online data storage

Online data storage refers to the practice of storing electronic data with a third party service accessed via the Internet. It's an alternative to traditional local storage (such as disk or tape drives) and portable storage (such as optical media or flash drives). It can also be called "hosted storage," "Internet storage" or "cloud storage."

By Vangie Beal

In recent years, the number of vendors offering online data storage for both consumers and businesses has increased dramatically. Some services store only a particular kind of data, such as photos, music or backup data, while others will allow users to store any type of file. Most of these vendors offer a small amount of storage for free with additional storage capacity available for a fee, usually paid on a monthly or annual basis.

Benefits of Online Storage

One of the biggest benefits of online storage is the ability to access data from anywhere. As the number of devices the average person uses continues to grow, syncing or transferring data among devices has become more important. Not only does it help transfer data between devices, online data storage also provides the ability to share files among different users. This is particularly helpful for business users, although it's also popular with consumers who want to share photos, videos and similar materials with their friends and family.

Online data storage also offers distinct advantages for backup and disaster recovery situations because it's located off site. In a fire, flood, earthquake or similar situation, on-site backups could be damaged, but online backups won't be affected unless the disaster is very widespread.

However, online data storage does have some potential downsides. Some people worry about the security of cloud storage services, and some vendors have experienced significant outages from time to time, leading to concerns about reliability.

Online Storage Enhances Data Protection and Availability

Before the development of the Internet, computer systems were limited to local storage or portable storage, first in the form of tapes and floppy disks, then CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives. Generally, using on-site storage is faster than using Internet storage, because you don't have to wait for files to upload or download. However, on-site storage is more susceptible to loss due to theft, natural disasters or device failure. By contrast, most online data storage facilities offer enhanced physical security and automated backup capabilities to ensure that data is not lost. Online data storage also enables easier data transfer and sharing.

Like local storage, portable storage devices offer fast data transfer along with some data transfer and sharing capabilities. However, portable storage isn't quite as convenient as online data storage, particularly if you want to share files with a large number of users. Portable storage devices are also easy to lose or damage, and they offer limited storage capacity.

Recently, the term cloud storage has become increasingly common. Although many people use the terms "cloud storage" and "online storage" interchangeably, technically, cloud storage is a particular kind of online data storage. In order to be considered cloud storage, a service must be sold on demand, provide elasticity (the user can have as much or as little as desired) and offer self-service capabilities.

Many individuals and organizations use a mix of on-site and online storage capabilities. For example, they might use local storage for files they use frequently and online storage for backup or archive data. Or they might use local storage for personal data and online storage for files that they wish to share with others.

Online Storage Implementation

In most cases, setting up online data storage is incredibly easy, but the exact process will depend on the vendor. For most consumer online storage services, the process entails nothing more than setting up an account with a user name and password, although in some cases users will also need to download and install some software. Using these online data storage services is also very simple, and many offer intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces. Again, the exact details vary by vendor.

For business-oriented online storage services, the set up and use procedures can be slightly more complex because they generally offer more options for configuration, security and reliability. However, because they want to appeal to as many customers as possible, enterprise vendors generally make their services as easy to use and maintain as possible.

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hard drive recovery,

HP Pavilion dv6-2005ax Windows 7 Drivers

HP officially support Windows 7 for this model and you can find all downloads you need for Windows 7 in HP website. Some of you just need the drivers (so you can save your internet Quota), so here is the important original drivers you will need for HP pavilion dv6-2005ax.

Note:
1. Please Install according to the order.
2. If you need to know the file size and version, visit HP site here.

Chipset: 
For any HP product that use AMD chipset, Windows will automatically installed the chipset driver and HP normally does not provide any driver for this. However you can download the latest chipset driver for the AMD website. Just select automatically detect and download drivers.

Graphic
AMD High definition Graphic : Windows 7 32/64-bit

Audio:
IDT High Definition Audio Driver: Windows 7 32/64-bit

Keyboard and Mouse (Windows 7 32 and 64-bit)
Touchpad (Synaptic) : Download
Quicklaunch : Download
AMD Filter Driver : Download

Infrared :
ENE CIR receiver : Windows 7 32/64-bit

Fingerprint:
Validity Sensor Driver : Windows 7 32/64-bit
Then install the fingerprint software to set-up your fingerprint lock: Download


Wireless
Choose one base on your specification, both compatible with windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit:
Atheros: Download
Broadcom : Download

LAN/Ethernet
Realtek Fast Ethernet Driver : Download

Card Reader
Choose one base on your specification, both compatible with windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit:
J-Micron Card Reader Driver: Download
Realtek Card Reader Driver: Download

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HP,

How Can I Recover Data from a Dead or Erased Hard Drive ?

hard drive  recovery 

Dear Lifehacker,

I have a hard drive with valuable information on it, but I can't seem to access it—the drive is either damaged or erased. Is there any way I can see what's on the drive and get it off? 

