Computer Storage and Cloud Computing

For those who are familiar with risk management, you must have come across the famous “Murphy’s Law”, an adage or epigram, which states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.

Now, you have a lot of memorable records in digital form. Be it the first picture just after birth with your mother or your wedding/ birthday events, your children’s graduation or even a family tour. What about those pictures in the photo albums before digital camera is available in the market? Where are all these memorable digital records now or have the pictures’ colors faded?

You can get the pictures in the photo albums scanned, digitized and store together with the other digital files.

Besides storing your digital data in the smartphones and computer disks, you can also make additional “back-up” copies and store them properly in humidity-controlled cabinets. With Murphy’s Law, even the back-up materials or equipment can fail. So what to do about this? Make two or more back-up copies if it is important.

If you are using Apple computers, MacPro or MacAir, you can simply buy dedicated Apple back-up equipment called the “Time Capsule”. You can back-up all data in your Apple equipment. To back-up your Apple iPhone or iPad, it is normally done through the Apple iTunes program, which come together with all Apple equipment.

Below listed are some of the possible failures of the storage equipment/materials used:

1. Computer hard disks have moving parts and can “crashed”. There is a better option now by using SSD (solid state drives).
2. External hard disks, smaller in size, otherwise similar in construction as computer hard disks. There is a better option now by using SSD (solid state drives).
3. USB flash or thumb drives. These are electronic components, can also fail like your smartphone.
4. Magnetic tape cassettes. Not so popular for home use, but still available. Problems include tape player not working or tape materials scratched or damaged.
5. CD-R (700MB) & DVD (4.7GB) disks. These are made from polycarbonate plastic, has a thin layer of aluminum (to store the data) and the aluminum layer is further protected with a clear film of lacquer. Damage to the CD/DVD disks includes scratches on the clear film of lacquer or “cracked” which allows moisture to damage the aluminum layer.
6. Using third-party Cloud Storage providers hosting and managing the servers like Dropbox; OneDrive by Microsoft; Google Drive;  Apple iCloud Drive and others. Bottom line is, how much you trust these hosting companies. A fee is chargeable for more storage space.
7. Set up your own Personal Cloud Network Storage.
8. Set up your own web domain and store all data under your own personal web (URL) address. A small fee is required for hosting service and pay for the domain name annually.
9. Some even set up Facebook accounts or create a blog to store pictures and notes. In this arrangement, you must accept your friends can also view them.

The bottom line is to have an optimal control on your digital data. You need to know the strength and weakness of each device and/or material. Which decision will suit you best?

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