Every year on March 31, the world commemorates World Backup Day. This momentous day serves as a reminder to everyone who relies on technology to safeguard all of their valuable digital information. It is a day for the general public to learn about the growing importance of data and the importance of performing regular backups.
Today’s society is lucky to have access to the most powerful computers available, but what if the computer crashes and everything is lost? Crashes happen more frequently than most people realize, and data recovery can be expensive. Furthermore, full recovery is not guaranteed. Because it’s always better to be safe than sorry, let’s figure out how to commemorate World Backup Day in 2022.
History of World Backup Day
World Backup Day was established in 2011 by Ismail Jadun, a student at Youngstown State University, after he and his “Redditor” pals debated the importance of backups. Ismail then came up with the excellent idea of having a World Backup Day the day before April Fool’s Day to remind people to backup their data before they lose it by accident or malice and make themselves an April Fool. This day is commemorated to raise awareness of backup, data protection, and recovery every year.
Some Important Days in the World Backup Day Calendar
In 1956, IBM engineer Reynold B. Johnson devised the idea of an external hard drive and released the first-ever external hard drive, the IBM 350 Disk File.
In 1960, Dr. Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, a computer scientist, postulated the concept of an “Intergalactic Computer Network” in a series of memorandums written in the 1960s. He imagined a network in which everyone, anywhere in the world, could easily access programs and data at any time.
In 2011, Ismail Jadun, a college student, jokingly created World Backup Day after discussing backups with other “Redditors,” eventually legitimizing it.
What is a backup?
The process of producing and storing copies of data to safeguard businesses from data loss is known as a backup. A complete backup copy is kept on a different system or medium. In the event of a primary data failure, this backup copy can be restored. Backup copies are made frequently to ensure the best results and reduce the amount of data lost between backups.
Businesses regularly back up their critical data if the software they’re using has faults, data corruption, hardware failure, human error, malicious hacking, or other unanticipated events. Backups create a point-in-time snapshot that can be used to restore data to its original state.
To prevent data loss, data backups have fast become one of the most important infrastructure components in any organization. Backups can also be used to recover deleted files or files that have been mistakenly overwritten.
When discussing the significance of backup, it’s difficult to overlook one of Pixar Animation Studios’ worst operational blunders. A Pixar employee mistakenly deleted one of the film’s files as the studio was reaching the end of production on Toy Story 2 in 1998. Because the employee failed to identify which file in the folder to remove, the Linux system simply deleted all of the movie files! 90% of the digital materials for Toy Story 2 had already been wiped out by the time the staff discovered and shut down the system.
This horror story went on to highlight the need for data backup. Such a blunder made it known that businesses require complete, end-to-end offsite data protection services.
What’s the best way to back up critical data?
There are three basic methods for protecting data on a computer, laptop, or smartphone: syncing, copying, and backing up.
1. Removable Media:
One can backup to tape, optical, thumb drive, or memory card, depending on their preferences. Despite their small capacity, such media offer an advantage over other technologies due to their portability. Removable media has the advantage of being inexpensive, but it also has the problem of having limited storage space.
2. Hard Disk Media:
You can also backup or sync to a local hard drive or even a solid-state drive (SSD), typically faster than removable media. Backup software or system software, such as Windows Backup and Restore Center or Apple’s TimeMachine, can automate this process. Unless it’s a mini-drive, it’s permanently tied to the computer and can only be taken offsite on rare occasions. When it comes to hard disk media, increased capacity is a huge advantage, but it comes at the cost of a higher price tag.
3. Cloud Backup:
Cloud backup is the most recent addition to the data backup space. Backing up data with BaaS (Backup as a Service) is becoming more affordable and simpler. Users can send their data via the internet to a Data Center, which is kept in storage arrays, using services like Mozy, iDrive, or Carbonite. On the plus side, this data backup method is relatively affordable and does not necessitate the purchase of any gear. The bad news is that backing up all of your data into the “cloud” can take several weeks.
Activities to do on World Backup Day
Set aside some time to backup all of the files on your desktop or laptop computer. Purchase a hard drive (ideally a 1 TB drive) and transfer all of your crucial files to it. Don’t worry if you don’t have a hard drive. Many firms, such as Egnyte, OneDrive, Dropbox, and others, offer efficient online document storage. The easiest way to go about it is to conduct extensive research and determine which service is the most effective. Share the knowledge and encourage all of your team members to back up their data. This will foster a safer environment among your employees and prevent crucial initiatives from falling through the cracks. As a business, the last thing you want is a customer requesting an incorrectly discarded file!
Examine your current backup strategy. Is it working for you? Are your backups up-to-date? Do you have a backup of all of your important data? Consider the most typical methods of data loss. Ensure that your data is safe from cyber-attacks, hardware failures, human mistakes, and natural calamities. Take the required measures to build a data protection policy for your company this year if you don’t already have one!
The Bottom Line
People are becoming more data-dependent with each passing day, making reliable data storage and backup an imperative necessity. Data is the currency of today’s digital economy, and planning for the worst may help your company perform at its best, even in bad times.
A hard disk or storage device can fail at any time. Simple human errors have the potential to move permanently, corrupt, or delete your valuable data. Because your data is the lifeblood of your company, commit backup on World Backup Day!
Uzma Abdulla is an Editorial & Content Coordinator for The Media Bulletin. Experienced with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing space. Skilled in strong program and project management. Master of Arts (M.A.) in Archaeology and Pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling. She likes to be on her toes when it comes to facilitating events and collaborating with people.
