Nine out of the Top 10 web sites on earth use Network Appliance "Filers" to store their data. The devices are "journaling" meaning that files are not over written - the disk is treated like on long tape drive and so old files are not rewritten until the disk is exhausted. Files are modified by writing new edits to the end of the disk - old data is not touched.
These "Filers" make an instant, transparent snapshot of the entire storage system every sixty minutes. They can do this because they're journaling.
These "Filers" use battery-backed RAM and FLASH memory so that storage writes are never lost, even in a power failure or earthquake.
These "Filers" can be mirrored by other "Filers" off-site so that even during a fire or tidal wave your data can be accessed 24/7/365/100.
These "Filers" use redundant disks and the filers themselves will fedex order a new disk drive when the disk starts to produce read errors, the operator gets the disk the next morning with a nice cover letter telling him what to do, he throws the old disk away, stuffs the blank drive in the old slot, and the disk is rebuilt automatically over a couple of hours with TOTAL TRANSPARENCY.
The next time you hear that a web site has had a fatal fault or bug and needs to re-verify your data, be assured that the actual website (Yahoo, Ebay, Aol, NYT, your bank, your credit card company) are all using "Filers" which have 99.9999% reliability (6 nines - they actually are down or unavailable for TWENTY MINUTES EVERY FORTY YEARS).
THEY CANNOT LOSE YOUR DATA - THE SPAMMER IS ALWAYS LYING !
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA