Sometimes, the worst really does happen. Data goes missing. Whether it’s an important e-mail that suddenly can’t be found, a hard drive failure with the only complete record of a project, or an entire year of financial records on tape, that which can be written can also be erased.
But sometimes, that which has been erased can be recovered. In many cases, IT staff can use off-the-shelf recovery tools to restore the information. In other situations, however, like the flooding of a South American city’s data centre, or the disappearance of the final marks for an entire grade in a school system, outside assistance is required.
For example, when the Chinese national weather service lost 2
