Great advice for all of us from Ernie: Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: Ernie Kent To: Paul Drake Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 11:00 AM Subject: Re: [OHPICKAW] Re: CD's Paul, As a professional webmaster I would also add the following considerations: 1. Anything on a web server is stored on a hard disk and those blow out every few years of operation. 2. If hosted on a professional hosting service there are (hopefully) tape backups, but those too are subject to problems and may be missing, not made, or damaged in writing. Further, if there is a fire, probably both the disk drives and the backup tapes are lost. I've too often lost a client's web site to a disk failure only to find the host's backups were bad or non-existant. 3. If the domain name expires (usually renewed annually) you can only access the site through the IP number. If the host changes the machine ( a frequent occurance) the IP number changes. You could wind up with your data intact but no way to access it. My own personal solution is to put everything on CDs, along with copies of the programs and operating systems required to read that data. (The programs and operating systems we used ten years ago are generally no longer available.) If the technology moves beyond CDs I will move my data to the new technology. I should (but am as yet too lazy) keep copies of the CDs in my bank vault against the possibility of fire. Best, Ernie Kent