Recovery of Critical Data from Water-Damaged IT Assets In Chennai

In mid-December 2023, Bank ***** of Chennai (*for security and confidentiality reasons, the official name cannot be disclosed), a prominent financial institution facing a severe data crisis due to water damage, approached Techchef Data Recovery for IT Disaster Recovery Service.

The incident happened as a result of an unexpected flooding incident in their office, putting at risk critical data stored across various devices such as desktop computers, laptops, hard disks, SSDs, and NAS servers with RAID configuration.

For quick recovery and access to data, our team of data recovery professionals went there to do the survey and on-site data recovery.

Media Analysis Report

After doing a whole survey on the extent of damage to all data storage devices and servers, the Techchef team made an overview of the situation to make a proper list of damage:

• There is a huge amount of dust in the internal parts of the desktop and on other IT assets as well. 
• The hard disk in most of the devices is damaged physically; the major damaged parts are the platter and read and write heads.  
• There are several hard disks whose motors are damaged, and severe water damage is found on them, along with a layer of wet dust. 
• Data corruption is found on the server as well

The situation was not so good, and the damage to the data storage devices was severe, so the data recovery process took time.

Challenges

While attempting data recovery, there are several challenges as well, such as:

• The Extent of Damage: The water damage affected servers, storage devices, and computers important to the bank’s daily operations.
• Sensitive Data: The nature of the client’s business meant that the data at risk was highly sensitive and confidential, requiring the utmost care in the recovery process.
• Time Sensitivity: Given the sensitive nature of financial data, there was an urgent need for a fast and efficient recovery to minimize downtime and financial losses.

Solution Offered By Techchef

Our team conducted a comprehensive assessment of the extent of the damage, identifying the affected devices and the types of data at risk. A customized recovery plan was developed, taking into consideration the sensitivity of the data and the urgency of the situation. The process is described below:

•  Clean Up All Dust: To reach the service area of the hard drive, we have to clean up all dust on the hard disk.
•  Utilizing the Latest Tools: With the help of a recently acquired tool, will access the service area, overcoming the scratches on the platters.
• Latest Technology: With the latest technology, corrupted data from the server will be repaired and restored.
• Firmware Repair: With access to the service area restored, repair the firmware to enable access to the data area.
• Data Cloning: The recovered data was cloned to a new hard disk of the same capacity to ensure data integrity.

Data Recovery of Water-Damaged Data Storages By Techchef 

After the client accepted the proposal for the data recovery process, the data recovery process was conducted in a class 100 clean room under the IT specialist team’s supervision.

After the data recovery, the recovered data was meticulously reconstructed, and our experts conducted thorough verification processes to confirm the accuracy and completeness of the restored data. Multiple layers of quality checks were implemented to guarantee the security and reliability of the recovered data.

Prioritizing data security, all recovered information was encrypted to meet the highest standards of confidentiality. The data was securely transferred back to our client, with a focus on minimizing any potential risks during the transfer process. 

With the approval of the client, we permanently delete all recovered data from our storage that was stored during the data recovery. It is a protocol for customer convenience and safekeeping of the recovered data within 7 days of recovery; after that, it is permanently deleted.

Conclusion

After observing client needs and determining what is best for our client in the waterlogging of Chennai, we reached there to provide a complete and proper IT Disaster Recovery Service. Techchef successfully recovered the critical data that was at risk due to water damage. The entire recovery process was completed within a time frame that exceeded the client’s expectations, minimizing downtime and allowing normal operations to resume quickly. 

Techchef demonstrates a commitment to excellence, technical proficiency, and dedication to ensuring the security and privacy of our client’s sensitive data. The proper security measures were implemented throughout the recovery and transfer process, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the bank’s sensitive data.