External Hard Drive Data Recovery:

iCube Development provides data recovery services for external hard drives that no longer function correctly due to mechanical, electrical, and firmware failures. Desktop hard drives include both workstation and server (consumer and enterprise grade) 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch hard disk drives (HDD's). A mechanical hard disk drive is a storage device that stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating rigid platters with magnetic surfaces.

iCube Development is able to perform recovery services on all IDE, SATA, SCSI, and SAS interfaces. We are able to recover data from software and hardware based RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60 configurations.

• Read our data recovery process article.
• Read what you need to know when choosing a data recovery service provider.
• Read what you should do if your storage device has failed.

External HDD Mechanical Failures:

What is a HDD mechanical failure?

All mechanical hard drives operate similar to a record player. Hard drives are powered by a small 12V or 5V motor which is responsible for turning a spindle. The spindle turns magnetically coated disks (called platters) in a counter-clockwise direction. Heads are attached to an long metal arm (called the actuator arm) which rapidly moves from left to right along the radius of the disk. When operating correctly, the heads are suspended above and below a disk and read or write sectors within tracks on the magnetic surface. Sectors are processed by both the drives electrical and firmware components to produce data. If mechanical components do not function correctly the desktop hard drive's firmware may not load resulting in the hard drive not being detected (undetectable) by a computer or external chassis.

Read: How are external hard drive mechanical failures fixed and repaired.

External HDD Electrical Failures:

What is a HDD electrical failure?

The electrical components of an external hard drive are located inside and outside the drive chassis.

Typical external hard drives are simply a desktop or notebook hard drive which is installed into an external chassis (made of either plastic or metal). A SATA to USB converter allows your computer to communicate with the hard drive. Some converters are known to automatically encrypt data.

Internal electrical components are responsible for amplifying information read by the heads and assist in the mechanical movement of the actuator arm. The replacement or repair of internal electrical components must be performed inside a clean room. External electrical components are located on the printed circuit board and provide power to the the motor, regulate voltage, and interact with the the drives firmware. When an electrical failure occurs it's not possible for the external hard drive to function correctly; the mechanical and firmware components will not operate.

Read: How are external hard drive electrical failures fixed and repaired.

External HDD Firmware Failures:

What is a HDD firmware failure?

Firmware instructs the mechanical and electrical components of a hard drive to perform a series of actions or operations. Drive variables such as spindle rotational speed, position of the actuator arm, and the interpretation of data read by the heads is the responsibility of firmware. Firmware is typically located on the platter(s) and replies on the proper operation of the mechanics of the HDD to correctly load. Electrical components usually contain a load which instructs the mechanical function of the drive to immediately load the firmware when the external hard drive is turned on.

Read: How are desktop hard drive mechanical failures fixed and repaired.