Prev Next Chapter 10. Multilevel backups What to back up Compressed backups Hardware is indeterministically reliable. Software is deterministically unreliable. People are indeterministically unreliable.
Nature is deterministically reliable.
This chapter explains about why, how, and when to make backups, and how to restore things from backups. On the importance of being backed up Your data is valuable. Since it is an investment, you should protect it and take steps to avoid losing it. Although modern hardware tends to be quite reliable, it can still break seemingly spontaneously. The most critical piece of hardware for storing data is the hard disk, which relies on tiny magnetic fields remaining intact in a world filled with electromagnetic noise.