Do you have a Gmail, Apple, Yahoo or MSN email account? Do you rely on your e-mail data to be available whenever you need it?

Just a few weeks ago someone at Google inadvertently deleted some 150,000 Gmail accounts (read about it on CNN Money).

The company scrambled to restore the data, which they did, believe it or not, by using backup tapes (again, the story was published on CNN Money).

The CNN Money article goes on to estimate that Google would probably need 200,000 1.5Tb high-density tapes to back-up all its Gmail users’ data—enough to stack on top of each other and reach four kilometers high!

Isn’t it interesting that in 2011 we’re still struggling with preserving and making permanent online data?

Luckily for Google, it had those back-up tapes at all. What would happen if such a back-up didn’t exist, or were somehow rendered obsolete?

When it comes to protecting electronic data, perhaps the best, most conservative approach is to use tape back-ups and place those back-ups in the safest place you can think of—not in a closet in the office or your home, and certainly not in your car.

Using an insured courier service like that offered by Perpetual Storage, you’re assured that your backed-up data is carefully transported off-site then stored for the long-term in a perfectly protected environment.

Then, if, for some crazy reason, some of your data goes missing for whatever reason, you at least have a back-up tape to restore your data.