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I have had my current computer for over 3 years. I had my previous computer for four years before selling it to a college student who still uses it two years later.

Using a computer for six years should be a somewhat rare occurrence but it is not. Data loss is all too frequent and is estimated to cost $2,900 per incident. Ouch! This is foolish when the problem could have been solved for under $300. Even more, hard drives have been failing at an increasing rate as we depend more and more on our computers – sometimes as high as 15% in a single year!

Especially in this economy, fully depreciating (and then some!) our assets is a high priority but so should avoiding a catastrophe.

I encourage this attempt at cost savings as long as you are managing your risk well.

Doing so includes:

• Automated data backups with multiple versions
  Examples: Mozy for Mac, Carbonite for Windows, Bacula for Linux
• Routine and scheduled Hard Disk replacements & reuse the old drive
  Example: Within the estimated life of the Hard Drive, often called MTTF, or every three years
• Contingency planning for downtime
  Example: Have a secondary computer or shared computer just in case. (more…)