Sincerely,

Drive Paramedic

Dear Paramedic,

Don't worry, we're not going to ask where you got the drive, but there are plenty of ways to examine it and see if any of the data is recoverable. With a little time, the right tools, and some care, you may be able to get some data off of that drive.

Step One: Assemble Your Tools and Examine The Drive's Condition

The first thing to do is make sure you have the tools required to connect this drive to another computer safely. Ideally, you'll have some kind of SATA/IDE to USB cable or USB drive enclosure or sled that you can mount the drive into and connect it to your computer easily. Sure, if you have a desktop and like getting your hands dirty you can try to install the drive as an internal one, but an external connection is faster and easier.

C2G / Cables to Go 30504 USB 2.0 to IDE or Serial ATA Drive Adapter (Black)

          

Next, take a look at the drive itself. Is it damaged in any way? Are the pins bent or broken? Make sure that the drive is in good enough condition to actually use before you try anything in the first place that may damage it even further. If the drive is too physically damaged to attempt recovery, you may need more drastic measures that we'll get to later. If everything looks good and you have the equipment required to connect the drive to your system, we can proceed.

Step Two: Grab Some Data Recovery Software and Connect the Drive

Before you do much else, make sure your antivirus and antimalware tools are up to date. You don't know what you'll find on this drive, and you don't want it to start misbehaving once the drive is connected to an active system. Once you've done that, it's time to download and install some data recovery tools. Here are a few we love:

• 
  Recuva (Windows, Free): Personally, Recuva has been indispensible. Made by the same folks behind CCleaner, Recuva makes data recovery simple and easy. if you're only interested in browsing and restoring selected files off of the drive, Recuva is a great option. Alternatively, check out Undelete Plus for Windows.
  
  
• FileSalvage (OS X, $80): File Salvage for Mac will set you back some serious coin, but it's one of the best tools to pull data off of a connected hard drive in OS X. It can recover virtually any type of file on multiple partition types, and prides itself on its ability to recover from damaged drives and corrupt media. If you want an alternative, try Data Rescue for Mac ($100).
  
  
• TestDisk (Win/OS X/Linux, Free): If you're not afraid of the command line, TestDisk is an open source utility that can run against almost any platform or partition type. It does a great job of recovering data quickly, and won't do unnecessary writes against the drive you're trying to recover from.
  
  
• 
  Bootable Linux distros for drive recovery: If you're not interested in messing around with apps (or paying for them), consider burning a bootable CD or USB key withBackTrack, Bart PE, or SpinRite on it, so you can boot to an OS that's not your primary drive, avoid writing or touching the drive you want to recover from, and run a host of recovery and forensics tools against that drive that are highly effective and completely free. Photo by Roman Soto.
  
  

A number of these tools can recover from formatted drives, especially if the data hasn't been overwritten. We've tackled this topic before, and used Knoppix as our bootable linux distro, but the steps apply to the ones we've mentioned as well. For more reading, check out this old but still largely accurate guide at Linux.com to recovering from formatted drives.

Remember, the less you work with the drive you want to recover data from, the better. As you read from the drive, you run the risk of exacerbating any damage it may have. The more you write to the drive, the more likely you are to overwrite something you want to recover. Bootable linux distros—many of which have tools like TestDisk pre-installed (among other, more advanced tools)—are the best way to go if you're familiar with the method and if you're interested in recovering entire partitions, or making a non-bootable drive bootable again. If you're just looking for files and you know the drive was in a Windows system or a Mac, a stand-alone app is an easier way to go.

Step Three: Get Out the Big Guns (and Your Wallet)

Okay, so the drive is physically damaged, has been wiped and overwritten, or nothing else you try works and you really, really need the data off of it. You're even willing to pay a lotfor it. We're not going to ask why, but at this point it's time to call in the professionals.Photo by Glenn Fleishman.

Pick up the phone and call the folks atDriveSavers and OnTrack to see what they can do for you. I've had good experiences with OnTrack. DriveSavers is well known and loved, both because they came to the rescue with free drive recovery services after September 11, 2001 and more recently helping Wired's Mat Honan recover from his epic hacking. Both companies do a superb job at pulling data even off of drives that have been formatted, overwritten, or even severely physically damaged. Keep in mind though that these services generally run in the tens of thousands of dollars thousand dollar range, according to DriveSavers (thanks for reaching out!) and higher.

