A cautionary tale about data backup

Posted by Caitlin on February 9th, 2009

The passengers on US Airways Flight 1549, which landed in the Hudson River last month, were lucky enough to escape unharmed. Their luggage, however, is another story. Approximately 50,000 items were recovered and are currently frozen in refrigerated trucks, waiting to be dried, cleaned and returned to their owners, which may take up to 8 weeks. In the meantime, the passengers are wondering whether they'll ever get back clothes, suitcases, car keys or iPods.

One passenger, William Wiley, lost a laptop, and years of work along with it. He estimated the value of the lost data at $30,000. Fortunately, all that data was backed up on a second laptop. Unfortunately, the second laptop was also on the plane.

Chances are very slim that you will find yourself in Mr. Wiley's exact situation one day. But his story does demonstrate why online backup is preferable to backing up your data on another piece of hardware. If you lose your laptop bag, you'll also lose your backup disks. In a flood or fire, an external hard drive is just as vulnerable as a computer. Online backup, on the other hand, will keep your data secure, regardless of what happens to your hardware.

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