Backing up files is important. Everyone knows that. Plan A, everything works. Plan B, we bring in a new computer and restore from the back-up drive. We back up our files regularly, and when asked how our digital storage is doing, we are “all good.” How likely is a complete failure of my digital storage anyway? It probably won’t happen to me. Or if it could happen, it would be way in the future, so I have time.
What if the back-up fails? Plan C? You sure you’re covered? How’d you like to place a little bet…
With deadlines, downtime is more than just lost work hours, it may mean lost clients or projects that fall apart at the very end, and it only takes one key failure to shake a company’s reputation and therefore their future success. Worse, imagine losing files—not only losing hours of time while the system is restored, but discovering that hundreds of hours of beautiful content has been lost, most of which can never be recreated in exactly the same way and is gone forever. Talk about one of those moments in life when you wish there was an IRL undo-button.
If digital losses were as visible in the media as physical losses, we would see a staggering number of well-dressed executives standing dazed before the burning ruble of their professional lives, saying, “I had no idea…I thought the files were backed up…”
Your professional life is the creative content you generate every day. Your team works diligently on labor-intensive projects daily, and lost material would be devastating to more than just the bottom line. Redundancy means that your files are available to all, and simultaneously saved in multiple places, so if one of the drives fails for some reason, the content is intact on the mirror drive. It reduces the likelihood of loss to near-zero.
IN SIMPLE TERMS…
Some enjoy spending $5 on scratcher tickets, because the potential loss is worth the potential gain, and those who enjoy it find the uncertainty thrilling. No one would bet the future of their company against the potential gain and thrill of doing nothing, and yet people do so every day by assuming they are “all good.”
Talk to an engineer. Invest a few minutes in a professional opinion, and end the call with confidence. You will either discover that you are indeed “all good,” or you may be able to prevent an unnatural digital disaster in the nick of time. You will either spend the money in strengthening digital infrastructure now or in rebuilding after the crash, but that pending crash is an uncertainty that brings dread, not thrills, while proactive investment is a sure bet.