History of Backup is a very well written article, which discusses the different backup solutions that have been used over the years. It all starts in 1951 with punch cards and ends with network and online backup solutions.

For years and years, people have always known the importance of backing up information and files. This caused the need for larger storage. I even find myself making more than one backup of the same thing. Paranoid? Maybe, but at least I’ll know when one backup fails, I have another.

I remember when using floppy disks were very common and now it’s hard to find computers with floppy drives in them. Eventually though, with stacks of floppy disks, it made more sense to purchase larger storage solutions, such as CDs and then DVDs. With the constant need of backing up more and more files, better solutions are created.

According to Graziadio Business Report, Pepperdine University, hardware failure in 2003 was the number one cause of data loss, which means you would need to create multiple backups because of the possibility of a backup becoming corrupted due to hardware failure or physical damage. This article shows a table of causes and episodes of data loss.

It is very interesting to see how backup solutions have evolved over the years. There is even a timeline at the end of the article displaying when backup storage from punch cards to blu-ray disks and HD-DVD first came into use. It also shows when network storage and online backup solutions started coming around.

Besides reading History of Backup, check out the links provided throughout the article for more related information, especially The Evolution of the Major Computer Storage Devices PDF.

Read this article if you’re interested in seeing how data storage is evolving through the years. And, as always, I recommend backing up your data and if needed, make a second copy to be stored online so it’s in another location in case of fire or water damage.

Where do you think data solutions will be in several years from now?

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