1000 Year Data Recovery Plan aka Backup!

Backing up that important data is a topic I have spent a small amount of time this week on.  Turns out there are 3 or 4 types of backup being advocated in today's day:

• Cloud Backup
• USB Hard-drive backup
• Raid Backup
• Disc Backup

While cost, time, effort, and critical redundancy are all factors that weigh in when deciding the best solution, it seems like a wide net approach is often recommended.  The proverbial (don't put all your eggs in one basket) comes to mind.

I have several gigs of data that I would consider worth saving in case of a data disaster, so I want to explore the levels of the system I believe offers protection.

Level 1: A mirror of your primary drives to another hard-drive, updated with modified/new files (daily basis).

Level 2: A mirror of the backup-drive in level 1 (weekly basis).

Level 3: Blu-Ray Disc image mirror, *M-Disc for 1000 year cold storage, with subsequent modified/new files written to new disc (monthly basis)

Level 4: Offsite storage, File server at a friend or family members house, that is used for the last layer of protection in a theft or fire situation (monthly basis)

Level 4 Alt:  Cloud storage of critical data on an enterprise level systems for easy access and piece of mind.

This system isn't a perfect system for backup as I'm sure there are worst case scenarios which would defeat each level.  This does give me some piece of mind though knowing that each layer is rooted in a "different basket". 

I haven't embarked on the 50 Blu-Ray disc burn-athon yet.  I did make a copy of my archives to 40 Dvds in 2008 for the exact same cold storage, so it's not impossible!  Amazon just delivered the stack of 50 blank Blu-Ray discs, so I'm in the process of determining the best way to start that process.

Offsite storage is going to probably be the next key to the puzzle, with high-speed internet in most corners of the country, safe replication could be as easy as local backups!

What about you?  Do you have a data recovery plan in action?  Are you using any of the levels I mentioned here, or are you using a system not shown here?

Stay thoughtful!