The server building of the French data storage provider OVH is in flames. And there’s no shortage of photographic coverage. You can see the flames gradually consume the building. Black clouds of smoke, tinged red by the fire, rise into an even darker night sky. Further photographs show the building the following morning. The building’s walls are damaged or destroyed completely. The paint on most of the panels has melted beyond repair. Some segments of the wall feature ventilation slits on which the paint has remained intact. The orange, purple, green, and light gray still show through despite the destruction. At the time, OVH was Europe’s largest data storage company, and many customers who did not have their data backed up lost it entirely. Backups that OVH would offer to clients as part of their service were also destroyed. I found out about the fire through a tweet by K., with whom I had worked as a coauthor months earlier. A chapter of the book she was collaborating on with two other people was also stored at OVH. I didn’t ask if she had a backup.