You open your eyes, blink away the multi-colored dots, and the first thing you do is head to your computer. You turn it on. As you do every day, you open your cloud server, and to your horror, big bold letters spread across the screen:
THE OPERATION OF THIS SITE HAS BEEN STOPPED. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US!
You panic. You sift through your computer’s hard drive, desperately searching for duplicates. Thoughts pulsate in your head—Is there any way for you to recover your data? Did you save any other copies? Why couldn’t you have used a different service provider!
What a nightmare.
Despite the efficiency that a cloud service can offer, it is in no way a permanent storage of data. Numerous cloud services have closed down and revamped this year, and yours could be next. This is why putting your entire digital life in the hands of these services is no longer a foolproof way to ensure that your data and files will remain untouched.
The folks at Trend Micro share a few tips on how to make sure your data is safe and sound even when your cloud server shuts down.
- The 3-2-1 Rule
Having multiple back-ups is key. Make sure you have at least THREE copies of your data in TWO different media with at least ONE copy off-site so that you definitely won’t lose them even if one of your cloud service providers crashes.
- Keep yourselves informed.
Know the latest updates about your service provider. You might not be aware that they’ve already announced their shutdown!
- Safeguard your offsite copy.
Keep the off-site copies of your data protected from hackers and thieves with strong, stable and reliable security software.
Follow these three easy-to-do steps and you have a sure-fire back-up plan in the face of cloud service chaos!