I entirely agree that full, distributed backups of all content in Wikimedia projects are a top priority. This shouldn't only include the publicly available dumps, but also a regular secure off-site backup of "Wikimedia in a box" (essentially everything needed to restore a fully operating network of sites -- all data, software, documentation). This is already part of our operations planning, but it doesn't exist yet. For privacy reasons, we can't back up all data everywhere (e.g. user account information) -- it might be worth thinking about longer term strategies for portability of that data (e.g. a group of unaffiliated entrusted individuals who hold encryption keys). But, for the publicly available dumps, I don't see a list of mirrors prominently linked from http://dumps.wikimedia.org/backup-index.html -- I think starting a page at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Data_dumps/Mirrors with mirroring instructions (if such a page doesn't already exist somewhere), prominently highlighting it at dumps.wikimedia.org, and spreading the word would be a good start. We are already generating MD5s, so it shouldn't be hard for engaged community members to help with standard/policy setting, verification of mirror status, etc. -- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate