I’m not sure how you store your media, but I sure hope to goodness that you backup your data regularly. And when I say backup, it doesn’t just mean burning one DVD copy of your wedding photos.

These days, data is really the lifeblood of most businesses, if not all of them. And we cannot go without it (do I hear a chorus of “yes-es”?). When was the last time you took a break from your blackberry, iPhone, computer and Internet for more than 72 hours? (’nuff said, right?).

For those who are not convinced about backups, read an article I wrote some time ago here.

Anyhow, I archive my data on several brands of DVD, and I’m glad I did do this weird step in data backup as sometimes, certain brands of DVDs do fail. Here’s some photos from DVDs of mine that suffered weird symptoms. As a result of these problems, your computer might just freeze and not be able to access the data, or certain files will be inaccessible. The worst case is a totally inaccessible disc.

I think I’ll refer to this as chicken pox – there are random spots on the DVD.

And this is known as dandruff – it flakes

Suicide – looks like slits were made on the DVD

Well, I hope you’re better acquainted with the various “illnesses” that DVDs develop and do something to doctor them before it’s too late.