Data Loss
The vast amount of data ,stored in various computer storage systems, that we produce with our day to day work , may be lost due to a wide variety of reasons like viruses, user error, equipment failures, power surges, fire, floods, etc.
Data Loss
According to a report on data loss in
|
Data Lost Event |
Percentage |
|
Hardware failure, including damage by power surge and drive failure |
42% |
|
Human error, including accidental deletion |
31% |
|
Software file corruption |
13% |
|
Virus-infection |
7% |
|
Theft, especially laptop theft |
5% |
|
Hardware loss, including floods, fires, lightning, power failure |
3% |
Consequences of data loss
Data loss is a fatal event for be it any business or individual. In business world data is a key to success. Data lost can disrupt business life and destroy business value.
A report says
"On average, by the 6th day of a major data loss, companies experience a 25% loss in daily revenue. By day 25 it is 40%."
"43% of companies that experience a severe data loss disaster, and that have no recovery plan in place, never re-open."
"The average cost to a UK SME of a virus attack is £843 with an average downtime of 7.2 hours."
"43% of companies that experience a severe data loss disaster, and that have no recovery plan in place, never re-open."
Avoid Data Loss:
There are certain steps that you can take to prevent or at least minimize data loss:
Ø Implement a systematic backup procedure so that the data can be recovered if it is lost. Backup policies and implementation is a complex topic and it is best you get professional assistance for formulating policies and implementing them in your particular situation
Ø Audit your data back up practices and periodically check the reliability of the backups
Ø Train your computer personnel in certain important operational matters. For example, if unusual sounds are heard from the drives, it is best to shut down the computer; don’t get liquids and stuff get into the computer; unplug power chords if smoke is seen coming out of the computer; and so on.
Ø Install Anti Virus and Security software to prevent virus attacks.
Ø Consider online back up services offered by third parties, which could help you even in cases of data loss owing to natural disasters.
Data Recovery
Here is a statistics: 99% of all business does not do a daily backup, 60% of backups are incomplete, 50% of restores fail, only 25% of tapes stored off-site and end user compliance with backups is only 8%.
From the abobe data , it is obvious that if for any reasons data become inaccessible , restoring them from backup will not be avialable or a viable option for salvaging the lost data fully. Besides recovering a single lost file is going to be hugely different than recovering a whole system
Then there may need to take the help of commerical data recovery companies that attempt to recover data from storage media formats such as hard disk drive, storage tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID, and other electronics.
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