Remote Data Recovery - The Fastest Data Recovery Service for Business Systems

Introduction
Remote Data Recovery™ Technology is the patented process that Ontrack Data Recovery designed and developed in the mid 1990s to offer a faster data recovery solution. Ontrack Data Recovery noticed that only half of the hard drives received had physical problems. The other drives were in good working order, but had some type of file system problem that prevented normal operation.

The Remote Data Recovery concept was conceived as an alternative to sending the drive in for repair. One of Ontrack Data Recovery’s founders asked the question, ‘If nothing is wrong with the drive, why send it in? Let’s work on it remotely so that customers can get instant access to their data.’ Completing a beta process to work with took nearly two years. A senior developer who started on the project remembers, “We were making new builds of the client software every week or so to get things right.”

Dedication to this concept finally paid off and Ontrack Data Recovery was able to offer Remote Data Recovery as a service in 1998.

RDR Technology – What is it? How does it work?
Remote Data Recovery, or RDR®, is a client/server communication scheme that uses a telephone connection or LAN connection so that an experienced data recovery engineer can complete the evaluation and recovery process.

The evaluation process consists of an Ontrack Data Recovery engineer using proprietary tools and techniques to repair the file system to provide access to the data. The evaluation ends when Ontrack Data Recovery is able to produce a report showing all of the data that can be recovered.

The recovery process identifies that the necessary changes to the file system are applied to the file system. After completing this process, the recovered volume will look just like the reports from the evaluation.

RDR works by having proprietary client and server software. The client software has been designed to work in a variety of situations. There is a Bootable Diskette client, a Windows Client version, a native Netware version that runs from the server, and finally a native Solaris SPARC client. All of these software clients work on the following principles: 1) initiate connection with RDR server, 2) manage data recovery toolset in memory, 3) redirect tool output to engineer, 4) and manage connection during the entire process.

During the RDR process, all of the user data remains on the hard disk. Ontrack Data Recovery does not transfer the data from the hard drive or change the contents of the data until a recovery authorization is given. RDR engineers work with a data safety mechanism so that original data is always available.

In view of current Internet security vulnerability, many have asked how safe RDR is over the Internet. This is a valid question and the simple answer is that RDR is completely secure. All of our clients use encryption. The Windows client uses IE 40bit encryption for the information that is passed between the client and server. Additionally, the Windows client uses the Internet Port 80 and works with your client’s firewall to communicate with our data recovery servers. Finally, the information passed between the client and server is not the user data from the drive.

RDR customers have ranged from small businesses to large international corporations, from city and university systems to government agency servers. These customers have raised the question of security before connecting up with RDR and all have accepted the communication protocols that we have in place (See the RDR White Paper for more details).

What can RDR do?
RDR recovery capabilities are similar to In Lab Data Recovery service; however RDR does not create CD or DVD backups of the data. Once RDR has completed withthe job, the drive may be bootable or will be able to be slaved into a working system and the data can be copied off.

RDR can work on these file systems and servers:

OS	File System	Notes
DOS	FAT 12, FAT 16
Win 9.x, ME	FAT 16, FAT 32
Win NT 3.51, 4.0	NTFS, FAT 16
Win2000, XP	NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32
2003 Server	NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32
Netware 2.x, 3.x, 4.x	Netware Traditional - FAT
Netware 5.x, 6.x	Traditional or NSS
UNIX	Any flavor -	Drives may have to be moved to Intel based machine
Linux	Ext2, Ext3, XFS
Solaris	UFS

Database Storage Files

Enterprise System	Versions	Notes
MS Exchange Server	5.0, 5.5, 2000	Unmountable/corrupted, deleted .EDB file
MS SQL Server	6.5, 7.0, 2000	Unmountable/corrupted, deleted .MDF file, dropped table, dropped rows

Storage Systems

Storage System	Details
Floppy Diskette
LS120
Iomega Jaz, Zip
Hard Disk	SCSI, IDE, External, Laptop
Hardware RAID Array	Stripping, mirroring, RAID 5
Win2000 Dynamic Disk	Spanning, Stripping, mirroring, RAID 5
WinNT Fault Tolerance	Spanning, Stripping, mirroring, RAID 5
NAS		Snap server drives must be moved to Intel machine
SAN
Memory cards, flash memory sticks, Sandisks

When is RDR not a solution?
If at any time there is a hard disk failure, then the drive should be sent in for an In-Lab recovery. Also, if there are two failed drives in a RAID 5 system, then the all of the drives should be sent in for repair. Bad sectors on drives can spread to other sectors. If the hard drive is making unusual sounds, grinding noises, or multiple clicking noises then an RDR should not be attempted.

Why is RDR the best solution for Users and Business Systems?
Remote Data Recovery as a service was designed for you and your clients. If the drives are in working order, then use RDR. It’s the fastest way to get your data back. The average evaluation time for an RDR is three to four hours*, the average time it takes to complete an RDR is two days. Compare that time with sending the drive in—that can be your shipping time alone!

Many have asked if RDR costs more than the standard in-lab service. The answer to that question is no. Pricing is the same and you get faster service! An additional benefit is that you are in constant communication with the engineer that is working on your system; In Lab service does not have this option available.

Remote Data Recovery is an important solution to large storage arrays, email and database systems. For most of our customers, sending the drives is not an option due to the shipping time. These large systems contain mission and time critical data—for these disasters, RDR is the only answer. Some Ontrack Data Recovery Partners have setup RDR workstations in their area and use these to get connected to Remote Data Recovery. Or if you are onsite, we can get connected from your client’s site.

Ontrack Data Recovery is the only data recovery company that offers true Remote Data Recovery. Other companies may have software that is sent out and used to diagnose a system. Working with Ontrack Data Recovery provides you with an edge to recovering from data disasters. Ontrack Data Recovery should be part of your customer’s ‘First Response’ procedures to get back to that original data. We rescue many businesses each year from data loss. Work with the leaders; work with the experts.

*Every data recovery is unique, so more difficult recoveries may take longer. However, the RDR engineer will keep you updated as to the status of the job throughout the entire process.