3 Tips for Finding a Great RAID Data Recovery Company

One of the great things about RAID arrays is that most types of RAIDs have built-in redundancy, limiting the need for RAID data recovery. When one hard drive fails, you simply need to switch it out. This greatly decreases the chances of data loss, and it's the reason that companies all over the world use RAID arrays to store their crucial data rather than single hard drives, flash media, or anything else.

Unfortunately, nothing's bulletproof. RAID arrays can fail and lose data due to user error, accidental overwrites, and a number of other things that are too messy and painful to think about. When your array fails, you'll need RAID data recovery services from a good data recovery company.

If you find yourself needing data recovery on any type of RAID array, here are a few things that you can keep in mind to find a reputable, fairly priced company.

Look for experience. Experience is key when dealing with RAID data recovery, because no two RAID cases are really the same. You'll need a data recovery engineer who has worked on a number of cases and has experience to draw from, especially if you have a large or complex case.

Read the websites of a few major data recovery companies (Datarecovery.com, Kroll Ontrack, and Drivesavers are three good companies to start with) and check their list of previous clients. Make sure they've got a hefty number of major companies on there; if a big company trusted the data recovery technicians with their RAID, it's a good sign that you can, too.

Know about your RAID. I worked at a data recovery company, and it always amazed me how little people knew about their own stuff. Know how your RAID works, what level of RAID it is, and as much information as you can find out about how it failed before you call. This will be important, because you want a RAID data recovery company that you can talk to intelligently about your own system. If they seem confused about the difference between a RAID 1 and a RAID 5, they're not going to know how to perform a successful data recovery on either.

Ask the key questions in advance. You don't want to send in your RAID only to find out that the data recovery company is going to take three months to send it back, so ask about the details of the service early. Find out a possible price (they probably won't give a firm price until they look at the array), turnaround time, and how often you can expect updates. When you get this information early, you cut out the chances of a nasty surprise.

Have any other tips for finding a great RAID data recovery company? Post in the comments section below.