The suggestion that you have heard countless times is to back up your data. It is not a matter of ‘if disaster strikes’ - rather it is a matter of ‘when disaster strikes’. And no one is immune. Bad things happen. If the data are really important, do multiple backups. Some people take one copy of the backup to an off premise location, in case there is a fire, a theft or some other catastrophe.

This mishap in Juneau, Alaska is a good example of why having multiple backup copies is a good idea:

“Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion.

That’s what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue. While doing routine maintenance work, the technician accidentally deleted applicant information for an oil-funded account — one of Alaska residents’ biggest perks — and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well.”

link: Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund

And you thought you had a bad day…

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tags]backup, multiple copies, computer disasters, off premise, catherine forsythe[/tags]