The value of information over time

After experiencing an unfortunate event at the end of last year, I became interested in knowing what information I store on physical disks. Considering that I am a computer scientist, my average time in front of a computer is well above the average. This particularity substantially increases the number of digital resources accumulated in my computers over time.

Quickly taking inventory, I store about 20TB of information between all my physical drives; this is a ton of information! And it's the main reason why I'm pretty sure I don't remember 10% of all stored content. For this reason, I start my year with the awareness that I need to organize my data and transform it into information.

It's been two years since I wrote about the importance of backups in my [first article] (https://myblog.ricardovargas.me/el-valor-de-la-informacion-y-la-necesidad-de -a-endorsement /) on this blog. In summary, a suitable backup mechanism will give us the security (AND peace of mind) that all our data gets protected against any eventuality.

What is interesting, and at the same time unfortunate, is that despite seeing how large companies such as Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and Apple (or as usually described, the Big Tech), they live off our information, we still underestimate the value of our data. And it is that just as we accumulate objects that we consider valuable throughout life, our information is the product of all the time we spend in front of a computer.

"Let's not underestimate the value of our data, they are the result of our time and the raw material of large companies."   Ricardo Vargas

I have found an exciting relationship between my data and my emotions by studying my behavior. Doing a quick analysis based on the categories displayed on my laptop when showing the disk, I can see that most of my data relating to ideas (Documents), work (Git repositories), memories (Photos and videos), and study resources (Videos and Books).

Like every human being, we are constantly changing; this is why our accumulated information increases over time. The exciting thing is to see how this personality change gets reflected in our data by creating a history of our differences. This also allows us to define our interests predictably. That's how big companies make money from our information.

Another exciting piece of information was understanding the nature of my data. Besides business, many of the things accumulated on my computer are related to tasks that I want to do, my dreams. All this information usually gets procrastinated within the priorities of the moment.

How a remote backup saved my peace of mind.

Accidents are inevitable: faulty discs, electrical problems, human tripping; name them, they are all possible and impossible to predict. Unfortunately, many people will not understand the value of their data until they overcome an event where they cannot recover it. I've personally been on that end of the spectrum. I've lost Terabytes of information, and it's certainly not a pleasant feeling that I want to repeat.

Recently my main laptop suddenly shut down. All my work went with it. I don't know for you, but my laptop is an extension of me for me. I would lie to you if I told you that I was not scared; before I even knew how to get my job back, the first thing I managed was to understand what had happened. Unfortunately, it was much worse than I could predict at that time.

After trying to resurrect my hardware, the moment came when I only thought about what I would do with my data. Thank goodness I had just renewed my Backblaze subscription a month ago. What tranquility.

Be it Backblaze or another solution, having a backup solution is insurance that justifies its value when you need it. Today we spend on hundreds of things that do not leave any return, ensuring our information is insurance that is paid overtime.

Personally, Backblaze has been my default solution since it ensures a full backup of my computer regardless of the size of your disk. This feature has been a point of great value for me. Most of today's solutions limit the size of the backrest or increase its cost based on the height of the backrest.

Although no solution is perfect, having the answer is the critical point of this article. Backblaze has been insurance that has paid its value in a single day.

I am grateful to my parents for a valuable lesson I learned as a child: Pay attention and learn from the successes and failures of others. You know not only from success but also failure.

Don't wait to lose your data to invest in your information, learn from the accidents of others and start your backup today.