---

If the drive is yours, or the data you get from the drive is valuable, we'd strongly suggest you make sure your data is backed up , both locally and online. After all, it's better to be able to get the data back quickly than have to jump through these hoops every time a drive fails. Remember, every hard drive will fail eventually, it's just a matter of time. Now go forth, use this knowledge for good, and recover!

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hard drive recovery,

RAID 5 RAID 6 Or other altErnativE ?

RAID 5 RAID 6 Or other altErnativE?

Here we are with the next part of our RAID series. This time the article will concern RAID 5, RAID 6 and two alternatives – RAID 5E and 5EE. Take a look…

RAID 5

RAID 5 is one of the most popular implementations. It works almost the same as RAID 4 but with one difference. The parity bits are not recorded on a specifically prepared disk – they are dispersed throughout the matrix structure. What does this mean in the case of failure? Well, it is much easier to recover data (in case of failure of one disk). Also, the read speed is much higher (in comparison to RAID 0).

However, as usually happens, there are also some drawbacks. The necessity of calculating checksums causes a lower write speed. RAID 5 is also expensive in the case of the array reconstruction – if one of the disks have to be replaced after failure. Also read and write operations will slowdown in such case due to the need of calculating checksums.

RAID 5 is the best solution when we talk about data safety. In the case of failure the system will automatically rebuild the lost data so that they can be read (however, the current performance of the matrix will be reduced).

RAID 5

For more information about RAID 5 mode of action take a look here: “How does RAID 5 work? The Shortest and Easiest explanation ever!” by Janusz Bąk.

RAID 6. The next level of excellence and complexity

RAID 6 is sometimes called RAID 5+1. It is because its mechanism is based on RAID 5. Generally it is RAID 5 but array enriched with one additional disk. Thus it contains two independent checksums. It is more reliable, but its implementation is more expensive.

RAID 6

RAID 6 is resistant so much so that its work will be impossible only after the failure of at least three disks. What does it mean? One important thing: It is two times more resistant than RAID 5. What is more, the speed of the whole system is higher than in the case of a single disk. It makes RAID 6 an almost ideal solution (if we do not take into account the costs of implementation).

Enhanced RAID

RAID 5E

RAID 5E (Enhanced) works similar to RAID 5. It stripes data and parity across all of the drives in array. The main reason is a built-in spare drive. Thanks to that, RAID 5E offers good data protection and better throughput. Also read and write operations are more efficient in the case of RAID 5E. It is because of this that such actions proceed faster in the case of four physical disks rather than three with an idle hot spare.

If we take into account the advantages of RAID 5E – good data protection, large storage capacity and high performance (higher than in the case of RAID 5) – we may ask: why it is less used in practice? The response should be sought in relation to its disadvantages.

The main drawback of such a solution is that the spare drive cannot be a part of any other array. So, if there is a need to implement its functionality to another array, preparing another spare drive is the only way. The second thing is RAID 5E supports only one logical drive in one array. And the most important – the thing which makes RAID 5E a useless solution in most cases – it is firmware-specific. Not every kind of controller can support this RAID level (in contrast to i.e. RAID 5).

RAID 5EE – Hot Space

RAID 5EE is an extended version of RAID 5E. It stripes data and parity across all of the drives in the array but it has a more efficient distributed spare. Its rebuild time is also faster.

RAID 5EE provides good data protection – like in the case of RAID 5. It also increases throughput – by using an additional hot spare disk in the array. Thanks to that, in the case of failure, when we have to replace the failed drive, the data from the “Hot Spare” emergency area are automatically transferred to it (to the new drive). The exempt space is than raised as an emergency space.

In this case, the difference between RAID 5E and 5EE is that the RAID 5EE spare is interleaved with the parity blocks (it does not use contiguous free space for the spare).

RAID 5EE requires a minimum of four drives. Just like RAID 5E it is also firmware-specific. It means we can expect problems with a controller. Also implementation costs, and any other – i.e. in case of failure, can be high. So we can say that this option is similar to RAID 5E.

Other possibilities

As it is easy to imagine, there are many solutions based on RAID. We have presented only the basic possible implementations. Although it does not mean the end. We can still point toward: RAID 1E, RAID x0, RAID 6E, 6EE and other. If you want to read about any of them, just let us know. We will do our best to give you the information you need.

