The overall average failure rate of hard disk is 100% - yes, all drives eventually fail. In 1956, IBM invented the first computer disk storage system, the 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control).  This system could store five MBytes of data.  It had fifty, 24-inch diameter disks! Currently, a standard 3.5 inch desktop drive can store up to 750 gigabytes (GB) in data and as disk technology gets better, drives will become even smaller, more powerful and less costly. As new devices hit the market, and the amount of stored data escalates, the potential for data loss is greater than ever. No matter how strict your back-up policy or how heavily you invest in data protection - somewhere along the line data loss will occur.