We all have things on our computers that are potentially irreplaceable. It could be family photos on your home computer or valuable records on the server at work. But do you know what happens when you click ‘save’ on your computer? Most people don’t, so let’s look at how it works and the reasons for hard drive failure. Once you realize how data is stored you’ll understand why we always recommend backup solutions.
How a Hard Drive Works
A typical hard disk drive, or HDD, is like a gramophone or record player. Data is stored on layers of magnetized platters inside, and the equivalent of the gramophone needle is a mechanical arm that reads and writes your data and sits on top of the pile of platters. These platters spin almost a hundred times faster than a record player turntable, reaching up to 7200 revolutions per minute. The effect is to create an air cushion that holds up the mechanical arm. This is crucial, because if it touches then it will destroy the data stored on the hard drive.
All mechanical devices wear out and your hard drive is no exception. The magnetized platters can break if handled incorrectly, the motor can burn out and the arm can become misaligned. The outcome, however, is the same – the data stored on the HDD is ruined. There are other types of drive, known as solid state drives (SSDS), that don’t depend on moving parts as a standard HDD does, but they can also fail.
Without your hard drive, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t open, edit or save files. You can’t use the internet, or a whole host of other applications that rely on data stored on the hard drive. Today people rely on their computers for so many things. For millions of us, data loss and computer failure are some of the most disruptive, annoying and potentially catastrophic things that can happen. So why rely on one drive, when it’s so vulnerable to failure?
Your computer may have an additional drive, or you may use an external hard drive. But the bottom line is: Why risk keeping all your data in one place? The risk of hard drive failure is higher than you might realize, and it really isn’t worth taking.
You can protect yourself against hard drive failure – and it’s not all that difficult. We can help protect your business against data loss with reliable backup solutions. We recommend backup of your data to a separate device in your office, and another copy stored off-site. Cloud storage is an ideal backup solution for off-site storage. If you experience hard drive failure on a device it can be a nuisance, but your business can rest easy in the knowledge that copies are available for you to restore your data.
At Quikteks we can help your business protect itself against hard drive failure and data loss, to make sure you can keep operating seamlessly, even if equipment fails. To learn more about backup solutions, reach out to our IT professionals at (973) 882-4644.