T-Mobile and Microsoft, Data Loss and Cloud Systems

By: Gregg Housh Click author's name for more of his/her articles

You may have already heard about the colossal failure of Microsoft and Danger's cloud system, leading to the loss of roughly 800,000 T-Mobile users' cell phone information. The unique method T-mobile employed to manage their clients information experienced a catastrophic failure on October fifth and while questions still loom as to how this will have occurred the take home lesson for all computer users is plain as day : always backup your information properly.

Sidekick information was not stored long-term on the phone itself, unlike the other phone models. Instead, information was uploaded to Microsoft / Danger's cloud : a cluster of many PCs sharing the load of information storage and computing power. Systems like this are not all that strange, if you use gmail or flickr you've already got information stored in a cloud. When one computer in the cloud fails, usually there is minimal to no information loss. If many PCs fail, or if the software connecting the PCs has a problem, all the information may be lost forever.

Thankfully Microsoft had some backups of the Sidekick information and finally started restoring it to customer cell phones on October 20th, fifteen days after the 1st loss of information. Meanwhile, thousands of blog articles, news articles and RSS feeds flooded the web with bad P.R. about T-Mobile and Microsoft. The criticism was completely justified as well, due to early concerns within Microsoft that the backup information had somehow been damaged or lost in the same incident that took down the cloud. The idea that a company with the kind of resources and expertise as Microsoft might have made such a rookie mistake of making backups that were depending on the same resources or software as the cloud is inconceivable to tech pros.

The cost of this catastrophe is more than only information loss and bad press, the financial toll is still growing. Between users terminating contracts early ( without the customary fee ), $100 T-Mobile gift vouchers being offered to users whose information was lost, and pulling Sidekicks from shelves and online stores, the final cost could be somewhere in the millions.

Information recovery is a difficult and expensive process, and it's not always successful. To keep your information safe, whether it's tax records or photos of your kids, you should always keep a secure backup. It's a simple, inexpensive, and reliable step that will help prevent multi-million dollar disasters and private heartbreaks, but it has to be done right. Geek Choice techs are trained professionals who can help make sure that your backup solution is safe, even if your system fails. If you have not already, make the effort to call about backing up your information today.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Gregg Housh is Technician Manager at Geek Choice. At Geek Choice we solve computer problems like: Slow computer, Virus Removal, Spyware Removal, Computer startup problems, Printer not printing, Not connecting to the Internet, Scanner not working, or the "blue screen of death".