When Technology Fails

I’m a tech addict. I recently spent 4 days in an area with no cell phone and no wi-fi. With no connection to the outside world I nearly lost my mind. There is no denying my affinity to the new gadget, software or computer that hits the market. (Here's my "Steal" list for thieves who read my blog) My home has a laptop, a Netbook, a PC, two iPhones , and a game console capable of playing Blu-ray discs and DVDs, all of which connect to the internet. I have two additional DVD players, a VCR, two Hi-Def televisions, surround sound and, in direct eyesight, a coffee maker with an auto-brew feature. I’m sure there are countless additional products in my home that would be considered “technology.” What happens when it all goes wrong? What can I do to safeguard my information and how far will I go to do it?

The first task would be to determine what is worth saving and what I can do without if something goes wrong. I’ve worked in the photo industry for 5 years and have learned people will risk their lives by running into a burning building to save a photo album, (true story.) Photos are links to the past. A happier time people don’t want to forget. From a technology standpoint, the thousands of digital photos I have on my PC are probably the single most valuable piece of data I would want to protect, followed by sensitive documents tied to my personal identity such as mortgage papers and savings accounts, 1-3% of all my documents and finally music files. The rest is dispensable because they can be re-written, reinstalled or are stored on outside servers.

I have two hard drives on my PC, one for my OS and software, the other is strictly storage. My storage drive contains photos, music, videos and other sensitive data that I don’t want to lose. I do this so that, if my software or OS crashes beyond repair, I can simply reformat that drive and reinstall without losing my sensitive data. It will still be there after the fresh install.

Additionally, I have an external drive that I use to back up all my machines. I copy all the storage data onto that external drive as a redundancy, just in case the first storage drive suddenly fails or becomes corrupted. An additional step for that information, one that I’m still deciding to take, would be to burn that information onto a series of DVDs and store them. However, again, working in the photo industry, I’ve learned the importance of archival quality. Did you know the shelf life of a typical CD or DVD begins to breakdown after 5 years? It develops pinholes that corrupt data.

I’d like to keep my information for more than 5 years. If price weren’t an issue, I would three-step my information to ensure it stays safe:

• 1. Burn all storage data to gold DVD. Here's why I didn’t choose platinum because the storage media will most likely change before it begins to break down. (Think 5 ¼” floppy.)

• 2. Make archival quality prints of all my photos based upon the permanence values of papers and inks from Wilhelm Imaging Research. Prints last longer and can be restored if needed.

• 3. Store prints and DVDs in an environmentally controlled vault at the Ozark Mountain Underground Vault and Storage or the Granite Vault owned by the LDS Church. Of course, this would require lots of money and lots of DVDs, not the rewritable kind either, plus it would require media backups as the storage media changes.

Because money IS an issue, I will most likely purchase additional external hard drives and create a cascade of redundancies. One drive will be used for weekly backups, another drive for monthly and maybe a third for an annual backup.

Outside of my computer, if the entire power grid goes down in the western states, my computer won’t be my biggest problem. All technology tied to it will no longer work.

If I need to leave, I better have a full tank of gas plus spare gallons in the trunk because credit card readers won’t work at the local gas pump and neither will the pump. Cell phones and AM/FM radios won’t work because there won’t be power to the radio towers, even the signal boosters from the central states won’t work until you’re past the Rocky Mountains and I might not have enough gas to get there. Satellite phones or radios may work if you have a hand-cranked or battery powered satellite receiver. I’ll need to steal one depending on how desperate I become because I currently don’t see a purpose for owning one.

I’ll need lots of cash because it might get me food if someone is willing to take money without a working register. My mind is starting to think of survivability in a post-apocalyptic world. After the mass exodus from the western states which I may or may not take part in due to the chaos of it all, those who stay will devolve into looting super markets and gun stores then holing up in a self-made bunker in their home. The military will come in under Martial Law to assist and keep order, giving out rations and other survival kits until power is restored.

Let’s just hope the extremes of that epic technological failure never come to pass. I don’t have the storage room for the gas/food/guns or money.