| Digital information can be instantly sent over wires | | | | and optical disks out of shape. Additional damage is |
| over long distances to any place in the world. It is | | | | done when the fire trucks arrive and pump water |
| easy to modify digital data, delete it, change it and | | | | and foam into the building, submerging everything. |
| make as many copies of it as one wants. All | | | | Floods |
| information technology devices have fast processors | | | | Floods are getting increasingly common in the world |
| that process data at an astonishing speed that | | | | because of global warming and melting of glaciers and |
| results in tasks getting executed faster and more | | | | polar ice caps. Any river lying close to your office |
| efficiently. | | | | may overflow its banks without warning in an |
| Any company in its routine work generates a lot of | | | | unexpected rainfall or cloud burst. Computers and |
| digital data. This has to be stored safely and securely | | | | storage devices that get submerged in water suffer |
| on a storage device so that it can be accessed | | | | serious damage and become inoperable. |
| anytime in the future for further processing or | | | | Lightning Strike |
| transferring to other machines. The data storage | | | | Lightning is accompanied by thunder clouds during |
| products industry is quite advanced and offers a | | | | storms and cyclones. It contains an electric charge |
| range of devices to suit every need and budget. | | | | that is millions of volts strong. If it strikes your office |
| Popular storage media available in the market include | | | | building, it sears through electric and telephone cabling |
| non-removable devices such as hard drives, USB | | | | and fries all electronic circuits inside computers and |
| drives, floppy disks, optical disks, portable hard drives | | | | hard disks. It can also make flash memory cards |
| and tape drives. Their capacities range from 1.4 MB | | | | useless by destroying their data that is manipulated |
| for a floppy disk to a whopping 500 GB and even | | | | by an electric charge. |
| more for a hard disk. | | | | Terrorist Attack |
| Digital data has many benefits, but suffers from one | | | | Terrorist attacks account for large-scale destruction |
| very serious drawback which almost negates all its | | | | of property and human lives each year. Usually, such |
| advantages. It is volatile and unstable because it is | | | | a strike involves a massive bomb blast that collapses |
| represented as electric charge or a pattern of | | | | the building or hurls everything around with a great |
| magnetic particles. For a variety of reasons, it can | | | | impact. If your office is located in a busy commercial |
| disappear instantly anytime, leaving the users in | | | | district, terrorist attack can be a possibility. |
| serious trouble. | | | | Backing up Data |
| Data loss is a very serious affair that is responsible | | | | Most companies realise the importance of data and |
| for many companies closing down every year as | | | | take a regular backup on devices such as portable |
| they cannot cope with its after-effects. Digital data | | | | hard disks and tape drives (usually the latter). This is |
| can be lost due to a variety of factors that may hit | | | | very effective in cases of hardware or software |
| the storage devices. Mainly these are of two types - | | | | errors that crop up in individual computers. |
| hardware errors and software errors. Most of the | | | | However, data loss by a disaster is a totally different |
| data lost due to these can be recovered by the | | | | ball game. Keeping backup on individual devices is of |
| users themselves using DIY data recovery software | | | | no use when a disaster strikes because the backup |
| or handing over the damaged devices to professional | | | | and computers are usually stored inside the same |
| recovery companies. | | | | building. Both are totally destroyed if a fire or flood |
| But the worst-case data-loss scenario for an | | | | sweeps through the structure. |
| organisation is when the office building is hit by a | | | | The only way to guard against data loss due to |
| disaster. These disasters can be natural such as | | | | natural or man-made disasters is using remote or |
| accidental fire, floods, storms, cyclones and lightning | | | | online backup. Many service providers today offer |
| strike or man-made such as arson, sabotage and | | | | this technology. In this, the backup is taken |
| terrorist activity. | | | | automatically from the client's computer by a |
| Fire | | | | software and the entire data is quietly transferred to |
| A fire is the most unfortunate thing that can happen | | | | the service provider's servers that exist far away. |
| to an office building. It destroys everything such as | | | | When a disaster strikes, the client can buy new |
| paper files and documents as well as information | | | | computers, download data from the remote server |
| technology devices. A fire is capable of intense heat | | | | through a password and be back in business in a |
| that roasts computers and bends or melts hard disks | | | | matter of hours. |