Q.It 's cheaper if you bring it directly to the factory for computer repairs, but will it be cheaper if you bring it directly to the lab in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture?
A. It's not cheap, but we accept orders. For security reasons, some customers bring their own.

In short, no matter what you do, it won't get cheaper. Of course....

■ Try to contact other data recovery companies

Recently, there is a term called “second opinion” in the medical field, and in the past, when we were renovating, we obtained estimates from multiple contractors. After all, let's ask another restoration contractor here.

We chose the following three criteria this time, and the criteria is ``It seems that you have a laboratory to recover physical failures in your company''. In other words, the condition is that you are not an agency and that you are not a foolish trader who says that you cannot recover anything other than a logical failure. With this condition, in reality, only these three companies remained among the famous companies in Japan.

Advanced Design (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture)
http://www.ad.co.jp/

Data Recovery Center (Minato Ward, Tokyo)
http://www.drivedata.jp/

Data salvage (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
http://www.data-salvage.co.jp/

So, I called and asked about it.

■ Call Advanced Design Co., Ltd.

Q1.Is it correct to assume that you have laboratories, factories, and facilities in Japan that can be physically repaired on your own, rather than being an agency?
A1.That 's right.

Q2. When I submitted an estimate to YE Data Co., Ltd. Ontrack Division, the response was that the logical file structure was destroyed, overwritten, and partition information was found due to the drive failure due to the bearing failure. 100% recovery is possible because there is no damage to file structure information. However, the cost was about 23.5 GB only for the D drive, the number of files was 170,000, and the result was 1,017,870 yen. In this case, what will be the price for your company?
A2. It will be from 360,000 yen to 970,000 yen . It's case by case, but if the bearing is broken, the platter motor is broken, so if that's the case, it's a pretty serious problem. Depends on how it actually breaks. It also depends on which parts you replace.

Q3.Is it possible to handle a case where a hard disk is withdrawn from the YE Data Co., Ltd. On-Track Division and sent to them for an estimate?
A3. A diagnosis fee of 21,000 yen including tax will be charged, but it is possible. The condition is different depending on whether it is NAS or RAID, but if it is a CF-W2 HDD, it is not so old, but the bearings may be special. I don't know which bearing it is, but it is possible that it is seized or that the motor is malfunctioning. It's hard to say without actually looking at the item. Costs will inevitably occur.

■ Call the data recovery service of Data Recovery Center Co., Ltd.

Q1.Is it correct to assume that you have laboratories, factories, and facilities in Japan that can be physically repaired on your own, rather than being an agency?
A1.There is no mistake in that recognition.

Q2. When I submitted an estimate to YE Data Co., Ltd. Ontrack Division, the response was that the logical file structure was destroyed, overwritten, and partition information was found due to the drive failure due to the bearing failure. 100% recovery is possible because there is no damage to file structure information. However, the cost was about 23.5 GB only for the D drive, the number of files was 170,000, and the result was 1,017,870 yen. In this case, what will be the price for your company?
A2. As you can see in the price list , it is 350,000 yen. In the case of physical failure, it is determined by the total capacity of the hard disk. It doesn't depend on the situation. Diagnosis is free. If there is no significant data loss, we will diagnose it after receiving a promise that the fee will be fixed as it is.

Q3.Is it possible to handle a case where a hard disk is withdrawn from the YE Data Co., Ltd. On-Track Division and sent to them for an estimate?
A3.It is possible. However, there are cases where we can do it on-track but we cannot, or vice versa. This is because, in the case of bearing failure in this case, the degree of failure is related to the stock of materials necessary for repairing a specific hard disk. I heard that Ontrack has parts stock for 8000 to 9000 vehicles, and our company has the same amount, but the lineup is different. Therefore, there will be cases where it may or may not work.

■ Call data salvage of Braver Inc.

Q1.Is it correct to assume that you have laboratories, factories, and facilities in Japan that can be physically repaired on your own, rather than being an agency?
A1.That 's right. If work in a clean room is not necessary or if it is possible to dismantle in-house, we will dismantle it in Japan. In addition, even in cases that cannot be handled by domestic laboratories, there are companies in Asian countries that have partnerships, so you can have them repaired there. This is not an agency, but a mutual partnership in the sense that we will leave each other's specialty genres that are technically advantageous to each other, so there is no so-called 'goodwill'.

