<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
error	O
condition	O
in	O
information	O
systems	O
in	O
which	O
information	O
is	O
destroyed	O
by	O
failures	O
(	O
like	O
failed	O
spindle	O
motors	O
or	O
head	O
crashes	B-General_Concept
on	O
hard	O
drives	O
)	O
or	O
neglect	O
(	O
like	O
mishandling	O
,	O
careless	O
handling	O
or	O
storage	B-General_Concept
under	O
unsuitable	O
conditions	O
)	O
in	O
storage	B-General_Concept
,	O
transmission	O
,	O
or	O
processing	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Information	O
systems	O
implement	O
backup	B-Protocol
and	O
disaster	B-General_Concept
recovery	I-General_Concept
equipment	O
and	O
processes	O
to	O
prevent	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
or	O
restore	B-Application
lost	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
can	O
also	O
occur	O
if	O
the	O
physical	O
medium	O
containing	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
lost	O
or	O
stolen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
is	O
distinguished	O
from	O
data	O
unavailability	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
arise	O
from	O
a	O
network	O
outage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
two	O
have	O
substantially	O
similar	O
consequences	O
for	O
users	O
,	O
data	O
unavailability	O
is	O
temporary	O
,	O
while	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
permanent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
is	O
also	O
distinct	O
from	O
data	O
breach	O
,	O
an	O
incident	O
where	O
data	O
falls	O
into	O
the	O
wrong	O
hands	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
term	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
has	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
those	O
incidents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	O
failure	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
head	O
crash	B-General_Concept
in	O
a	O
hard	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
software	B-General_Concept
crash	I-General_Concept
or	O
freeze	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
data	O
not	O
being	O
saved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
bugs	O
or	O
poor	O
usability	B-General_Concept
,	O
such	O
as	O
not	O
confirming	O
a	O
file	O
delete	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
failure	O
(	O
vendor	O
bankruptcy	O
)	O
,	O
where	O
data	O
is	O
stored	O
with	O
a	O
software	O
vendor	O
using	O
Software-as-a-service	B-Architecture
and	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
data	O
escrow	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
provisioned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
corruption	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
file	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
corruption	I-General_Concept
or	O
database	O
corruption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Natural	O
disaster	O
,	O
earthquake	O
,	O
flood	O
,	O
tornado	B-Language
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
malicious	O
act	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
worm	O
,	O
virus	O
,	O
Ransomware	O
,	O
hacking	O
or	O
theft	O
of	O
physical	B-Protocol
media	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Studies	O
show	O
hardware	O
failure	O
and	O
human	O
error	O
are	O
the	O
two	O
most	O
common	O
causes	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
,	O
accounting	O
for	O
roughly	O
three	O
quarters	O
of	O
all	O
incidents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
cause	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
natural	O
disaster	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
greater	O
risk	O
dependent	O
on	O
where	O
the	O
hardware	O
is	O
located	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
probability	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
due	O
to	O
natural	O
disaster	O
is	O
small	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
way	O
to	O
prepare	O
for	O
such	O
an	O
event	O
is	O
to	O
store	O
backup	B-Protocol
data	O
in	O
a	O
separate	O
physical	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
the	O
best	O
backup	B-Protocol
plans	O
always	O
include	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
copy	O
being	O
stored	O
off-site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cost	O
of	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
event	O
is	O
directly	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
value	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
and	O
the	O
length	O
of	O
time	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
unavailable	O
yet	O
needed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
frequency	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
impact	O
can	O
be	O
greatly	O
mitigated	O
by	O
taking	O
proper	O
precautions	O
,	O
those	O
of	O
which	O
necessary	O
can	O
vary	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
type	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
multiple	O
power	O
circuits	O
with	O
battery	O
backup	B-Protocol
and	O
a	O
generator	O
only	O
protect	O
against	O
power	O
failures	O
,	O
though	O
using	O
an	O
Uninterruptable	O
Power	O
Supply	O
can	O
protect	O
drive	O
against	O
sudden	O
power	O
spikes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
journaling	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
and	O
RAID	B-Architecture
storage	I-Architecture
only	O
protect	O
against	O
certain	O
types	O
of	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
