“Hard drive crashes continue as we speak,” Of course they do, but professional systems warn of upcoming failure and back up accordingly.
I have had my own small business for about 15 years now. I cannot count the number of hard drives that I have had to replace during that time. Hard drives are like tires, it is not a question of if they will wear out, just a question of when.
And yet, in all that time, I have never lost any data. None. I can produce every electronic file that I have created during the past 15 years (including income tax records, in case the IRS decides to audit me).
It is called redundant backups. The storage technology keeps changing and improving, but the concept remains the same. Regularly copy everything onto different media kept in different locations. Regularly check your backup systems to make sure that everything is getting backed up. That is all there is to it.
Any idiot can figure out how to do it. I am willing to bet that the IRS has a whole staff of idiots working full time to do it for them.
If I’m not mistaken, it’s the LAW they be backed-up. Where is the disposition of the IRS’ IT/IS team head? Where are the logs/signatures of their backup/restoration solution?
Of course, nobody in D.C. cares about, nor enforces the Law, upon those within the beltway. Only, We the Serfs need worry about the Law.