Nowadays, data is one of the most valuable assets we have. However, if we’re being honest, whenever we say “data,” what we’re referring to is knowledge. In this context, data has always been something that society has valued.
Consider the Library of Alexandria, widely regarded as the first library to transcend cultural prejudices and collect information from multiple civilizations. Its collection must have been breathtaking, but it isn’t around any longer. All that data, gone.
How likely is it that your business could experience similar data loss, and more critically, how prepared are you for that eventuality?
What Made the Library of Alexandria So Impressive?
Founded in 283 BC, the Library of Alexandria swiftly grew its collection of knowledge, drawing from the entire known world to create as comprehensive a record as possible. At the time, libraries were strictly regional, so this lofty goal was impressive, to say the least.
The founding of the library is attributed to Demetrius of Phaleron, a former Athenian politician turned adviser to King Ptolemy I Soter, who charged Demetrius to create a library with—as the 2nd century Letter of Aristeas reveals—”if possible, all the books in the world.”
The campaign to accomplish this goal was aggressive. Legend has it that any ship sailing into Alexandria’s harbor was searched for books, all of which were taken to the library to either be returned to the rightful owner or confiscated. The original owner was paid for their troubles and received a fresh copy of their confiscated manuscript.
Ptolemy III allegedly managed to obtain precious Athenian texts by the great poets of the time, despite these texts not being available to borrow. The king convinced the Athenian governors to allow him to copy the manuscripts, depositing a massive 15 silver talents—approximately $599,306 USD in today’s money—for the safe return of the originals. Ptolemy III allegedly kept the originals for the library. Other manuscripts were obtained through book markets from all across the ancient world.
In short, the Library of Alexandria was unprecedented, which only made its loss that much more detrimental to history.
What Destroyed the Library?
Historical texts suggest that two events ultimately led to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. First, there was a civil war waged between Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII (giving you an idea of how long the library had been around by that point). Julius Caesar became involved as a supporter of Cleopatra and found himself under siege by Ptolemy’s forces. Caesar’s only viable strategy was to set fire to the enemy fleet. Unfortunately, these flames ultimately destroyed the docks and spread to the Library.
All was not lost, however, as a second library—the Serapeum, an offshoot of the original library—survived for a few more centuries. However, the rise of the Holy Roman Empire and its acceptance of Christianity alone led Emperor Theodosius I to sanction the destruction of all pagan temples within Alexandria in 391, which Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria carried out. Once the dust had settled, the site was repurposed, and a church was built there to replace the temple.
So, What Does Any of This Have to Do With Modern Businesses?
Regardless of whether you consider the initial fire or the destruction of the Serapeum, thousands of manuscripts were lost. Let’s focus on the fire at the Royal Library for a moment.
A single fire was all it took to wipe out centuries of collected culture, science, art, and history from around the world.
Now, imagine that it was your business that caught fire, not an ancient library. Just like the Library of Alexandria, you could lose massive amounts of information.
In the parlance of modern business, we’re talking about data loss, which by no means requires an enormous fire to occur. Floods and other weather disasters, as well as modern threats like hardware failure or cyberattacks, can all lead to severe data loss.
It is also important to acknowledge that the Library did have some data backup preparations in place, albeit in a limited fashion. A considerable amount of the knowledge stored there had been duplicated and stored in the Serapeum. Unfortunately, the closest thing to a cyberattack at the time by the Christians resulted in the loss of all those copies later on. Hence, we still lost centuries of accumulated knowledge.
How the 3-2-1 Backup Rule Could Have Saved the Library (and Still Could Save Your Business)
As we’ve established, the Library did have some level of data backup in place, simply because the Serapeum existed. Unfortunately, this strategy ultimately proved that a single backup is quite insufficient.
For today’s businesses, we frequently recommend the industry-standard 3-2-1 Backup Rule, which is explicitly designed to mitigate potential data loss. While it was developed long after the Serapeum was raided and even longer after the original Library burned, we can see an abbreviated version of the 3-2-1 Backup Rule almost being followed here.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule is as follows:
- At least three copies of your data are maintained, including the original you functionally use as well as at least two backup copies.
- At least two different types of storage are being used to store these backups, in case something happens to one storage option in a disaster event.
- At least one copy of your data is stored off-site, ideally in the cloud for convenient retrieval as needed.
Following these tenets can help protect your business from any shape or scale of disaster, from actual accidents to malicious acts to natural disasters.
Don’t Let Your Business Go the Way of the Library of Alexandria
Protecting your business is very possible with the strategies that may have preserved the library’s collection for a little longer… and nowadays, it’s something you need to hold yourself responsible for doing.
We can help. Not only do we have the expertise to help you design and deploy a backup worthy of the world’s knowledge, but we’ll be there to help you manage it securely and effectively. Contact us to discover how to implement the necessary protections for your business to preserve its digital legacy. Give us a call at 216.397.4080.
