Backup is missing something…we need backup plus something…

Image by Mad Magazine

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There is probably no more frequently used word in the storage space than the word “backup”…okay maybe “cloud” is the hotter topic, but then again, “cloud backup” cancels that out.

Storage companies have been touting backup since the early days of the personal computer.  Sure back then, we used tape drives to backup our PCs. But today, using tape to backup your hard drive has been replaced with…hard drives. Ironic? Not really, considering hard drives are less expensive, faster, easier to use, high capacity, etc., and since they are used for one thing: backup…they aren’t put through nearly as much stress as one that is running applications – constantly reading and writing.

But still, after all of the horror stories that come with not backing up, people still don’t make it a daily practice.  That is changing with the advent of cloud backup, but not nearly as widespread as one might think.  Consider businesses, whom one would assume backup everything…well, apparently not.

Cibecs (Pty) Ltd and IDG Connect have released the 2012 Data Loss Survey summarized quite well on Storage Newsletter.com, that shows: “Of the companies who employ a company policy instructing user’s to backup to either a central server or external hard-drive, 94% have reported that users don’t follow policy.” What’s more…only 10% of companies use cloud backup.

I’m thinking if 94% of employees do not follow company policy, what are the chances they backup their own personal computers at home? And, if the cloud has made backup so simple, so invisible, why only 10% adoption? Is it price, security concern, or just a plain old lack of awareness?

My takeaway, with all of the advice we have been given over the last 2 decades about backing up our data, we still, for the most part don’t, so consumers must need something more than just backup…they must need backup plus something to make it worth their time, energy, peace of mind.

What that plus something is…we have some ideas…

I’m in the minority…I started backing up my hard drives back in 1997 on old DAT drives, then moved to CDs, then DVDs, then to HDDs. Today, I use NAS.

When did you first start backing up?

Related Posts:

Have you preserved your kids’ content lately?

What would/could you do with 5GB of free storage?

What should you do when your external hard drive stops working?

“Gosh darn easy” backup for business PCs

2012-06-11T11:42:36+00:00

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