Storing your data copies is just as important as making them. All media have a range of temperatures that they can safely survive. Long term storage in high humidity can also affect many backup media choices. Pick a place for your data storage out of the light, heat, extreme cold, and of moderate humidity. Test your backups periodically and use fresh media on a scheduled basis to insure the highest possible integrity for your backups.
Don't keep your backups in your car. To convince yourself of this, put a cassette tape and a CD on the dashboard of your car and leave it there all day in August. Perform this test only on material that you consider trash in the first place.
Establish a data security routine. Nothing is better than a data backup routine, and nothing is worse than a plan without execution. Schedule your backups and make them part of your daily or weekly routine. Keep notes on the backup media containers and in a master paper record so that when disaser strikes, you'll be able to easily find the right backup media.
It's expensive, but... Not all jobs require clean room work, but at least with Internet Desk, going to the clean room doesn't mean you'll be taken to the cleaners . Some labs will flat-rate their work and quote an arbitrary, very high price before they even see the drive. That type of pricing is unfair, in our opinion, since it has nothing to do with the actual amount of work involved. If you need clean room work, you'll get a quote from us following an initial paid clean room evaluation -- and real information on the liklihood of a successful recovery.
