Datarecovery.com (formerly ESS Data Recovery, Inc.) has announced full support for the upcoming Apple File System (APFS). The company will offer a full set of data recovery services, providing an important resource for Mac OS users who lose files from APFS volumes.
Apple, Inc. recently announced the new file system to developers, although APFS wasn’t the direct focus of the company’s WWDC 2016 keynote address.
Since APFS draws from the successful features of Apple’s HFS+ while incorporating features from other next-generation file systems such as ZFS, Datarecovery.com’s engineers already have an established set of viable data recovery tools.
“Some of the new features of APFS have been around for a while, so we’ve already developed resources that we could reliably use in a data recovery case,” said Ben Carmitchel, President of Datarecovery.com. “Obviously, we need to build new recovery utilities for the file system efficiently, but our research engineers are already hard at work.”
“We’re completely confident that we could handle an APFS case with our current technology,” Carmitchel added. “Now, we’re working at making that process more efficient.”
APFS will support clones, writable copies of storage blocks that track changes and allow those changes to be rolled back. This is largely seen as preferable to the copies used in HFS+, because clones are writable (not just readable). Mac users will be able to use the new features to back up their systems reliably.
“APFS is exciting, and it should make data backup even easier for Mac OS users,” said Carmitchel. “That means fewer instances of data loss. However, until the file system has been in popular use for several months, we strongly recommend keeping full, offsite backups of any APFS volumes to protect important data.”
Other features of the operating system include improved atomicity, adaptable filesystem-level encryption and TRIM support. Datarecovery.com’s engineers will perform simulated recoveries of APFS from various media, including solid-state drives and servers, to establish a streamlined process for APFS data recovery.
“From what we’ve seen so far, APFS improves on HFS+ in just about every conceivable way,” said Carmitchel. “However, it’s important not to confuse functionality with redundancy. Data loss will still be a problem with this file system, so proper backup procedures are absolutely important.”
“If a drive fails, or a file becomes corrupted without a back up, we’ll be ready to help.”
Datarecovery.com is a worldwide leader in data loss prevention, computer forensics and data recovery services. With four locations in California, Illinois, Arizona, and Toronto, the company provides a variety of services to thousands of clients each year. Visit https://datarecovery.com for more information.
