NASA to Perform Intergalactic Backup on Mars Rover

Data protection isn’t an easy task in the modern enterprise. Adoption of cloud, mobile and virtual technologies — not to mention the exploding amounts of data that companies must protect — has made IT environments more complex than ever.

But at least most IT pros are on the same planet as their infrastructure. The scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are planning to reboot and reformat the Mars Rover’s flash storage. The first step? Perform a complete backup for the device that is more than 100 million miles from Earth.

“The team plans to upload all the data stored in Opportunity's [one of two Mars rovers] memory banks for backup on Earth,” according to The Register.  “A reformatting command will then be sent to the rover early next month, which will clear healthy circuits and identify the duff ones to be avoided in the future.”

(via The Register)

Wearable tech complicates data protection: Wearables such as Google Glass collect loads of personal data that individuals will need to protect. But the challenges become greater when those people begin to use those wearable devices for work, opening up companies — particularly in Europe — to big fines if that personal data goes missing. (via ChannelPro)

Celebrity photo hack exposes iCloud backup glitch: The recent hack of more than 100 celebrity iCloud accounts put sensitive, private photos on the Internet. Researchers have found an explanation for how hackers could have discovered the long-deleted photos. Apple’s iCloud for iOS service automatically saves three backups for every device, every day, if users opt in. (via CSO)

Experiencing slow virtual backups? Solve it: Server virtualization can tax backup systems, but Storage Switzerland’s Colm Keegan has a few tricks that IT pros can use to mitigate the problem. For starters, try deduplication and change block tracking (CBT). (via TechTarget)

Image via CanStock Photo