Q2. When I submitted an estimate to YE Data Co., Ltd. Ontrack Division, the response was that the logical file structure was destroyed, overwritten, and partition information was found due to the drive failure due to the bearing failure. 100% recovery is possible because there is no damage to file structure information. However, the cost was about 23.5 GB only for the D drive, the number of files was 170,000, and the result was 1,017,870 yen. In this case, what will be the price for your company?
A2.It is completely determined by the capacity of the hard disk. If it is a physical failure that can be dismantled in Japan, it will be 184,500 yen . In the case of replacing the head, it will be shipped overseas, so it will cost 332,500 yen.

Q3.Is it possible to handle a case where a hard disk is withdrawn from the YE Data Co., Ltd. On-Track Division and sent to them for an estimate?
A3.It is possible, but if possible, it is more reliable to have it restored on-track as it is, although the price is higher. This is because once it is disassembled and sent with the position of the platter etc. shifted, it will not be possible to recover even if it could be recovered if it had not been dismantled. There is no particular problem as long as it is not dismantled.

■ Darkness in the hard disk recovery industry

In addition to the above three companies, we have conducted interviews with various people involved in the hard disk industry, recovery industry, people and companies who actually requested repairs, and the people in charge, etc. As a result, the following facts were obtained. It turns out. From top to bottom, in order of most listened to.

・If you request with a corporate name, it will be a few percent higher than if you request with an individual name.
・There are companies that use FINALDATA to recover logical failures of hard disks.
・The hard disk that I left in has not been returned, so when I went to the address, there was nothing there at the site where the factory site was vacated.
・The hard disk was disassembled and scribbled on the platter with magic, making it unrecoverable.
・Although it was written that the estimate was free, I was charged a start fee of tens of thousands of yen when I sent it for an estimate, and moreover, I was unable to restore it.
・Since it was restored, I got the data sent, but it was only the contents under the Windows folder immediately after installation, and there was no data such as Word or Excel created by myself.
・It is written on the page that everything is done in-house, but it was just an agency
・Many fraudulent companies have entered the business thinking that hard disk recovery is a business opportunity.
・If you know that the data can be recovered, first suck out all the data inside and save it. Ask the company to submit an estimate again, hand over the data that was extracted in advance, and charge a high amount

However, if it was intentionally destroyed, all three companies answered that they would know immediately if they saw it. In the case of company data, etc., you may be able to claim compensation for damages, so don't give up.

■ The actual situation of hard disk recovery from physical failure

In addition, the following case examples and bits of knowledge were obtained.

・Even if it is a physical failure, it may be possible to repair it without opening it.
・If the board is shorted, it can be repaired by replacing the board without opening the package.
・If the firmware is damaged or cannot be read, it can be repaired by updating or rewriting the firmware, so it can be repaired without opening the package.
・ Even if work in a clean room is required, if the work is simple, it does not cost much
・In many cases, even if the platter is damaged and crushed, it can be repaired.
・ RAID and NAS are expensive because recovery is difficult
・If only the bearing is broken, the platter is not damaged, so most of the data can be recovered.
・Since the number of recovery requests increases rapidly in the summer, there is clearly a relationship between the temperature and the physical failure of the hard disk, so if you keep the operating temperature constant, it seems that it will last a long time.
・SCSI-connected hard disks are really hard to fail, while IDE-connected ones tend to break down. SATA connection is still unknown because there are few achievements
・There are model numbers that are clearly broken by hard disks
・There are some hard disks whose firmware is wrong from the beginning.
・The value of SMART has nothing to do with whether it breaks down, and when it breaks down, sudden death is almost always the case.
・Because the defragmentation causes the head to move in a way that is not normal, it definitely puts an excessive load on the hard disk and causes it to malfunction.
・The hard disk manufacturer itself has repair know-how, but it is more profitable to manufacture new model numbers than to repair them, so there are cases where they do not openly enter the recovery industry, but provide technology. there is

The more I know, the more I don't know what to do...

·Next time preview
Darkness that hangs deep in the hard disk recovery industry that became clear as a result of this investigation. There are about 100 or more suspicious traders who have entered the market one after another, exploiting the fact that it is a business that takes data hostage. Will the hard disk return safely from Ontrack? And which company's service is to restore this hard disk? Next time, please look forward to the unexpected ending ' Physical failure of the hard disk, can it really be recovered? ~Final edition~ ' scheduled to be posted tomorrow.