Keeping your chin up when your web apps are down
by Celine Roque
This week the web was abuzz, especially on Twitter, because Gmail was down for a few hours. Recently, AppGap co-blogger Anita Campbell also wrote about Ma.gnolia closing down. Let’s face it – as convenient and easy as it may be to do cloud computing, most web apps still have a long way to go when it comes to reliability. As users of these apps, what can we do to avoid the effects of app downtime?
This may sound like common sense, but the most preventive measure we can take against web apps or services closing down is to back up our data. From downloading archives into your hard drive to using online data storage services, there is no shortage of ways to do this. Gmail users should’ve enabled Offline Gmail so that they could do some email tasks while the service was down. If you have a professional blog using WordPress, you can use plug-ins such as DB Backup or Backup WordPress to do backup your database automatically. For professional Twitter users, you can even backup your Twitter data. For every web app you use, find a way to back up your data as easily automatically as possible. Doing it manually tends to be a deterrent to making it a habit.
Once a week should be enough for average users, but for those who are dealing with an overwhelming amount of data, daily is preferable. Personally, I make a habit of downloading my Google Docs files every other day so that I don’t get stalled at work even when my internet connection fails.
Also, before choosing an app in the first place, the reliability of the company behind it should be a major factor. It may not be a foolproof factor considering Ma.gnolia’s demise, but it’s often always safer to choose an app from a big-named company with full funding and a reputation to protect, rather than a new startup that just released a beta version of their app last month. New apps are fun to test drive, but wait a while before you become dependent on them.
It’s also useful to have a Plan B in place whenever your favorite apps are down. During Gmail’s downtime, some companies switched to Google Apps for collaboration and online communication. If you have your own self-hosted Wiki or other collaboration tools, you and your team can turn to them whenever your usual apps are down.
There may be no such thing as a 100% uptime app that lasts for all eternity. The best we can do is to protect ourselves and our businesses by performing regular backups and having alternative plans.
Thought...
