Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.1 In.our.current.world.of.ever-expanding.electronics.we.are.
all.inundated.with.data.
drawer.I.have.a.laptop.and.an.external.drive.that.contain.a.
bunch.of.data..And.that's.only.talking.about.the.physical.loca-
tions.within.my.reach.
Now,.because.of.my.work.I.may.be.more.inundated.than.
you. are. by. these. devices.. But. I. can. safely. say. that. within.
reach.of.my.desk.I.have.immediate.near-line.access.to.tera-
bytes.of.electronic.information,.and.that.is.not.counting.the.
Internet,.or.my.organization's.network,.backup.tapes,.and.so.
forth..That's.just.what.I.can.literally.touch..When.you.add.in.
the. rest. of.the.online. universe,.the.numbers.are. staggering.
and.growing.exponentially.
As.citizens.in.this.electronic.universe.we.all.need.to.under-
stand.where.these.data.live.and.how.to.ind.the.data,.especially.
if.we.are.responsible.for.managing.that.data.or.preserving.it.
for.legal.or.compliance.reasons.
In.this.chapter.we.look.in.much.greater.depth.at.many.of.
the.different.locations,.both.physical.and.logical,.where.elec-
tronic.information.resides..We.discuss.the.types.of.data.and.
how.data.are.created,.stored,.and.accessed..In.Chapter.5.we.
talk.about.the.processes.you.need.to.understand.to.preserve.
or.manage.all.of.the.different.types.and.locations.of.data.
Before. we. start. with. that,. I. think. a. basic. description. of.
what. electronic. data. is. and. how. it. works. is. in. order.. Now,.
before. you. start. worrying,. I. promise. to. make. this. relatively.
