t0p
October 13th, 2009, 10:09 PM
It's becoming more and more popular to store one's data on third party remote servers. And this is mostly fine, if the server owner keeps up with its duties like making sure the data is backed up.
Unfortunately, we cannot depend on server owners to do this, as the T-mobile data loss fiasco clearly demonstrates (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/tmobile-sidekick-us-users-face-personal-data-loss-1801944.html). Danger, the cloud operator in question, is owned by Microsoft. You might expect that a company with this kind of IT pedigree could be trusted to actually look after the data with which it has been entrusted. But that is not a realistic expectation. Danger/Microsoft have lost all of their Sidekick-owning customers' data through "server failure", which means there was no off-site backup policy. T-Mobile USA says that while its workers are seeking a way to recover the information, "the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low." In other words, kiss your data goodbye, suckers!
I've never been a fan of the concept of cloud computing. And this data loss has reinforced my opinion. I think you'd have to be crazy to entrust your data to this kind of "service".
Unfortunately, we cannot depend on server owners to do this, as the T-mobile data loss fiasco clearly demonstrates (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/tmobile-sidekick-us-users-face-personal-data-loss-1801944.html). Danger, the cloud operator in question, is owned by Microsoft. You might expect that a company with this kind of IT pedigree could be trusted to actually look after the data with which it has been entrusted. But that is not a realistic expectation. Danger/Microsoft have lost all of their Sidekick-owning customers' data through "server failure", which means there was no off-site backup policy. T-Mobile USA says that while its workers are seeking a way to recover the information, "the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low." In other words, kiss your data goodbye, suckers!
I've never been a fan of the concept of cloud computing. And this data loss has reinforced my opinion. I think you'd have to be crazy to entrust your data to this kind of "service".