Data recovery services help individuals and organizations recover lost, corrupted, or inaccessible data from storage devices like hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, and RAID arrays. As digital data continues to grow in volume and importance, data recovery has become a critical service for both consumers and businesses. The data recovery industry has expanded rapidly over the past decade to meet the growing demand for recovering irreplaceable data.
According to one industry report, the global data recovery market size was valued at USD 5.05 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1% from 2022 to 2030 (Source 1). Key factors driving market growth include rising adoption of digital technologies, increased use of storage devices, and growing cyberattacks and data loss incidents. Leading providers of data recovery services invest heavily in research and development to improve success rates and capabilities.
About Seagate
Seagate Technology is an American data storage company founded in 1979 by Alan Shugart, Finis Conner, Doug Mahon, and Syed Iftikar. The company was incorporated in 1978 and is currently headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Seagate is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hard disk drives used for data storage in computers and consumer electronic devices.
According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagate_Technology), Seagate initially focused on building 5.25-inch drives for the microcomputer market and quickly became a major supplier. As the 1980s began, Seagate was shipping over 200,000 units per month, but the company was far from its peak. By the early 1990s, Seagate sold more than $2 billion a year of its 3.5-inch drives.
Today, Seagate continues to be a leading provider of data storage solutions with over 40,000 employees worldwide. The company has diversified its product portfolio to include solid-state drives, external storage solutions, and cloud-based storage services. Seagate aims to deliver innovative products and services that help people better capture, share, and interact with their data (https://craft.co/seagate).
Seagate Data Recovery Services
Seagate offers data recovery services for both internal and external hard drives through authorized data recovery partners like DriveSavers and Secure Data Recovery Services. They have specialized labs and engineers that are certified to perform Seagate data recovery (Source 1). The data recovery process involves evaluating the drive, determining the cause of failure, disassembling the drive in a cleanroom environment, extracting the data using specialized equipment, and transferring it to a new device. Both in-lab and remote data recovery options are available. Seagate offers recovery services for all types of logical, mechanical, and physical failures on drives ranging from 1GB to 16TB capacities. Their capabilities include recovering data from damaged platters, firmware issues, click of death, degraded drives, head crashes and more. They claim high success rates from their ISO-certified Class 10 clean room facilities and proprietary data recovery tools.
Data Recovery Process
The process of recovering data from a failed Seagate hard drive involves several key steps. According to Remo Software, the basic Seagate data recovery process involves scanning the drive, previewing files, and recovering data. More specifically, the steps include:
- Connect the Seagate external hard drive to a Windows PC.
- Download and install a Seagate data recovery tool like Remo Recovery software.
- Launch the tool and select the Seagate external hard drive.
- Click on the “Scan” button to initiate the Seagate data recovery process.
- Preview and select the files and folders you wish to recover.
- Specify a location to save the recovered Seagate data.
- Allow the software to recover selected data from the Seagate device.
This straightforward process allows retrieving lost or inaccessible files from a failed, corrupted, or damaged Seagate drive. Advanced tools can recover data even from formatted, deleted, or lost partitions. The software scans drive sectors looking for files that can be salvaged.
Types of Data Recovery
There are several different types of data recovery that may be utilized depending on the situation:
Logical Recovery: This involves repairing the logical damage to files and folders without dealing with the physical components of the storage device. Logical recovery can retrieve data lost due to accidental deletion, corruption, or operating system crashes. Tools like data carving and file recovery software are used.
Mechanical Recovery: This type of recovery deals with physical issues with storage devices like hard disk drives. Mechanical failures can occur due to disk read/write heads getting damaged or disk platters becoming scratched. Mechanical recovery involves repairing or replacing damaged components to recover lost data.
RAID Recovery: RAID systems use multiple disks together for increased performance or redundancy. When multiple disks fail, RAID recovery reconstructs lost data using parity information spread across the array. Advanced RAID recovery can rebuild an array even with complete disk failures.
Removable Media Recovery: This involves recovering lost data from removable media like SD cards, USB drives, floppy disks, etc. Physical damage, accidental formatting, or deletion of files, corruption, and viruses can cause data loss. Removable media recovery uses techniques like imaging, data carving, etc.
Mobile Device Recovery: Data can be lost due to issues with the internal storage on phones, tablets and other mobile devices. Mobile data recovery specialists use advanced techniques to recover data from damaged mobile devices.
Success Rates
Seagate claims to have a high data recovery success rate. According to one interview with the head of Seagate’s European lab, they cite a 90%+ success rate for recovering data.[1] However, independent data recovery experts have found that Seagate’s success rate may be lower in practice. An analysis by DiskTuna examined 75 recent Seagate jobs and found only a 72% success rate.
