As Data Recovery Specialists the short answer to what drive can we recover data from is virtually any drive, tape and discs.
What Drive can we Recover From
You could pretty much say that if you can store data onto it, we can recover data from it!
The most common drives we are asked to recover data from are HDD drives, RAID, server and computer drives, solid state drives, USB memory sticks, PDA, iPhones and smart phones and tablets.
By in large we classify drives in four groups:
Data Recovery From Magnetic Drives
Used to store data in laptops, desktops, servers, network attached storage, external backup devices, digital video recorders and MP3 players. Media examples: 1.8”, 2.5”, 3.5” and 5.25” IDE/SATA Drives, 50-pin, 68-pin, UltraWide SCSI Drives and 0.85” CompactFlash Type II Micro Drives
Data Recovery From Magnetic Tapes
Used to backup data in small to medium sized file servers. Media examples: AIT, DAT, DLT, Exabyte, LTO, QIC, Travan & VXA Tapes
Data Recovery From Magnetic Disks
Used to temporarily store or transfer small amounts of data. Media examples: 3.5”, 5.25” Floppy Diskettes, and Jaz, SyQuest and Zip Cartridges
Data Recovery From Optical Discs
Used to store files from several megabytes to several gigabytes in size. Media examples: CDs, DVDs and Minidiscs
Data Recovery From Flash Cards
Used to store photos in digital cameras, music in MP3 players, PDAs and files for many types of applications. Media examples: CompactFlash, MemoryStick, SD, SmartMedia and xD cards