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Losing data has different outcomes for different people. It all depends on what the lost data is worth to that individual. Losing only a couple of music or video files that can easily be downloaded again may not be the end of the world for some people. On the other hand, losing pictures of your only daughter’s wedding, or the one copy of your romantic novel, that you’ve worked on for years is a data loss no one wants.
The same is true for businesses, small or large. When a company loses data that can be recreated or easily regathered then the issue of data loss is minor. But, when business-critical data is lost and not able to be re-obtained quickly, then this can cause serious problems, from downtime to hefty fines.
Making sure that both consumer and company data is backed-up should, therefore, be essential. However, unfortunately even a backup can fail…
Many users accidentally delete their data from their storage devices. One too many clicks and your data could be deleted for good!
These can and have become a severe threat to every computer user in recent years. If your PC is not properly secured or you visit an infected website, your data can be infected, corrupted or even worse encrypted. Simply put: you will not be able to access your data anymore.
Your files can become corrupted due to a variety of reasons: software failure, logical errors, electrical faults, and internal location entries to name just a few.
Data loss due to hardware problems can happen quite easily. Hard disk drives (HDDs), for example, are sensitive devices because the internal platters rotate at a speed of more than 5000 revolutions per minute. Just a small hit on the external case can result in a ‘head crash’. Additionally, HDDs, as well as SSDs, only have a limited lifespan. After several years of usage, they will likely break down at some point in time. When your HDD is making ticking or grinding noises it is definitely time to change the HDD and make a final backup of the data on it.
If your computer or your system is under attack, it is most likely that at least some or many of your files have been either encrypted, changed or destroyed. Surfing the internet without a proper firewall and the latest anti-virus-software is a risk most people take without realising the dangers involved. We always recommend having some form of protection.
This rule simply states that a user – whether it be a consumer or a company – should store precious data 3 times. In addition to the original data storage place – your computer, NAS, server or storage – you should have two other backups. These two should use different technologies, e.g. one could be on tapes/discs, memory sticks or SSDs, while the other one on the Cloud.
Even when we make backups of backups the worst can happen but to prevent this we suggest the following:
If you carefully follow and consider the above tips and suggestions you should be well on the way to ensuring that your backed-up data is safe.
