Data storing service Evernote has admitted that it has lost data relating to over 6000 of its users from around the globe.
The data loss occurred after a server failure last month and Evernote used its official blog to publish a statement from CEO Phil Libin, outlining the type and extent of the disaster.
Mr Libin explained that the server system employed by Evernote to store users data relies on two tiers of hardware, with a primary server supported by a backup server. Evernote has 37 such systems to service its users and Mr Lebin said that it was a hardware fault in the 22nd server structure that resulted in the data loss in July.
Evernote relies on several layers of backup and security in order to protect user data, but for almost four days when new data was added to the 22nd system it would overwrite old data, essentially erasing it completely.
Although more than 6000 people lost data as a result of the fault, Mr Libin told CNET that 70 per cent of those affected had been able to recover their data since the disaster occurred.
The restoration was possible in most cases because Evernote saves backups locally on users’ devices and networks. But by accessing and using the site directly some users remained exposed to complete, irrecoverable data loss.
A free year’s subscription to Evernote’s premium service is being offered to the affected users and Mr Libin confirmed that this was an isolated incident and one which could not be repeated because of alterations on the backup measures which the service uses.
Experts have pointed out that the likelihood of such widespread and irrecoverable data loss on a web-based service is low, although it is not completely unique. Last year bookmarking site Magnolia saw all of its data wiped out after its systems were corrupted and it was forced to rebuild its site and reputation from the ground up.
Evernote is responsible for storing over 145 million notes accumulated by almost four million users and over 300 new notes are recorded every minute, which means it deals with significant data volumes.
