For How Long Should We Backup Our Data?

Modern practices suggest that data is valuable! Surely it is, but should we keep all that forever? This question has become one of the many mind-boggling topics that has been messing with the sanity of researchers for long! If we ask you how long do you preserve your data? You’ll probably say forever. Well, think again! There is no hard and fast rule to judge this, but we know that keeping data forever isn’t feasible at all.

If you think about possibilities, yes you can always backup your data, same data for years. But is it worth? In case you are seeking us for an answer, we’d suggest not to keep your data forever, but to update your backup time and again. You ask why? Well, what are you planning to do with all that data? You don’t own only one device, you have too many of them, and what will we do with data collected from these all? To make you understand better, let’s take an example! You might be having a smart device that tracks your daily activities. But do you use that data collected for something significant? In all probability you do not! Then what’s the point of accumulating it? Unless you fancy analyzing the graphs of all those pointlessly, it’s of no use!

how to backup data and why

Source: returnofkings.com

Yes, we know that “all data is valuable,” but this is an outdated trend now! Only selected data is valuable. The reason behind the same is that this statement was released during the early years of Internet. It was the time when people surfed to gather attractive desktop wallpapers, finding jobs, or for dog pictures. Now, if we run a machine learning algorithm on the data thus collected, then we’ll get to know which type of desktop wallpaper is preferred more or which dog breed attracts humans the most. And, we already know answer to this. So how is your data useful? Your entire collection is labelled useless.

Read Also: Best Backup Software For Mac

What Do We Suggest?

If we see the storage cost, then it’s cheaper than other services, isn’t it? But that doesn’t mean you are free to keep all those cat pictures. Even if you’ve paid small price for the storage, you can always make it worth. So, you are recommended to check your data at regular intervals and delete those chunks that are no longer important.

For those who think that their data will be useful for machine learning or AI algorithms, that’s not going to happen. Why? Because machine learning is not magic, it works on algorithms. You have data that resemble to each other, or are important just from your perspective, machine learning and AI algorithms are working beyond this!

need of data backup

Source: autodesk.com

Data Protection Act: Solving Dilemma or Confusing People?

It does neither, but leaves you with the important decision. In this act, there is no mention of duration, but it does say that you should not keep data backup longer than necessary! If you are someone who finds it hard to hit the delete button, then you should be aware of the fact that the data can get outdated. And there is no use of the same! Well, not until you want to review your high school project after retirement. We guess, you have important things to complete rather than taking a stroll down memory lane about your school project!

The Final Verdict

We don’t hold data that is useful for anyone else except us and thus keep updating our storage. A file that might seem essential for you may not seem same after a few months and to make sure you are not just holding chunks of useless information, you have to update your storage. You may use the space cleared to store something that is useful for you today!

We are not asking you to delete your childhood pictures or other crucial memories, but you ought to get rid of the useless files and folders!

And, it is okay if you do not have track of everything!

Next Read: 10 Best Online Cloud Backup and Storage Services

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