It's Data Backup Day!

Today is Data Backup Day (this should be a habit for everyone to get into on the 1st of the month) and the topic is very appropriate given the status of Hurricane Gustave right now. I am keeping all those affected by the storm in my thoughts.

External Storage

I am also hoping that many of us have learned from the recent 2008 Genea-Blogger Games how important a backup program is in order to maintain good research and data health. I discovered some new options available for external storage over at one of my favorite shopping websites - Costco. And you don't need a Costco membership in order to purchase items. I just can't believe how much lower the price of storage is compared to even 6 months ago! There are some very slim, portable external drives - and one of them holds 500GB at a price of $89.99!

Are You Capturing Everything?

As a reminder, don't forget do backup the "little things" that may not seem important now but could lead to frustration later if in fact you experienced a loss of data. Such as:

- Favorites: could you imagine having to search for all these links again?

- Email: if you use Outlook for email, make sure you use the Archive feature and export all your email as a PST file for safekeeping.

- Free Apps: if you tend to download lots of free helper applications from sites like Tucows or Download.com, either backup the initial .exe install files or make a list of the applications. This way if you do have a computer wipeout, you can reinstall all those programs.

Blog Backups

In the past month, nay past few days, several bloggers have experienced either having their blogs "blocked" by Blogger or unceremoniously deleted by Blogger with no explanation. If this were to happen to you, in the words of Karl Malden in that American Express commercial, "what will you do, what will you do?"

WordPress has a neat import feature which allows you to import all your posts and comments from Blogger as well as LiveJournal and other sites. I've created a post specifically on Backing Up Your Blog over at Facebook Bootcampt for Genea-Bloggers. Check it out and please back up your blog today. Not tomorrow, not next week, but today.

Photo: The worst blue-screen-of-death ever by Eleventh Earl of Mar on Flickr. Used via Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Today Is Data Backup Day!

Backup, Backup, Backup and Test Restores: a computer server destroyed in a fire on November 27, 2005. Photograph. Digital image. In the public domain via WikiMedia Commons accessed by Thomas MacEntee on May 1, 2008.

Okay folks, this is serious stuff here. Have you ever thought of what would happen if you lost all your research data? And I don't just mean your genealogy database on your computer - what about digital files, scanned photos, etc.? For that matter, what about hard copies of files and photos? What have you done to secure these items and, more importantly when was the last time you did it?

On the Google Calendar for Genea-Bloggers as well as in the Events section of Genea-Bloggers on Facebook, I've scheduled the first day of each month as Data Backup day. So what does this mean? And how can I participate?

- if you currently have a backup plan in place, when was the last time you backed up data? If you don't have a regular schedule, why not make the first of each month a date to take 30 minutes to backup your data?

- if you don't have a backup plan in place, consider putting one together. Think of scenarios such as theft of a computer, a hard drive failure, data corruption, a fire or flood and what you need to do to ensure that you will always have that data available.

- for computer data, consider purchasing an external hard drive. The prices have come down considerably even in the past few months - shop around at Amazon or even Costco (right now Costco.com has a 500GB external drive priced at $99.00 with shipping included - and you don't have to be a Costco member to use their website!). My external hard drive is 250GB and is small enough to store in a safe or firebox and I can grab it as I run out the door during an emergency.

- also consider using a third-party data backup site but realize you will spend time uploading data which can be slow. And rememeber there are free photo hosting sites such as Picasa and Flickr to store digital copies of your scanned photos.

- think about all those hard files and photos you have in boxes. Can you store them in sealed plastic bags or tubs to protect against water? Have you scanned all your documents and photos? Look at Denise Olson's great post yesterday over at Family Matters called Scanning Nirvana - you'd me amazed at what types of scanning technologies are available today!

Resolve to do this today - don't let your data backup plan be one that is created as a reaction to a data loss disaster. Now is the time to be proactive!

Earthquake Felt In Chicago

Amazing - I leave California and the earthquakes follow me. The US Geological Survey website reports a 5.4 magnitude earthquake just near Salem, Illinois which is considered Downstate.

I was awake at the time, about 4:40 am CDT and my entire office shook for about 10 seconds and then right after that another rattle for 5 seconds.

Wondering if people like Lori at Smoky Mountain Family Historian, Jasia at Creative Gene or even Terry at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi felt it.

What is weird is this: it is the same day, 102 years ago, of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

I will keep this post updated and write about my experiences with the 1989 Loma Prieta quake which I lived through.