ReStor Claims to Be First HDD and SSD Repair Facility

Started as a unit of dStor Technologies Pvt Ltd,
the entrepreneurial venture of storage industry veteran Sharad Srivastava, the
ReStor HDD and SSD recertification/refurbishment initiative aims to help the
green cause by facilitating reduction of e-waste, provide more consumer choice
with an economically priced segment, and enable warranty/AMC service providers
cut down their support cost.

 
The facility incorporates a sterile clean room type environment with
electro-static discharge (ESD) safe set-up, a combination of indigenously
developed testing bays/racks and imported diagnostics jigs, and is backed by a
trained, experienced technical team.

Sharad Srivastava, founder-director, dStor, said: "The HDD Drive is one of the most fragile
items in the computer, requiring extreme care in handling and protection from
shock, vibration and Electro Static Discharge. Among other reasons, the complex
requirements of the repair process and the lack of scale resulted in a
situation that no facility came up in India for the test and repair of HDDs.
Now, with the scenario fast changing, we have set up the first fully equipped
centre for the purpose."

Presently, most in-warranty faulty drives are exported out of the country for
repair, while out-of-warranty drives are largely junked. This puts a heavy
eco-burden on a growing sub-segment of electronics hardware, not to
mention being time consuming, expensive and a restrictive practice. Moreover,
all major HDD manufacturers have reduced the warranty period on desktop and
mobile drives in recent years.

According to estimates by analysts at CyberMedia
Research, there are approximately 68 million currently active installed
drives in the country and their average active life is about five years.
However, a large proportion can enjoy an extended life with proper care and
restoration. Also, other estimates say that about 80,000 drives fail every
month in the country, while their warranty is still active.

Apart from these factors, consolidation in the HDD industry has left a limited
number of manufacturers in the business. The average unit price for a HDD has
more than doubled in last two years and there could be a segment of consumers
looking for cost-effective alternatives. The inclusion of drives in several CE devices is also adding to the HDD proliferation that could
become commonplace in coming years.

All of this presents a potential business for the ReStor initiative.

Said
Srivastava, "Locally available
refurbishment/recertification facility will enable storage manufacturers to
considerably reduce the buffer inventory required in India to service their
customers and bring down the cost of warranty support. While AMC providers, and
systems integrators will be able to cut down on support cost beyond
manufacturer warranty. Not all faulty drives are junk, ReStor can help derive
substantial financial value to manufacturers and AMC providers from these
services."

As a tip to service and support personnel handling drives,
Srivastava said: "We request all users and service engineers to treat faulty
drives also with care just like new drives to minimize handling related damage
and increasing chances of restoration or recovery."

He revealed that test runs at his centre have enabled them to revive up to 50%
of the defective drives received.

Elaborating on his plans for the new initiative, Srivastava added: "Our first test and repair facility in the
NCR has just gone on stream. We expect to be servicing about 10,000 drives per
month within the next 9 to 12 months at this facility, after which we will take
the lab to other key metros."

At the ReStor facility, the company offers a variety of services related to
rehabilitation of drives/data, including: repair and restoration, data
recovery, customized support for field-returns, RMA management,
secure-erase, etc.