Today when we speak of the storing capacity of a hard drive, we talk in terms of gigabytes or terabytes. Gone are the days when the initial hard drives typically stored around 10 megabytes of information. And, faster hard disks now spin at an rpm ranging from 5,000 to 15,000.

Such sensitive storage devices contain data worth thousands or millions of pounds. Any problem of the computer hardware or software necessitates the opening of the hard disk for data retrieval. Opening of the hard disk in a normal room would mean exposing it to 300,000 micron particles in one cubic foot of air. And, this would immediately lead to a permanent loss of data well beyond the point of retrieval.

To overcome such problems data recovery specialists operate in class 100 clean rooms.

What are Clean Rooms?

Clean rooms are contamination-free zones. Here are some features of Clean Rooms:

To eliminate external or internal contamination, the very construction of the room is from matter that will not attract volatiles from adhesives and particulate matter.

The air entering the clean room is filtered to exclude dust and other particles. The cleanliness in the clean room is achieved by the distributed air changes in a room. Usually air flows from the ceiling down to the vents in the floor. More than 450 air changes in one hour bring about a class 1 clean room.

The data recovery specialists working in a clean room enter through an air shower and wear protective covering like masks and suits that prevent contamination.

Even the furniture and equipment used inside a clean room is specially designed to produce low particle numbers.

Clean rooms are lab environments that have controlled temperature levels.

The pressure inside the room is kept at low levels to prevent electro static discharge.

The humidity levels are also under strict control.

High sanitary levels are required. Once contaminants enter the room removing them is difficult.

Such standards ensure that the atmosphere in a class 100 clean room has 100 submicron particles the size of 0.5 micron in one cubic foot of air. The cleanest a room can be is class 10.

Necessity of Clean Rooms for Data Recovery

Data retrieval from a hard disk necessitates its opening in a clean room. This invasive procedure requires a totally dust free environment.

The read write head flies over the magnetic platters, in a thin film of air at submicron distances of 1 to 2 micro inches. Even human hair measures 10 micro inches and a speck of dust 4-8 micro inches. Such extreme measures are required to prevent the lodging of any pollen, bacteria or dust on the magnetic platters. Any contaminant on the platter makes the read write head bounce back. The magnetic coating on the platters is physically and magnetically very sensitive. And, the head is made of thin film technique that contains a material strong enough to scratch the magnet off the surface.

The minute particles dislodged from the scratched magnetic surface would lead to further head crashes.

The hard disks spin at high speeds generating much heat. If a hard disk spins at an rpm of 7,200, the edge of the platter travels at a speed of 120km/hr. A crash overheats the read write head. The temperature in the clean room has to be controlled to ensure the proper workability of the hard drive. The air conditioned also ensures the maintenance of other equipment in the room apart from ensuring a good working environment enhancing the productivity of the data recovery specialists.

However, building and maintaining a clean room is extremely expensive. The cost of construction of a clean room varies according to the level of cleanliness maintained. The clean rooms for recovering data from a hard drive cost £ 750,000 and above for their construction and maintenance. Yet, they are necessary for, opening a hard drive in atmosphere other than the one in a clean room damages data permanently and its retrieval becomes impossibility.