Over time we all build up huge stores of digital data. Whether it’s work files, personal photos, family paperwork, or saved video games that take up your hard drive space, it’s always important to back it up. Losing data is a nightmare for many reasons. Sometimes it’s sadly not ever able to be restored, meaning everything you have accrued over all these digital years could be lost forever. You should always have a backup of your computer data, and here’s why.
- Recovering Data
The first and most obvious reason to always back-up your computer is so that you can recover any lost data. As the experts from BackBlaze said to us: computers crash, it’s as simple as that. No matter how expensive, fast, or upgraded your computer is, and no matter how much you trust your computer, things do break. One day your computer may well let you down and be irreparable. In this situation, having a back up means your computer can let you down, but your data will be saved.
2. Saving Time on Repeated Work
One huge issue of data loss for a business user is that lost data can lead to a huge amount of wasted time. The time that could be spent on furthering your business or achieving new goals could suddenly instead be spent on re-doing years of work. You’ll end up with everyone working away as fast as they can to try and get back to where you were, instead of moving your company forward. No one likes wasting time, especially not in the business world. Keep a backup of all your data to avoid wasting hours.
3. A Speedy Recovery Equals Success
Consider a power outage or system error that affects a whole block, town, or area. In a situation where you lose data through no fault of your own alongside all your competitors, the quickest person or business back on their feet will almost certainly be the most successful. If you have data backed up and readily accessible in case of emergency, while your competitors do not, you’ll be in place to carry on business much quicker. This could lead to a huge influx of custom while other businesses are scrambling to get back on track.
4. Financial Implications
Some of your data, whether from business or personal use, is likely linked to your finances. We all have to pay tax once a year, businesses included. Losing a huge chunk of data that includes financial reports, receipts, or invoices could lead to serious issues when it comes to paying your tax. With no backups of expense receipts, for example, you could end up being liable for tax payments that you actually don’t owe, as you won’t be able to prove your outgoings. Or, if you lost your financial records entirely, you could be investigated by inland revenue. Keep your financial records safe and backed up.
5. Saving Blushes on Human Mistakes
We said earlier that computers fail. That’s a fact. It’s also a fact that we are all human, and that all humans make mistakes. If you happen to be the person who spills the coffee on the server or accidentally deletes a master folder containing 10 years worth of data, you’d like to know you could quickly save your blushes by pulling data back from a backup. Accidents happen, but having a safety net in place can really help save the day after a mishap around a computer.
6. Protecting Against Hacks and Theft
As the internet has grown and the value of big data has grown many groups have taken to hacking to gain access to this data. This can be on a personal level or business level. Hackers want your data, your business details, your credit card details, your personal files. They can access all these things, steal them, and wipe your server clean. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen too often, but it’s still worth protecting against. Having a backup of all your most important personal or business data is key here. Without that, your data is not only gone, it’s also in the hands of someone else without any telling where it’s going.
These are our top six reasons why you should always have a backup of your data. Whether it’s thousands of gigabytes worth of business information or just a selection of personal files and photographs, keep them backed up to avoid any nasty surprises. Use cloud storage or external hard drives – or both! Look after your data because it can be a real nightmare to rebuild it from zero.