4 ms·

Lost temporarily, but there's absolutely no way they lost data permanently (maybe hours worth of data, worst case scenario).

gonzo41 3y ago
Sometimes the clouds dissipate.
- RockRobotRock 3y ago
  Sometimes the only reassurance you have is that you're in the same boat as a lot of other people who would be very angry
stingraycharles 3y ago
They had a gmail data loss issue back in the day as well. They lost a shitload of emails and contacts. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/03/01/gmail.lost.found/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/03/01/gmail.lost.found/...
- siquick 3y ago
  I lost all my emails around this time and presumed I’d been hacked. Now it makes sense.
- fh973 3y ago
  The article says it was restored from tape. And it was.
Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
Can you expound on this? What makes you sure?
- ss1996 3y ago
  My guess would be they have multiple backups. I obviously can't say for sure since I don't work there, but it's very very good guess.
  - Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
    Right but this doesn't necessarily have to be a drive failure. (Pun not intended.) Imagine if there was some id collision due to a db migration or something, and then one user ends up deleting the other user's data accross all backups. Unless google never deletes any data, even when the user deletes it themselves, then you can't be saved from that.
    - ss1996 3y ago
      Theoretically possible, but (super super super) unlikely. I'd also think that when a user "permanently" deletes their data, it would still be on Google servers for a specified time (maybe a week?). Again, all guesses. But if someone offered me a bet, I'd wager 1:10,000 that the data is permanently deleted. Extremely unlikely.
      - londons_explore 3y ago
        30 days has become the industry wide standard for keeping data explicitly deleted by a user.
  - stingraycharles 3y ago
    There are many types of backups (e.g. replication, point-in-time replication, periodic incremental backups, periodic full backups) and not all of them project against the worst kind of issues, e.g. a software bug that accidentally deletes a whole bunch of data.
    - fh973 3y ago
      For Gmail, Google keeps backups of mail boxes and their transaction log. This way they can rewind the mailbox over a period of weeks. It's basically a continuous backup.
- kordlessagain 3y ago
  Are we sure there is an actual data loss event, now? Has anyone here experienced the loss directly from Google Drive?
gumby 3y ago
> absolutely no way they lost data permanently How do you know this? > (maybe hours worth of data, worst case scenario) Or you’re saying they could have lost data permanently? At this point Google is as trustworthy as musk.
temikus 3y ago
This is very very likely. Source: worked on the storage backing Google Drive. There’s layers upon layers of backups.
londons_explore 3y ago
The risk is that the bug impacts a small number of users and they decide not to bother with a restore just to recover data that only impacts 0.001% of users. Or they don't notice at all because the support forums have no way to get in touch with engineers.
nikanj 3y ago
For the end user, there's no difference between "Google still has my data but I can't access it" and "Google lost my data". Especially with Google's customer service being about as effective as a wishing well

gonzo41 3y ago

Sometimes the clouds dissipate.

RockRobotRock 3y ago
Sometimes the only reassurance you have is that you're in the same boat as a lot of other people who would be very angry

stingraycharles 3y ago

They had a gmail data loss issue back in the day as well. They lost a shitload of emails and contacts. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/03/01/gmail.lost.found/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/03/01/gmail.lost.found/...

siquick 3y ago
I lost all my emails around this time and presumed I’d been hacked. Now it makes sense.
fh973 3y ago
The article says it was restored from tape. And it was.

Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago

Can you expound on this? What makes you sure?

ss1996 3y ago
My guess would be they have multiple backups. I obviously can't say for sure since I don't work there, but it's very very good guess.
- Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
  Right but this doesn't necessarily have to be a drive failure. (Pun not intended.) Imagine if there was some id collision due to a db migration or something, and then one user ends up deleting the other user's data accross all backups. Unless google never deletes any data, even when the user deletes it themselves, then you can't be saved from that.
  - ss1996 3y ago
    Theoretically possible, but (super super super) unlikely. I'd also think that when a user "permanently" deletes their data, it would still be on Google servers for a specified time (maybe a week?). Again, all guesses. But if someone offered me a bet, I'd wager 1:10,000 that the data is permanently deleted. Extremely unlikely.
    - londons_explore 3y ago
      30 days has become the industry wide standard for keeping data explicitly deleted by a user.
- stingraycharles 3y ago
  There are many types of backups (e.g. replication, point-in-time replication, periodic incremental backups, periodic full backups) and not all of them project against the worst kind of issues, e.g. a software bug that accidentally deletes a whole bunch of data.
  - fh973 3y ago
    For Gmail, Google keeps backups of mail boxes and their transaction log. This way they can rewind the mailbox over a period of weeks. It's basically a continuous backup.
kordlessagain 3y ago
Are we sure there is an actual data loss event, now? Has anyone here experienced the loss directly from Google Drive?

gumby 3y ago

> absolutely no way they lost data permanently How do you know this? > (maybe hours worth of data, worst case scenario) Or you’re saying they could have lost data permanently? At this point Google is as trustworthy as musk.

temikus 3y ago

This is very very likely. Source: worked on the storage backing Google Drive. There’s layers upon layers of backups.

londons_explore 3y ago

The risk is that the bug impacts a small number of users and they decide not to bother with a restore just to recover data that only impacts 0.001% of users. Or they don't notice at all because the support forums have no way to get in touch with engineers.

nikanj 3y ago

For the end user, there's no difference between "Google still has my data but I can't access it" and "Google lost my data". Especially with Google's customer service being about as effective as a wishing well