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recover raid 5,

RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 4 - What are the characteristics, and how does it work? And its history

RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 4 – what it is, how it works? The history lesson

After RAID 0 and RAID 1 (with RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1) it is time for RAID 2, 3 and 4. Here we present a small description of the mentioned levels. We hope it will outline a picture of the functionality of these solutions. Although the article is a kind of history lesson – these solutions are no longer used – it is good to be aware of the origins of modern storage technologies.

RAID 2 – the bit-level striping with dedicated Hamming-code parity

In the case of RAID 2 all data are stripped (to the bit levels – not block). Each bit is written on a different drive/stripe. Such a solution requires the use of Hamming code for error correction.

Hamming code is a linear error-correcting code named after its inventor, Richard Hamming. Hamming codes can detect up to d – 1 bit errors, and correct (d – 1) / 2 bit errors, where d is the minimum hamming distance between all pairs in the code words; thus, reliable communication is possible when the Hamming distance between the transmitted and received bit patterns is less than or equal to d. By contrast, the simple parity code cannot correct errors, and can detect only an odd number of errors.

source

The number of discs in RAID 2 used to store information is equal to the logarithm of the number of discs that are protecting the mentioned data. All disks in RAID 2 work as one disk which has a capacity equal to the common capacity of all disks used to store data.

RAID 2

While RAID 2 is being used it is important to synchronize all disks. Such a solution requires that the controller, which makes disks, will spin at the same angular orientation – in other way the index will not be reached at the same time. Disintegration will lead to total uselessness of drives in array.

Such a requirement is not the only drawback. Also the need for long Hamming code generation may prove to be problematic by slowing the whole system down.

The mode of RAID 2 action may be hard to understand. The need for using Hamming code, special controllers for disks – it makes RAID 2 a not very popular solution. But if we think about it in a less pragmatic way, it may prove to be very interesting – mainly due to its modus operandi. It introduces many more complex solutions than RAID 0 and RAID 1. While everything works well, RAID 2 proves to be quite a good solution in area of data security. In case of HDD failure – no matter if it was the disk with data or the Hamming code – any part of the array may be reconstructed by the other disks used.

While it is interesting and it has its advantages, we have not heard about any commercial implementations of RAID 2. Solutions based on it were used only in the initial phase of RAID systems usage – before disks were equipped with their own correction code. Modern HDDs use various correction and optymalising algorithms. That is why the Hamming system has started to be less interesting in the area of professional usage and it is no longer implemented in modern controllers.

RAID 3 – another rare one in practice

RAID 3 works as RAID 0 does – it uses byte-level stripping – but it also uses an additional disk in the array. It is used to store checksums and it supports a special processor in parity codes calculating – so we may call it “the parity disk”.

RAID 3

In RAID 3, configuration data are divided into individual bytes and then saved on a disk. Parity byte is determined for each row of data and saved on the mentioned “parity disk”. In case of failure it allows to recover data by an appropriate calculation of the remaining bytes and parity bytes that correspond with them.

Although RAID 3 is rarely used in practice, it is worth pointing out its advantages. First of all is its resistance to damage of one disk in the arrangement. Secondly, high read speed. Unfortunately, it also has a couple of drawbacks.

The read speed is more than satisfactory but write speed is on the contrary – the reason being the necessity of checksums calculating (even RAID hardware controllers cannot solve this problem). She second disadvantage is a matter of disk failure. When it happens, the whole system will work much slower. What is more, although RAID 3 is resistant to breakdown (in case of failure of one disk in the array), replacing a damaged disk is very costly. A third problem is the disk used for calculating checksums  – it is usually the bottleneck in the performance of the entire array.

As can be easily seen, RAID 3 is not a good, reliable or cheap solution. Therefore, as it was mentioned earlier, its use is rare in practice. Systems based on RAID 3 are mostly purposed for implementations where a small number of users refer to the very large files.

RAID 4 – smells like RAID 3 and 5

RAID 4 is very similar to RAID 3. The main difference is the way of sharing data. They are divided in to blocks (16, 32, 64 lub 128 kB) and written on disk s – similar to RAID 0. For each row of written data, any recorded block is written on a parity disk. In short this means that RAID 4 does not strip data at  block levels but it uses byte levels for striping (block-level striping with a dedicated parity disk).

There are also similarities in relation to RAID 5, but it confines all parity data to a single drive. RAID 4 does not use distributed parity.

RAID 4

RAID 4 requires at least three disks for complete implementation and configuration. What is more, it also needs hardware support for parity calculations. This makes it possible to recover data by the appropriate mathematical operations.

If we asked: what is RAID 4 for? we would point out one particular need. Such a solution will work very well in the case of really large files – when sequential read and write data process is used. Using RAID 4 for small portions of data would be not a good idea. The reason is the need to carry out modifications of parity blocks for each I/O session. The need for continuous repeating of such an operation would cause large losses of time and slow down a whole system.

