Wow! Look what I found! A vintage backup set!

As I looked through my junk drawer, I stumbled upon this 100 MB zip disk. It’s hard to imagine that all of my WordPerfect files, QuickBooks, Quicken & Lotus Organizer & 123 files all fit onto this disk back in 1998.

I took the precaution of mailing my data to myself, and you’re probably wondering what my rationale was.  Well, in 1998, a hurricane was approacing Miami, and I wanted to ensure that I didn’t lose any of my important data.  So prior to the storm hitting, I created a  backup and mailed it to myself. 

The strategy behind this?

It’s very simple.  I already have my famous 3-legged stool backup system in place.  This is just another precautionary or contingency plan, in the event that for some odd reason, the 3-legged stool system failed. For instance, if my office was leveled or I had no internet access for weeks, I wanted to be prepared.  If the worst occurred, my backup was in a secure US government location, my PO Box. Whether you have a PO Box or not, once you mail your backup via FEDEX, UPS or USPS, it’s in transit and more likely to be secure. So, I insured the package and made  sure someone had to sign for it.  You can take additional precautions by adding a password to the media, etc.

What’s your backup strategy?