Why is my Hard Disk Whirring?

Over many years, this has without doubt been one of the commonest questions we’ve encountered at Server Sentry.

It usually arises because a customer is concerned that one of their PCs or perhaps a server appears to be constantly accessing its disk and making whirring noises - even when they aren’t actually doing anything on the system at the time.

As almost always with IT systems support, there is no one sure answer to the question.  It could have any number of causes including:

• Even though you are n’t doing anything on your system at the time, it could be automatic software that is running various routines which are making heavy use of disk access (technically called ‘disk I/O’ for Input/Output). That might include things such as software security scans, updates following the automatic download of new versions of software and so on.

• It could indicate that your disk is seriously fragmented.  That does n’t mean damaged, it simply means that individual databases and files have been split into different sections and placed on different parts of the disk.  That is perfectly normal and is the way disk space utilisation is optimised but when the splitting of logical units of data becomes very pronounced, the disk is needing to do a lot more work in order to access what you may think of as a single integrated file of data.  It is possible to run what are called disk de- fragmentation programs to help the problem.

• In some, hopefully rare, circumstances, it might indicate that you have a certain type of malware on your system.

• It’s possible that it is a symptom of potential disk controller problems.
There’s no need to get overly worried about what’s happening.
Simply call us and we will diagnose exactly what’s going on and if appropriate, assist you to take remedial action.

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Data Recovery Solutions – How Frequently Should You Back Up?

At Server Sentry, we’re often asked this question.

In practice, there is n’t any one answer.  It depends a lot upon the nature of your business operations and how frequently your data and systems are updated.
To understand why, it’s necessary to think a little bit about the fundamentals of what are sometimes called data recovery solutions.

Let’s assume that your system has had some sort of problem resulting in a catastrophic loss of your data.  The basic principle of data recovery solutions means that you may need to ask yourself just how much of your work and other information you could afford to lose or how much time you could afford to spend in recreating it.

Take, for example, a situation where your catastrophic problem arose at 11:30AM.  If you are unable to resolve the problem, you may need to restore your data files as they were at the last point the backup was taken before you had your disaster.

If you only take a backup of everything at the end of a working day, that means that any work done between (e.g.) 6.30 PM that day previously and when your problem happened at 11.30 AM the following morning, could potentially be irretrievably lost.

You could only restore your system to as it had existed the night before at 6.30pm.

Would that be a problem for you? It’s impossible to say in isolation. At the very least you may have lost several hours’ work. In worst-case scenarios, it might not only be lost but also impossible to replicate – something that might be a disaster.

If the thought of losing several hours’ work is too terrible to contemplate, you might need to take much more frequent backups as part of your strategic data recovery solutions. In some cases, companies actually run what’s called ‘hot standby’ whereby their data is replicated off-site in real-time meaning that in the event of a problem, they could instantly cut over to a virtually mirrored environment where all their data is fully up to date.

What you need by way of data recovery solutions will be driven by many different factors – and we can help you discover what they are.

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Business IT Support Services and Integration

Are you disappointed with what you’re getting out of your IT?

Perhaps those new super-powerful PCs and servers you purchased just are not doing much to improve your overall software performance.  Are your efforts in videoconferencing still being stymied by pixelated screens and major lags between voice and video?  Do you keep getting error messages on your screens from certain of your applications?

It’s possible that you’re experiencing any of the above or indeed one or more of many other potential problems with your IT.  What’s going on?

Of course, we at Server Sentry Business IT Support Services cannot answer the question without knowing a lot more about your installation and business.  However, it’s possible that you have simply purchased solutions that are not optimal for your needs or perhaps they have been poorly installed and configured to begin with.

The good news though is that sometimes Business IT Support Services can make a huge difference to the way your technology systems work and without involving you in huge expenditure on revised approaches.  In the past, following a short survey of a customer site and changing a few relatively minor parameters, we have been able to resolve long-standing problems that the company had assumed they just had to ‘live with’.

