Comparing Data Backup to Insurance

Most responsible people understand why they need to buy insurance for their automobiles and homes. Insurance provides financial recovery in the event of an accident or loss. Most of us hope that we will never need to file a claim to recover from losses. In fact, most of us don't ever need to file a claim. Backing up your data is similar to automobile or homeowner insurance in that both are needed to recover from losses. However, there are some major differences worth noting.

Insurance is usually intended to protect against unexpected losses. You don't expect your house to burn down, and you don't expect to have any automobile accidents. You may not expect your hard disk to fail either, but this is where the big difference comes in. Every hard disk will fail, and most will fail without warning. There are almost no exceptions. I will say it again. Every hard disk drive will eventually fail!

Can you imagine how much your automobile insurance premium would be if you were certain to have an accident? In many cases the insurance companies expect you to have losses based on your driving record, and they charge you accordingly. Most of us have reasonable premiums because we drive carefully and avoid accidents. But, when you do have an accident, your premiums are probably going to go up.

Your data backup is there when you need it. And you certainly will need it. Your backup doesn't get more expensive based on how many losses you have experienced in the past. And the cost doesn't skyrocket as soon as you lose your data. Data backup is actually very reasonable in terms of cost when you consider the value that it is protecting.

Just like insurance policies, data backup systems are not all the same. Your insurance policy may have coverage limits, and exclusions. It may not cover every kind of loss. Same goes for data backup systems. If you are backing up to a portable hard disk, or dvd's, then you are protected against most hardware failures, but probably not protected against a natural disaster or even a fire at your home or office. If you are using an online backup system, then you may have the ultimate coverage that protects against wide variety of losses. When you compare the cost of an online backup subscription to the cost of an automobile policy, you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did. It's a great deal!