The Seagate data recovery website states “We have an over 96% success rate.”[2] But this high rate may only apply to cases where data recovery is attempted, excluding jobs rejected upfront. According to redditors familiar with Seagate’s process, the company first does a free evaluation to determine if recovery is possible. Complex jobs requiring clean room work are often rejected at this stage and not counted in the published success metrics.
So while Seagate promotes a 90%+ success rate, real-world data indicates it may be around 70-75% for all Seagate recovery cases. The rate can vary significantly depending on the device, failure mode, and whether a full recovery attempt is made.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecovery/comments/s0w4gn/is_seagate_data_recovery_service_worth_it/
[2] https://www.securedatarecovery.com/manufacturers/seagate
Factors Affecting Success Rates
There are several key factors that can affect the success rate of a Seagate data recovery service:
The type of damage – Logical issues like accidental deletion or formatting have higher success rates than physical damage like failed drives or water damage. Logical recoveries can often achieve 99%+ success rates, while physical damage recoveries range from 50-90% on average.
Device conditions – The condition of the storage device itself heavily impacts success rate. Devices that are older, have bad sectors, or have undergone multiple previous recovery attempts typically have lower success rates. Newer drives in good health have the best shot at successful recovery.
Data overwrite – If files have been overwritten by new data, recovery chances drop significantly. The less a drive has been used after data loss, the better.
File system – The file system can impact recoverability too. FAT systems tend to have higher success rates than NTFS or exFAT. File systems like RAID add complexity that lowers success rates.
Type of data – Video, image, and office document files often recover better than database files or email repositories. Media files have more redundant data that gives options to rebuild corrupted files.
Technician skill – An experienced technician with the right tools and parts can coax out data from drives that rookies would miss. Seagate’s extensive expertise helps maximize recoveries.
In summary, Seagate data recovery success depends heavily on device health and damage type. With optimal conditions, Seagate can achieve over 90% success. But with challenges like physical damage to older drives, rates may fall to 50-70%.
Cost of Data Recovery
Seagate offers data recovery services through its Rescue Data Recovery Services program. Pricing varies depending on the type of recovery needed. For logical recovery of deleted or corrupted files from a functioning hard drive, Seagate charges a flat fee of $99. For more complex physical recoveries involving drive failure, pricing starts at $299 and goes up based on the storage capacity of the drive.
According to Seagate’s website, data recovery can cost up to $2000 or more for a 2TB drive. Rates are typically charged per terabyte. So a 4TB drive could potentially cost up to $4000 for data recovery.
Seagate’s in-lab recovery pricing tends to be on the higher end compared to some other data recovery services. For example, according to Minitool, average market rates are around $50 per drive for in-lab recovery. However, Seagate pricing covers any parts and labor needed for the recovery and provides a guarantee on recovered data.
Reddit users have reported paying between $300 to over $1000 for Seagate hard drive recoveries. The exact cost depends on factors like failure type, service level selected, and amount of data recovered.
Data Recovery Tips
There are several best practices users can follow to enable a higher chance of successful data recovery:
- Regularly back up important data to an external hard drive or cloud storage. Having a recent backup makes data recovery much easier in case of drive failure or deletion.
- Handle storage devices gently and avoid physical shocks or damage. Dropping or otherwise harming a drive can make recovery very difficult.
- Keep storage devices in proper environmental conditions. Excessive heat, cold, moisture or dust can all negatively impact recoverability.
- Avoid repeatedly writing new data to a failed drive. Overwriting deleted files makes recovery much harder if not impossible.
- Use a surge protector. Power surges can damage drives and on-board components, complicating recovery efforts.
- Engage a professional data recovery service as soon as possible after data loss. The more time that passes, the lower the success rates.
- Research and select a reputable recovery company with security measures, experience and technical capabilities.
Following best practices and contacting an expert service at the first signs of data loss or device failure can significantly improve the chances of successful recovery. Prevention and prompt action are key.
Conclusion
In summary, Seagate offers comprehensive data recovery services and solutions for both businesses and individuals. Their capabilities span across all storage devices and operating systems. While success rates can vary greatly based on factors like device type, failure mode, and extent of damage, Seagate leverages decades of R&D and expertise to deliver industry-leading recovery capabilities. Their Class 100 ISO 5 cleanroom facilities, proprietary tools, and highly trained engineers optimize the chances of recovering lost data.
For users looking to avoid data loss in the first place, implementing sound backup practices is key. Following Seagate’s recommended best practices around backup and recovery can help safeguard important data. Overall, Seagate provides reliable, professional data recovery services with customized solutions tailored to each unique case. Their high success rates make them a leading choice when critical business or personal data is on the line.
