Multiple locations within the same room or building do not qualify as geographically distinct locations. A more realistic example of three locations would be, for example, your office, your home, and the computer center. The environment of each location is also an important consideration. The media on which data is stored is sensitive to temperature, humidity, magnetism, and dust. If the environment of one or more storage locations is less than ideal or is not within your control, you should increase the number of storage locations or the frequency of backups or both.
Media There are many different types of media.
Some are more durable than others, more resistant to environmental changes, or more suitable for electronic processing. Paper is a useful storage media, but is not generally useful as computer input medium. It is possible to scan printed matter and recreate the data, but special equipment and software are required and mistranslations are possible. Other media, such as disk, tape, CD-ROM, and optical devices, are better suited for storage of data. The table at the end of this document lists several media types and their life expectancies.