Now, About Those Backups …
Many, many hours of grief, pain and financial loss can occur if data backups take a backseat. That’s why Hungate Business Services wants to remind everyone that March 31, 2017, is World Backup Day (WBD). That’s the one day each year when people globally should critically examine just how safe their personal and business data (on all devices) are and take steps to ensure their safety.
This special day was started in 2001 by Ismail Jadun, a student at Youngstown State University (Ohio), after he and others on reddit (an international discussion website) noticed a lack of credence being given to regular backups. Jadun chose the day before April Fool’s (as in: don’t get fooled) as the best time to commemorate the idea. In addition, the young student and others in the industry launched a website – worldbackupday.com – that offers a step-by-step guide to doing backups as well as other information.
Even the Best Systems Can Be Vulnerable
Notably, some of the most sophisticated computer infrastructures in the world have fallen prey to backup vulnerability. The incident this past year (Aug. 8, 2016) when Delta Air Lines literally had to ground many hundreds of flights over several hours is a case in point. Five hundred of the company’s 3,000 servers lost function that day due to electrical failure caused by a data center fire. While the situation was complicated, clearly Delta hadn’t given enough vigilance to backups and disaster recovery, causing them to sustain about $150 million in financial losses.
Even with such a vivid cautionary tale before us, statistics (2016 Backblaze survey) show both individuals and businesses generally aren’t heeding the backup call. Only 8 percent do it daily, 9 percent weekly, 17 percent monthly and 25 percent annually. Twenty-four percent never do it at all. All of this is to say: No matter how secure or safe you feel your data and equipment are, you need to check their vulnerability on March 31.
Remember: Only two types of hard drives exist – those that have failed, and those that will fail! Yours may be next!
If you would like a Hungate technician to review your backup strategy to determine its viability, please call us at 276-243-4026 or email our help desk at info@hbsx.com.
