Fire Destroys Part of Internet Archives
The Internet Archive was started in 1996 in order to store all kinds of digital information. Information such as software, movies, sites, and more is kept at the archive's headquarters in San Francisco. Last night, a massive fire has completely obliterated $600,000 worth of digital equipment. Thankfully, most of the physical data that was destroyed had already been backedup digitally.
But, this fire serves as an interesting lesson for web hosting companies of all types.
Fire Destroys Part of Internet Archives: Work to Back Up Files
The lesson learned here is that all files should be backed up at all times. Sure, you may have a digital storage of files somewhere in a locked-down and secure facility, but even those buildings aren't immune to natural disasters and other incidents such as fire. The workers at the Internet Archive had successfully backed up a lot of files prior to the fire, but if this were not the case the fire would have been a lot more devastating.
Fire Destroys Part of Internet Archives: How to Back Up Files and Data
The best way to back up storage center files is to distribute those files across many different facilities. That way, if one facility comes under fire (literally), data will be stored elsewhere. The other option is to use cloud backup. But, you'll have to gain client permission in order to go the cloud route, and that probably means charging clients more for cloud storage.
On the flip side, if you are a cheap hosting client, you'll want to look for a hosting company that can backup your data in the cloud. Sure, cloud comes with risks, but the bigger risk here is losing important or vital data permanently if something should go wrong.
What about the Internet Archives?
Fire Destroys Part of Internet Archives: How to Help Out
If you want to help the Internet Archives in San Francisco rebuild, the center is currently taking donations. Approximately 10 petrabytes of Internet data is stored at the center, and that means a lot of interesting Internet history and data. Why should you bother? You can think of the Internet Archives as a sort of Internet library. If anything ever existed online, there's a good chance that it's being backed up by the archive center.
So, if we ever want to look back in time at the Internet that once was, the best way to do that would be to access the Internet Archives. You can also check out the Archives website, which contains valuable information and searchable data. Are you going to donate? Do you think this is a worthy cause?
It's a really good thing that the fire did not destroy the Archives completely, but this isn't always the case. If you run any kind of business, web hosting company, or other company, do make sure that your files are always backedup – both physically and digitally. Sure, it's a lot of work, but not backing up files is never a good plan (or any kind of plan at all).
