In today’s media-saturated world, it only takes a handful of unfortunate incidents to create hysteria. If one swimmer gets bitten by a shark, suddenly people everywhere are terrified of getting in the water. When a single restaurant serves undercooked poultry, a national panic ensues about the safety of eating chicken. Stories like these are played up for a very good reason: they get the public’s attention.
The same principle holds true for online storage. There have been some isolated incidents of cloud-stored data being lost. The reaction in some circles has been to declare that the risks of using the cloud for storage are too great, no matter how much can be gained for individuals as well as businesses in convenience, savings and efficiency.
But are these warnings justified? Consider this: there is no such thing as totally safe data. Hard drives crash, CDs get lost or stolen, thumb drives get misplaced. Even information committed to good old-fashioned pen and paper can be accidentally thrown away or used as fire starting material.
Every activity involves a degree of risk, even getting out of bed in the morning presents a risk – yet we don’t let that fact keep us from living our lives. Likewise, we should not let the remote risk of data loss scare us away from the many advantages the cloud offers every computer user.
By far the vast majority of data stored in the cloud is as safe as it is humanly possible to make it. For those who are still concerned about catastrophe striking, however, here are a few simple guidelines:
1. Store crucial files in multiple locations. For example, legal information could be placed in the cloud as well as on a CD that is kept in a fireproof safe. A backup thumb drive or even a hard copy could be prepared as well, and kept in a different geographical location.
2. Exercise a little common sense and caution when choosing a cloud provider. What do other customers say about them? Look for reviews such as our own online backup reviews. See what others are saying about a given service. Read the service agreements by these providers. What do they agree to do? What is expected of you? Make sure you know what you’re getting into before starting a relationship with a company.
3. Have a backup plan in case access is temporarily lost. The cloud is after all an extension of the Internet. Who hasn’t had their online connection go down at one time or another? This type of precaution can range from a college student making sure her term paper is stored on her hard drive as well as the cloud, to a CEO instructing the IT department to back up critical data in multiple formats.
We don’t let the specter of car crashes keep us from driving, but we do wear our seat belts. We don’t plan to die before our time, but we pay on our life insurance. We shouldn’t let a tiny handful of data loss incidents prevent us from using the cloud. But we should exercise sound judgment in choosing a provider and protecting irreplaceable information.
Taking precautions makes sense; hiding in terror from the world doesn’t. As in all things, the key to using cloud-based services comes down to balance and common sense.
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