How the Best Data Backup Systems Fail

At this point in time, every company and individual with any sense should be practicing data backup on a regular basis, and really, most of them are. However, just having a data backup plan doesn't mean that it's fool proof, and a lot of companies don't realize this, or at least don't act on it.

Here are three of the most fool proof backup systems available...and why they may not be completely fool proof.

RAID 5 Arrays

RAID 5 arrays operate with multiple drives and a parity, ensuring that if any drive fails, it simply needs to be switched out and the whole system keeps right on going. Many companies take advantage of the massive size of RAID arrays (some have hundreds of terabytes of information) by loading programs onto all of their employees computers that regularly backup their files to a RAID 5 set up as a server, saving time and money by avoiding the need to back up individual computers manually.

The problems come when RAID arrays are set up in small rooms where the drives don't have a lot of room for ventilation. This can cause massive electronic problems that affect multiple drives--and when multiple drives go out, data recovery isn't quite as easy.

Other issues can arise when one drive fails and someone that doesn't fully understand RAIDs attempts to rebuild the array. If they don't do it right, data can be overwritten and the whole configuration can be lost.

External Hard Drives

External hard drives are a great form of data backup for home and small business computer owners, but the problem with them is that many people don't understand exactly what data backup means. An external drive is just as likely to fail as any other hard drive, but still users store all of their data on external drives, thinking that somehow external drives are built to be more secure and free from failure.

Other users might leave an external hard drive plugged in constantly, and a power surge fries both the external and the internal hard drive of the computer. The only advantage to having two damaged drives is that one of them might cost a little less when sent off to a data recovery company (most of which charge at least $1000 per drive).

Remote Backup