As you surely know, your computer stores lots of data. It could be treasured photos of loved ones or that blockbuster novel you’ve started writing. The databases and vital you use for your business are stored in exactly the same way as the odds and ends from your leisure activities. Whatever the content, all data shares one characteristic: it’s incredibly fragile. And that’s why you should never store it one location only. Let’s take a closer look at the issues.
Data Storage on a Hard Drive
A standard hard disk drive (or HDD for short) is a bit like a high tech record player turntable. All your data is stored on a stack of small magnetic platters. These all spin around, and there’s a small mechanical arm on the top. But that’s where the record player analogy starts to fail. Record players spin at a maximum of 78 revolutions per minute (rpm), but a hard drive spins at around 7200 rpm. As it spins, a cushion of air is created. This stops the head at the end of the arm from touching the platter. This is vital, because the smallest contact could destroy the data stored there.
Like all mechanical devices, hard drives are ultimately going to fail. Cars, refrigerators, televisions – you name it, and it won’t live forever. HDDs can go wrong in all sorts of ways. The motor might burn out, the arm might fail – and there are many other complications that can ruin access to the drive and the data stored on it. The hard drive is the heart of your computer, and its stability is vital. For safer data storage, there is an alternative to the standard HDD, known as a solid state drive (SSD). These are hardier but they can also fail.
Every time we use our computers we trust them with our data. Your computer or workstation may have more than one hard drive, and if you’re on a network connected to a server that will almost certainly have more drives for data storage. But still – with mechanical hard drives, it’s very very easy to lose data. So, we have to ask:
Why would anyone EVER rely on a single hard drive for all their valuable data? It’s this simple: if you have only copy of your data and that’s on your computer’s hard drive, it’s in danger. One problem and it could all be lost forever.
But there’s good news too. It’s never been easier to prevent data loss. At Quikteks, we provide and manage tried and tested backup solutions for businesses. With a trustworthy backup system you can rest assured that your data is always safe and accessible. We will help you make sure that at least one copy of your data is safely stored on your premises, with another copy stored off-site (usually in the cloud). With these protections, your data is safe from just about any crisis. To find out more about our backup solutions for businesses, give us a call at (973) 882-4644.