In my life, there have been a couple of times where I had a disk
problem and lost some files, once a lot of them, and suffered a lot
from their loss.

I want to know how often people lose their data because of computer
problems, what the problems are, and what happens to people
(especially those in business) after the loss. I am also interested in
stories about data loss and any specifics about what sort of data was
lost.

The following article, "The Cost of Lost Data," by David M. Smith,
Ph.D. (  September, 1999) published on the web site of Lighthouse
technologies offers a good overview of the magnitude and costs of the
data loss problem.
http://www.lht.com/Products/TapeBackup/Software/LostDataCosts/CostOfLostData.html

For other general information about the data loss problem, try these
links:
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid5_gci784378,00.html
http://itmatters.com.ph/open/open_05212002.html

Companies that sell products designed to recover lost data or prevent
data loss are a good source of data loss "horror stories."

A company called Power On Software that sells a program called
"Rewind" has five pages of user-submitted data loss "horror stories."
Visit:
http://www.nowsoft.com/products/rewind/tour/readStories.asp?page=1 

The Unix administrator "horror story" archive contains dozens of
stories, many of which concern data loss. Some of stories are rather
technical, but they may be of use to you. Visit:
http://www2.hunter.com/~skh/humor/admin-horror.html

The following web page lists 10 brief "horror stories" concerning data
loss:
http://www.cbltech.com/cbl_news/monitor02.html

The following page offers some interesting statistics concerning data
loss:
http://drs.pearlnet.com/standard.asp?PageID=5
You might also consider reading a new book, Dark Ages II: When the
Digital Data Die, By Bryan Bergeron. According to this review dated
March 17, 2002, Bergeron's book contains several "horror stories"
about data loss:
http://brian.carnell.com/articles/2002/03/000019.html

Search terms: lost data "horror stories"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=googlet&q=lost+data+%22horror+stories%22&btnG=Google+Search


I hope this helps. Good luck and let me know if you need more
information.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by tqii-ga on 23 May 2002 07:16 PDT

This is some great information. I found a couple of details that I
will be able to use. Thanks for the effort.

If you are willing to put in a little more time against this, I would
like to add two refinements. First, I am especially interested in info
that is not associated with a company that will make money if you
believe what they say, ie, the info from backup companies was good but
their vested interest makes them less useful to me. Second, though I
am interested in stories hosted by neutral sites, reports illuminating
the frequency and consequences of data loss (and backup failure)
helpful. The lht.com item, though hosted by a backup company,
otherwise really fit my need (though I guess it was also, at 1999, a
bit old).

Thanks again,
tqii

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 23 May 2002 11:27 PDT

Hi.
Here are some articles from folks not apparently associated with
backup companies.

This is an article that discusses how some companies deal with
problems, including data loss, caused by hackers:
http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/000797.html

This article includes some interesting information, including a short
anecdote about data loss at a video rental store:
http://members.rogers.com/wfmetcalf/OS2_Treasury/Articles/1999/aa082599.html

This is an article about data loss caused by user error:
http://content.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19991029S0008

This is an article about someone who counsels stressed out people who
have lost data:
http://www.inc.com/incmagazine/archives/18960183.html

This article (in PDF format) has a couple of interesting stories about
data loss:
http://www.rothstein.com/newsletters/Volume1Number3.pdf

I hope these help. Good luck.

Terrific work. Well worth the money. I'll be back again and hoping
that juggler-ga picks up the job. tqii

This link http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/000797.html
is simply great, I'd say it's the whole answer in a nutshell except
for the data loss caused by user error, but then again not updating
and patching your box with security and bugfixes is also a user error
in my point of view.

This link http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/000797.html
is simply great, I'd say it's the whole answer in a nutshell except
for the data loss caused by user error, but then again not updating
and patching your box with security and bugfixes is also a user error
in my point of view.

Muhammad Faisal Rauf Danka