Bush fire backups - the art of running away part C

During the recent bush fire emergency in Tasmania several people asked me...

"why don't people backup their data?"

I could and have gone on about this for years.

Over 30 years ago I started a specialist data backup company - "Data Longevity Management".

A very "clever" name that mirrored the initials of my name ;-)

Back then data backups was a tough sell. It wasn't cheap, it wasn't easy, it wasn't quick, it wasn't fun and it wasn't reliable.

But, on the bright side, folks didn't have so much data. Folks didn't have computers in their homes so much. Folks didn't have digital cameras and there was no internet.

So, unsurprisingly, DLM didn't last.

Today almost everything is opposite to that; backups are cheap, they are quick, they are reliable and dare I say it they are fun.

Folks have a lot...a LOT of data these days and that data is more tightly woven into your life than it has ever been before...

...yet mostly people still don't backup.

In my efforts to get people to backup, to be ready when (not if) disaster strikes, I've cajoled, I've encouraged, I've educated, I've helped, I've warned, I've threatened and I've had to say "I told you so" and all mostly to no avail.

People have recently said to me...

"but won't they learn from this bush fire?"

Nope. No they won't. They haven't.

You'd expect computer guys like me to be inundated with requests to help people backup having just narrowly avoided disaster this time.

Nope. Nothing. Not a peep.

Maybe it is just relief and getting back to normal.

Sadly normal includes not-backing up.

If you do want to do something, I am here to help.

I also suggest you look at the many cloud-based backup options available that do make backing up easy, reliable and cheap.

I am currently very happy with Backblaze https://www.backblaze.com/

Otherwise, call me after the disaster. I make more money getting your data back* than I do from you backing it up, so really I don't mind what you do :-)

David

* It is just that, often, it can't be recovered and yes, you still need to pay for the labour regardless of success.

#backups #Backblaze