| Data Loss and Data Backup |
dware Errors: These relate to some damage or malfunction in the physical make-up or components of the storage media. Optical drives can have their data-recording surface smeared with some thick liquid or stains. Due to this, data loss occurs as the laser cannot make sense of the data groove etched on the surface of the CD or DVD.
A hard drive may suffer impact trauma, its controller card may get fried due to a sudden power surge or its read / write head may crash on the platter surface. A USB drive may get crushed underfoot or its printed circuit board may short-circuit itself.
Software Errors: Data can also get lost due to serious software errors, some of which may be the user’s fault. The latter may accidentally delete a file and empty the Recycle Bin, thus making it invisible to the operating system. A data storage device may be reformatted, deleting its file allocation table. This way, the operating system loses track of which file is stored where and earmarks the entire recording area for storing fresh data. Attacks by malicious software programmes such as virus, worms and Trojans are other reasons for data loss. Sometimes, the file structure itself may get corrupted or damaged.
Disasters: These do not occur frequently, but once they do, they pose a very serious threat, both to human lives as well as computer data. Disasters are of two types: natural and man-made.
The former includes flash floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, fire, lightening strike, power surge, storms, landslides, volcano eruptions and so on. Man-made disasters are triggered off by arsonists, terrorists and disgruntled ex-employees who may torch the office building or explode a bomb in the premises.
Data Backup Devices
There is a wide variety of data backup devices existing in the market to suit all needs and budgets. These range from a CD with a tiny 700 MB capacity to portable hard disks having a 500 GB storage space.
Optical Disks These are small and thin plastic disks that are used by a laser beam emitted by the optical drive to write and read data. Compact disks have a data storage capacity of about 700 MB while digital video drives have a capacity of 4.6 GB for single-layer disks and over 8 GB for double-layer disks. These disks are quite tough and hard to break. They can store digital data for a number of years if handled properly.
Tape Drives: These are small and look like regular audio cassettes. Their main advantage is that they are quite reliable and cheap and can have a huge capacity to rival hard disks. They have to be stored in a cool and dry place away from heat and humidity.
The only drawback of tape drives is that they give sequential data access. If you have to extract a particular file, the entire tape has to move past the read / write head until the desired location is reached. However, tape drives are still preferred by most businesses as their choice for data backup media.
Portable Hard Disks: These disks use exactly the same technology as regular computer hard disks but they are stand-alone devices. The latest portable hard disks use a very fast USB 2 interface that allows for great data transfer speeds. These come with customised data backup software that takes automatic backup and makes a mirror image of the computer hard drive.
Portable disks give random data access and can retrieve any file instantly, no matter where it is residing on its data-recording surface. But they are quite sensitive to impact trauma. If they are dropped to the ground, serious damage may result to their components, leading to data loss.
Remote Data Backup
This is the ideal way to back your data up, if you can afford it. In this, your data backup resides far away on a server of the service provider. The data backup is automatic, taken care of by a small programme that resides on the client’s computers. The main benefit of remote data backup is that it remains immune to natural or man-made disasters that may strike your office premises or home.
Whenever you lose all your data, you can get back on your feet the very next day by downloading the backup from the remote server. The only drawback is that remote data backup is expensive as service providers charge according to per MB of data stored.
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk
Article Source: UnArchived Articles
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