In other situations, we may be able simply to recommend that you change certain of your approaches to the use of your technology and you might find as a consequence that things are far more efficient and successful.

The bottom line is very simple.  You don’t have to put up with Information Technology systems that are holding you back or simply not delivering the benefits you anticipated.  There is almost always something that can be done about such problems and often without large-scale expenditure.

That’s why we would welcome the chance to demonstrate our Business IT Support Services to you in terms of helping you integrate your processes and technology into optimum configurations.  Why not give us a call for an initial entirely free and non-commercial discussion of your requirements?

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Data Recovery Solutions Melbourne

If it doesn’t matter how modern your technology is, how much you have invested in it or how careful you are when using it, unfortunately problems are always a possibility.

One of the most serious consequential problems of a technology failure arises from the loss or corruption of your data.

Space here doesn’t permit a full discussion of the technical reasons as to why that can happen but it can.  There are also a number of different types of data problem, just a sample of which might include:

• Data that has been derived or input and then subsequently lost.
• Information that has somehow or another become corrupted and is therefore not retrievable, usable or trustworthy – or perhaps a variety of all these things.

The impact on your business of finding yourself in such a position is almost too terrible to contemplate.

You may end up needing to explain to customers why their information has been lost and that they must provide it again.  It may be difficult to engage in billing or debt collection because you simply don’t know what the real situation is.  Your customers may be looking at information on your systems and seeing that it is fundamentally inaccurate or out of date.

Of course, the longer a problem persists, the greater the cumulative effects of the damage to your data and your professional credibility are likely to be.

In a nutshell, this is why data recovery solutions are important.

Data recovery solutions in themselves can’t stop a problem happening.  What they can do though is to ensure that you are able to make the fastest possible recovery and to get your data back to a point in time before the problem occurred. This is sometimes referred to as doing a ‘data restore’.

Thinking about the frequency of data backups and how to restore to a given point in time is a science that we at Server Sentry are experts in.  This process isn’t one where a business should be taking chances or making wild guesses.

Remember that ultimately your data recovery solutions may be all that stands between your business and catastrophe.  That’s why it’s essential to take this subject seriously and highly advisable to contact us for further advice and guidance.

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How do you see data recovery solutions?

Companies come into one of several categories where data recovery is concerned:

• Those that realise that their business is largely data-driven and that the loss of their data would cripple their operations – possibly fatally. They take steps to protect themselves against such a possibility

• Companies that know nothing of the risks involved and as a result, who take no preventative measures

• Those that think they have protection in place but which, in reality, is woefully inadequate.

• Organisations that think the risks are not significant and that the area is hyped-up through scare tactics in order to sell expensive data recovery solutions Melbourne.

Here at Server Sentry, we know with a sad certainty that companies in the last three categories are sooner or later going to have the reality of their vulnerabilities made only too clear to them after a disaster.

In some cases that’s going to lead to regret, recriminations, post-mortems, firings and in extreme situations, the end of their business.

So, what is the solution?

We make no apologies for continually preaching the need for increased corporate awareness as far as data recovery solutions are concerned. It’s one thing to realistically assess the risks to your organisation arising from a catastrophic loss of data then decide to do nothing. It’s entirely another to do nothing through a lack of awareness.

Nor are data recovery solutions simply a case of copying files and information onto another secure site.  For example, there are issues to do with cycles of backup and currency of data.

So, if you ask your provider of data recovery solutionsto restore your files as they were at the end of your last financial quarter for audit purposes, you might not want to hear at that stage, for the first time, that they only keep backups for 30 days.

Equally, if you lose an entire day’s work at say 4pm, would you prefer to restore your data to the last time a backup was taken at say five minutes before, 12pm that day or perhaps at 8pm the day before? Keep in mind anything done between your last backup and your disaster may be irretrievably lost.

That’s why professional data recovery solutionsand their analysis are critically important.

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