RAID 3 and RAID 4 solutions were replaced by RAID 5. You can read about it in an article by Janusz Bąk: “How does RAID 5 work? The Shortest and Easiest explanation ever!”

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RAID information,

What is RAID 1, RAID 1 + 0 and RAID 0 + 1

What are RAID 1, RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1

What are RAID 1, RAID 1+0 and RAID 0+1

What is RAID 1, RAID 1 + 0 and RAID 0 + 1

This is the second article in a series of our RAID. We hope to show - in the easiest possible way - What is RAID, and the idea of ​​it and how it works. We wrote about RAID 0. Now is the time for RAID 1, RAID 0 + 1 and RAID 1 + 0.

What is RAID 1 

What is RAID 1, RAID 1 + 0 and RAID 0 + 1RAID 1 (copies) - The basic idea of ​​this solution is to repeat (copies) of two or more disks. This means that while the use of RAID 1, is created a replica (or mirror) on two or more disks. This solution gives a good read performance and reliability, but you should defragment storage capacity. The reason for this is that the total storage must be equal to the capacity of the smallest drive. Ie: in the case of a group consisting of 3 tablets - 250GM, 500GB and 1TB - will be usable space equal to 250 GB.

Why RAID 1

RAID 1 is the easy way to secure data and to maintain the reasonable value of reading, writing and access speed. Adoption of this strategy allows to maximize the full benefit of these processes. While it is sequential, and the speed of public writing is equal for all write operations from each drive in the array. It is a process at one time, and write operations take place in parallel with all of the drives - which means that the duration of the registration period is equal to the disk to run slower.

It is also possible to prepare this strategy to the process of reading. And can be serially - even reading speed can be almost equal to RAID 0 or it can only be done from the selected drives. The second solution is used when there are significant differences between the read speeds of each drive in the array.

But back to the Pros - The possibility to increase reading speed and reduce access time is the main advantage. The second is the integrity of the data. Wikipedia gives us a good and simple example:

Consider RAID 1 with two similar models of the drive with a 5% probability that the disk will fail within three years. Provided that the failure to be statistically independent, the probability of each of the disk failure during the three-year period is 0.25%. Thus, the possibility of losing all the data is 0.25% over a period of three years if nothing is done to the group. If the first disk failure is never replace, then there is a chance of 5% will be data loss. If only one of the disks fails, no data will be lost. As long as they failed disk is replaced by a second disk fails, the data safe.

However, since the two tablets are used identical and since the patterns used are also identical, their failure can not be assumed to be independent. Thus, the possibility of losing all the data, if not replace the first disk fails, you may be much higher than 5%.

In practice, a good management system in the above is irrelevant because it will not be hard to ignore the failed disk, but will be replaced. Is determined by the reliability of public order by the prospect of remaining engine will continue to work during the reform period, and this is the total time it takes to detect the failure, and the replacement of the hard drive failed, and that the campaign to rebuild. If, for example, it takes one hour to replace the failed drive is replaced, and the public knows the reliability of the system by the possibility of engine and the remaining disks operate for one hour without fail.

Source

It's also easy to see, and the possibility of data loss really small. This is the biggest advantage for RAID 1 - to allow for the issuance of a quick resolution to the rare possibility of data loss through disk failure.

However, there are also some drawbacks. As mentioned, a full range of storage capacity equal to the storage capacity of the smallest related disk. The second thing is something we can call and RAID 1 can prevent data loss due to disk failure, but in the virus or human factors case of "instant of writing and change the process." (Ie: accidental deletion of data) RAID 1 is useless. Changes at first will (two) in the disk array also take place in the second - immediately or soon. Will be the wrong one loss, malware or anything else and data.

What is RAID 0 + 1 and RAID 1 + 0

RAID 0 + 1 arrays means implemented in RAID 1, which is 0 RAID arrays elements. This implementation has speed RAID 0, RAID 1 safety benefits. It is also much easier to implement than RAID 3, RAID 5 or RAID 6. The main disadvantage of this solution is cost.

RAID 1 + 0

RAID 0 + 1

The implementation of RAID 1 + 0 set as RAID 0, who are RAID 1. It combines elements of the same advantages of RAID 0 (speed) and RAID 1 (safety), but in a different way. RAID 1 + 0 creates a large strip of small mirrors. After a disk failure, while being replaced, and the rebuilding of only a small part of a complete set. Unfortunately, it has the same drawback as that of RAID 0 + 1 - the cost of implementation.

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RAID information,