Two questions for data management

1) How bad would it be to lose it?

If the answer is ‘bad’ then you absolutely must have at least two copies.

If the answer is ‘terrible’ then at least three copies is wise. At least one should be in a safe place off site. Incremental backups are better than basic ones, since files do get corrupted and vanish.

Ideally, you want both up to date incremental backups and complete snapshots taken at regular intervals and checked periodically for integrity.

2) How bad would it be if it ended up all over the internet?

If this would be a problem at all, there is a whole universe of precautions to consider:

Hardware: firewalls, built in encryption, air gapped systems and storage, networking hardware (including WiFi), etc

Software: cryptography, operating systems, malware risks (including pirated software), intrusion detection systems, etc

Behaviour: physical access control, data retention and destruction, passwords and secret questions, backup processes

Digital data is the sort of thing where not only can the cat get out of the bag, but it can get out, get copied a billion times, and become your name’s top Google hit for the rest of your life.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.

7 thoughts on “Two questions for data management”

  1. Digital data is the sort of thing where not only can the cat get out of the bag, but it can get out, get copied a billion times, and become your name’s top Google hit for the rest of your life.

    AKA why appearing in pornography is never a good idea.

  2. Likewise, making any kind of tasteless comment or joke that could be taken out of context, especially if it is in a document, sound recording, or video.

  4. In the US, naked photos you took of yourself as a minor can land you in jail, if they get out.

  5. Today was a day of illness and long-put-off non-menial chores. I am working on a new backup system for my iMac and MacBook Pro. It’s tricky, but I should eventually have triplicate copies: the drives in the original computers; a set of backup drives at home updated often; another set of backup drives off site, updated less frequently.

    I am also trying to back up GMail via IMAP. It’s less than 8 GB after all. I shoot 8 GB worth of photos in a few hours. I have 72,371 total GMail messages, going back to to April 2004 (pre-Oxford).

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