The idiots guide to backing up files
There are two types of people in the world. Those who have lost files and those who will lose files. With advancements in technology we are starting to store our entire lives on computers. Family photos & video, our music collection, tax records, contact information and CV's are just a small number of examples. But what happens if there is a fire or the computer gets stolen? All those years of work cannot be easily replaced.
The obvious solution is to back up those files, however there are many different options and you need to find the right one for you. But before we do that we need to examine what can cause your data loss and how to minimize the risk of it happening. The four main causes of data loss are:
Theft
Like it or not if a burglar breaks into your home the computer will be one of his first targets. If you have a backup drive sitting right beside it they may take that too.
Fire
Fire is the one disaster that can wipe out any family home anywhere in the world. Even if you manage to escape, your prized possessions and memories will be going up in smoke.
Virus
If you are hooking you computer up to the internet then your files are at risk. No matter how advanced the virus protection programs are there is always a chance that your computer could get infected. If it is infected then anything could happen to your files.
Hard drive failure
Like it or not hard drives are not infallible. They can get corrupted and they can die.
All of these four scenarios show us that backups are important. For most of them an onsite backup of your files is fine however if you are worried about fire (and you should be) then an offsite backup is recommended. So what are the options when is comes to backing up your files? Well there are a number of different backup solutions on the marketplace at the moment. They are:
Portable Drive
This is the most common form of backup. Most operating systems have an inbuilt option to backup certain parts of your hard drive to an external drive. It's effective although it's slightly more fiddly unless you have the drive permanently attached. One advantage is that the drive is portable. The question now remains where should you store the drive? One option is in a fire proof safe however the majority of these are designed to protect paper documents not delicate electronic devices. Another option is to keep a portable drive at your place of work (encrypted of course).
Burnt Disc
This is very similar to the Portable Drive option except your documents are burnt to CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc. The advantage of this system is that discs are significantly more durable than hard drives (if they got dropped on the floor for example). As they are low cost they can also be kept offsite at a relatives house. The down side is that you will typically have less space than a portable drive.
Online
Some websites have started to offer online backups. Essentially your data is uploaded to these sites via specialized software. The are two main downsides to this option. Firstly it will tie up your internet connection. Secondly depending on the type of data plan you have with your Internet Service Provider the backup transfers could have an effect on it.
Wifi
The last choice is the easiest and quickest backup option. A wifi equipped hard drive is located elsewhere in your house and your files are backed up to it incrementally. The only downside is that this is not a remote backup so if a fire broke out then you would lose your original files plus your backup.
The majority of people will choose the easiest and cheapest option which will be either the portable drive or burning their data to disc. My advice is no matter which option you choose make sure a copy is stored offsite in a secure location and make sure you do it soon. For you never know when you might need it.
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