There is hardly any organisation today that does not use digital devices in conducting its day-to-day operations. These may range from powerful workstations, servers and desktop computers to portable laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), digital diaries, and mobile phones. There are good reasons why digital technology has become so popular in just a couple of decades all over the world.
Information technology is a formidable force-multiplier because it harnesses the power of silicon chips. These chips are made up of millions of microscopic transistors which can carry out hundreds of thousands of calculations a second. Leveraging this awesome speed, digital devices allow us to do a variety of tasks hundreds or even thousands of times faster than otherwise we will be able to do. Some industries such as nano-technology would simply be impossible without the power of information technology.
All digital devices have one thing in common. Each of them turns any information into digital form that its processor can understand and crunch at a great speed. This data is usually volatile. It mostly exists in the form of a magnetic pattern or electric charge and has to be handled very carefully.
A variety of digital storage devices today exist which can store data safely, including hard disks, tape drives, floppy drives, optical disks such as CDs and DVDs, USB Flash drives and so on. In computers, hard disks are the primary storage devices while optical disks, Flash drives and tape drives are used for backup or transporting data from one place to another.
Data from digital devices can be lost in many ways. Their hardware may malfunction or get damaged. For example, a compact disk can get bent out of shape when exposed to strong heat, a USB drive may get crushed underfoot, a hard drive may have its circuits burnt due to a power surge and the magnetic tape of a tape drive may get stuck in the read / write head. Software errors also account for a large number of cases of data loss, such as a virus attack, reformatting of the storage surface or accidental deletion of files by the user. That is why it is very important to take regular data backups.
Corporate companies have traditionally taken backups on high-capacity tape drives. Increasingly, their place is being taken by portable hard drives that offer huge capacities and random data access. Whenever data loss occurs due to a hardware or software error, the missing files are instantly replaced from the backup media. This can save a lot of money for companies because they do not have to spend an exorbitant amount on getting the crucial files recovered by professional data recovery companies. In addition, there is no loss of man-hours as the files are immediately retrieved without any obstruction in office work.
However, this kind of onsite backup is of no help in cases of data disasters which affect the entire premises. The computers as well as the backup data, both are destroyed or damaged in such cases. Data disasters can be either man-made or natural. These mainly include the following:
Earthquakes: These arrive without warning and cause massive damage to lives and property each year. They can cause entire buildings to collapse, burying everything inside in tonnes of rubble.
Floods: Floods are getting increasingly common due to large-scale environmental degradation that is a result of rampant industrialisation and burning of fossil fuels. Floods can drown the computers of a company, causing massive damage to hardware and software. Backup devices can get washed away and become untraceable while hard drives can be rendered unusable, with a thick coating of silt covering them.
Terrorist Attack: These traditionally have meant bomb blasts that blow everything apart and start fires. But before 9/11, who would have imagined that even commercial airliners could be used as deadly missiles against skyscrapers? Terrorist attacks can cause massive damage to an office complex and destroy computer as well as backup devices.
Fire: This can be due to natural causes or started by an arsonist (who may be a disgruntled ex-employee). Fire consumes everything in the office building, including digital devices which get charred beyond recognition. Additional damage is done by water and foam sprayed by fire-fighters.
The only way to fortify oneself against data disasters of such magnitude is to keep data backups far away from the office premises, preferably in another city or continent. A range of companies now exist which provide the facility of remote or online backup. In this, a software installed on client’s computers automatically takes backup every day and sends it across the wires to the service provider’s servers for safe-keeping.
Once your office is hit by a data disaster such as flood or fire, you can quickly set up new hardware and instantly download all your data from remote servers by using a password. This way, your business can instantly get back up on its feet without losing any time or money.