fix the corrupted data, but it requires an enormous amount of time. Survey results from companies that specialize in data recovery may be used to investigate the primary causes for how data actually gets lost. 1 Hard drive failure is the most common cause of data loss, accounting for 38 per cent of data loss incidents. Drive read insta-bility includes occasions where media corruption or degradation prevents ac-cess to the data on a disk. This explains 30 per cent of lost data. Software cor -ruption, which might include damages caused by system software or another program (e.g., a virus attack), accounts for 13 per cent of data loss incidents. Human error accounts for 12 per cent of data loss episodes. This includes the accidental deletion of data as well as the incorrect partitioning of the hard drive. The relative magnitudes of the differ-ent types of data loss are illustrated in Figure 1. (This analysis ignores data loss due to theft, an increasing problem given the growth in use of laptops.) RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is an excellent way to protect against data loss by introducing redun-dancy. RAID-1 is a disk mirroring tech-nique that employs two or more disk drives in such a way that data is written to more than one disk simultaneously. By using RAID-1 the chances of data loss due to disk failure are reduced because if one drive fails in the array, the informa-tion is safe on another drive; you simply replace the defective drive, and rebuild the array. RAID can be implemented on the computer itself, on a server that stores data from multiple users, or both. It also solves the transparency issue as no user action is required for it to function. RAID should not be construed as a re-placement for daily and weekly backups; it should be considered an adjunct to in-crease the safety of the data. Offsite storage Theft as stated earlier can be of the phys-ical hardware or just the data itself. It’s with evidence-based, natural products at therapeutic doses Pharmax’s long history of evidence-based product development along with continuing medical education for practitioners provides you with a solid foundation for total health support for your patients. Our chiropractic nutritional supplements were designed as a comprehensive system focusing on the areas key to chiropractic treatment: JOINT SUPPORT | INFLAMMATORY SUPPORT IMMUNE SUPPORT | BONE SUPPORT | GENERAL HEALTH Build Your Practice a baCKuP Plan In order to sufficiently protect data in cases such as these, a backup plan needs to be robust, redundant and transparent. Further, the most compre-hensive plan won’t do much good if the end user fails to apply it. Data should be backed up both onsite, as well as off-site to properly protect against a variety of threats that can occur at any time. Below are some examples of methods that protect data from both internal and external threats. Regular backups Any backup strategy should consist of weekly full backups that involve copy-ing all the files on a given disk, as well as daily incremental or differential backups that copy only the files that have been changed or modified since the previous backup. Full backups are slower and are best completed when the system is not in use; daily backups are faster and should be done when all changes to the data have been written for the day. The media for this backup should be large enough to accommo-date several weeks of history, so that if a virus causes data corruption the chances of finding a clean copy of the data are increased. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Nutriceutical & Biophysical Systems Supporting You. Supporting Your Patients’ Wellness. www. pharmaxdc.com 1-800-263-5861 For more detailed information and chiropractic resources: CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | JUNE 2012 • 35
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