failure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
hard	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
a	O
physical	O
storage	B-General_Concept
medium	O
,	O
ensuring	O
minimal	O
vibration	O
and	O
movement	O
will	O
help	O
protect	O
against	O
damaging	O
the	O
components	O
internally	O
,	O
as	O
can	O
maintaining	O
a	O
suitable	O
drive	O
temperature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Regular	O
data	B-Protocol
backups	I-Protocol
are	O
an	O
important	O
asset	O
to	O
have	O
when	O
trying	O
to	O
recover	O
after	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
event	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
prevent	O
user	O
errors	O
or	O
system	O
failures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
a	O
data	B-Protocol
backup	I-Protocol
plan	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
established	O
and	O
run	O
in	O
unison	O
with	O
a	O
disaster	B-General_Concept
recovery	I-General_Concept
plan	I-General_Concept
in	O
order	O
to	O
lower	O
risk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Application
recovery	I-Application
is	O
often	O
performed	O
by	O
specialized	O
commercial	O
services	O
that	O
have	O
developed	O
often	O
proprietary	O
methods	O
to	O
recover	O
data	O
from	O
physically	O
damaged	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Service	O
costs	O
at	O
data	B-Application
recovery	I-Application
labs	O
are	O
usually	O
dependent	O
on	O
type	O
of	O
damage	O
and	O
type	O
of	O
storage	B-General_Concept
medium	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
required	O
security	B-General_Concept
or	O
cleanroom	B-Application
procedures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
File	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
corruption	I-General_Concept
can	O
frequently	O
be	O
repaired	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
or	O
the	O
system	O
administrator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Successful	O
recovery	O
from	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
generally	O
requires	O
implementation	O
of	O
an	O
effective	O
backup	B-Protocol
strategy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Without	O
an	O
implemented	O
backup	B-Protocol
strategy	O
,	O
recovery	O
requires	O
reinstallation	O
of	O
programs	O
and	O
regeneration	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
with	O
an	O
effective	O
backup	B-Protocol
strategy	O
,	O
restoring	O
a	O
system	O
to	O
the	O
precise	O
state	O
it	O
was	O
in	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Event	O
is	O
extremely	O
difficult	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
a	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Event	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
immediately	O
apparent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
effective	O
backup	B-Protocol
strategy	O
must	O
also	O
consider	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
maintaining	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
recover	O
lost	O
data	O
for	O
long	O
periods	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
highly	O
effective	O
backup	B-Protocol
system	O
would	O
have	O
duplicate	O
copies	O
of	O
every	O
file	O
and	O
program	O
that	O
were	O
immediately	O
accessible	O
whenever	O
a	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Event	O
was	O
noticed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Taking	O
this	O
into	O
consideration	O
,	O
many	O
backup	B-Protocol
strategies	O
decrease	O
the	O
granularity	O
of	O
restorability	O
as	O
the	O
time	O
increases	O
since	O
the	O
potential	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Event	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
logic	O
,	O
recovery	O
from	O
recent	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Events	O
is	O
easier	O
and	O
more	O
complete	O
than	O
recovery	O
from	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Events	O
that	O
happened	O
further	O
in	O
the	O
past	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recovery	O
is	O
also	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
type	O
of	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
Event	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
effective	O
backup	B-Protocol
regimen	O
has	O
some	O
proportionality	O
between	O
the	O
magnitude	O
of	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Loss	I-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
magnitude	O
of	O
effort	O
required	O
to	O
recover	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
far	O
easier	O
to	O
restore	B-Application
the	O
single	O
lost	O
file	O
than	O
to	O
recover	O
the	O
entire	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
occurs	O
,	O
a	O
successful	O
recovery	O
must	O
ensure	O
that	O
the	O
deleted	O
data	O
is	O
not	O
over-written	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
—	O
one	O
should	O
avoid	O
all	O
write	O
operations	O
to	O
the	O
affected	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
realizing	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
has	O
occurred	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
often	O
best	O
to	O
shut	O
down	O
the	O
computer	O
and	O
remove	O
the	O
drive	O
in	O
question	O
from	O
the	O
unit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Re-attach	O
this	O
drive	O
to	O
a	O
secondary	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
write	B-Device
blocker	I-Device
device	O
and	O
then	O
attempt	O
to	O
recover	O
lost	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
