Data Storage: Have two copies minimum!

This post is being presented to let you know that hard drives, the devices that your data is stored on, they go bad! They can stop working all of a sudden and cause you to lose your data.

This is also true for portable USB flash drives and newer solid-state drives. If you have data that is important to you, you should protect this data by backing it up.

The idea is simple, always have more than one copy of your data. That way, when one storage device fails, you can buy a new one and copy your data over from your backup device.

There are multiple options when it comes to backing up data. You can purchase a device that can store data in your home, or you can use a service that provides cloud storage. Automatic or scheduled backups would take place to copy your data onto your backup device. 

If your storage device has already failed, you may be able to use software to recover some or all of your lost data. In some cases, that is not an option.

Most people tell me they do not care about their data, so this is a non-issue for them. We live in an interesting time, the physical photo books and business books of the past are all on computers and phones. 

The users can interface with these systems and use them in the present pretty well. What happens if they want to look back on this data in the future? Will it be gone forever on a failed hard drive?