Most data loss isn't dramatic. It's a drive that won't spin up, a file system that suddenly reports as RAW, an external that worked last week and doesn't now. The hardest part of recovery is usually the first hour — knowing what to do, and more importantly, what not to do, before the situation gets worse.
Obsidian provides logical and limited physical-level data recovery for failing or failed storage. We work on standard consumer and small-business devices: internal and external drives, SSDs, USB media, and memory cards. The goal is straightforward — get your data back in a state you can use, with an honest assessment of what's recoverable along the way.
For severe physical damage requiring a Class 100 cleanroom — platter swaps, motor replacements, head assembly work — we'll tell you that up front and refer you to a specialist lab rather than make it worse trying.
- Initial diagnosticFree assessment of the drive's condition and recovery viability before any work begins.
- Logical recoveryFile system corruption, accidental deletion, formatting errors, partition damage, and software-level failures.
- Limited physical recoveryFailing-but-readable drives where imaging can be performed without invasive intervention.
- Targeted recoverySpecific files or folders prioritized when full-disk recovery isn't necessary.
- Honest triageIf your drive needs a cleanroom, we tell you and refer out. We don't gamble with your data to chase a billable hour.
- External drive recognized by the system but won't populate files
- "You need to format this drive before you can use it" prompts
- Accidentally deleted folders emptied from the recycle bin
- Drive making clicking or beeping sounds (handle immediately, do not power cycle)
- Failed Windows or macOS upgrades leaving data inaccessible
Digital forensics is the discipline of recovering, preserving, and analyzing evidence from digital devices in a way that's defensible — meaning the methodology can be documented, reproduced, and explained to someone who wasn't in the room. It's a different skill set from data recovery, even though both involve looking at storage media.
Obsidian provides non-litigation forensic analysis for small businesses, organizations, and private clients. This includes internal investigations, incident response support, and analytical work where the goal is understanding what happened — not producing courtroom evidence. We use industry-standard tooling and follow established procedures for evidence handling and chain of documentation.
Every engagement produces a written report: what was examined, what methods were used, what was found, and what wasn't found. The report is the deliverable. Casual tinkering is not forensics.
- Internal investigationsSuspected policy violations, misuse of company devices, departing-employee data audits, and HR-supporting investigations.
- Incident response supportPost-incident analysis to determine scope, timeline, and what data may have been accessed or exfiltrated.
- Device timeline reconstructionAnalysis of system logs, file metadata, and user artifacts to establish a sequence of events on a given device.
- Evidence preservationForensically sound imaging and documentation of devices when an investigation may be needed later.
- Written reportsEvery engagement concludes with a documented report you can share with counsel, leadership, or insurance providers.
- Departing employee suspected of taking proprietary files
- Reasonable suspicion of policy violation on company-issued devices
- Need to understand the scope of a compromised email or workstation
- Evidence preservation before a device is decommissioned or reissued
- Internal HR investigation requiring a documented technical record
Most small businesses don't need a full-time IT person. What they need is someone trustworthy to call when a decision matters — a server replacement, a backup strategy that actually works, an honest opinion on whether the vendor quoting them $40,000 is worth it. That's what consulting is for.
Obsidian provides project-based and on-call IT consulting for small businesses, professional offices, and households running small networks. We work in environments other firms often skip: aging hardware, mixed operating systems, owner-operators who need plain-language explanations rather than ticket queues.
We don't resell hardware. We don't have managed-service quotas to hit. The recommendation you get is the one we'd make for our own equipment.
- Infrastructure assessmentsHonest review of what you have, what's failing, and what genuinely needs replacing versus what has years of life left.
- Backup & recovery planningBackup strategies that get tested, not just configured. A backup you've never restored is a guess.
- Migration supportHardware refreshes, OS upgrades, email and storage platform migrations, and data transitions between systems.
- Vendor evaluationIndependent technical review of proposals, quotes, or contracts before you sign. We tell you what's reasonable and what's padding.
- On-demand troubleshootingFor issues that don't fit a standard support contract — one-off problems that need someone who can actually diagnose them.
- Small business getting a quote from an MSP and wanting a second opinion
- Office where the "IT guy" was actually the owner's nephew, and he moved away
- Hardware refresh planning — what to replace, what to keep, what to budget
- Backup strategy that exists on paper but has never actually been tested
- Migrating to a new email provider, file sync platform, or accounting system
Most small-business cybersecurity advice is written for environments that don't exist. Frameworks designed for enterprises with dedicated security teams get repackaged and sold to a five-person law office, and the result is a $15,000 quote for controls that solve problems the office doesn't have. Practical security looks different at this scale.
Obsidian focuses on the controls that actually matter for small organizations: endpoint hygiene, account security, backup integrity, awareness, and a small number of well-chosen technical defenses. We don't sell SOC-2 audit prep. We don't push 24/7 SOC services. We focus on closing the doors that real attackers actually walk through.
The security/convenience tradeoff is a real conversation, not a checkbox. Recommendations are scoped to what your team will actually use — because a control nobody follows is a control that doesn't exist.
- Security posture reviewPractical assessment of where your real exposure is — accounts, devices, backups, email, and the human layer.
- Account & identity hardeningMulti-factor authentication, password manager rollout, account recovery hygiene, and admin access controls.
- Endpoint protectionConfiguration review of endpoint security, patch management, and a sane policy for what runs on company devices.
- Backup integrityVerification that backups exist, are tested, and would actually survive a ransomware event — not just exist on paper.
- Awareness & trainingPlain-English security training for non-technical staff. The goal is recognition, not perfection.
- Privacy advisoryIndependent guidance on VPNs, browsers, data broker exposure, and personal privacy posture for principals and executives.
- Small office that has never had a security review and doesn't know where to start
- Insurance application requiring documented security controls
- Suspected phishing or business email compromise event
- Verifying a backup strategy would actually survive a ransomware attack
- Principal or executive concerned about personal digital exposure