Anyone who has ever lost files after a computer crash knows it is important to back up your data. But how should you back it up? What are the differences in cost and features between different methods of backup? What should you use for your business or home computer? What data should you back up?
On-site/Local me backup
The traditional method for backing up data is to use a program or script on your computer/server to back up your data onto some local storage media. This method can be more expensive, depending on the software & hardware that are used, and it sometimes requires more maintenance than online backups. The benefits of a local backup are that it can allow fur greater depth and flexibility for retaining backups and archives, and it also allows you to keep all of your data in-house.
Examples of backup software used fur local backups are: Symantec Backup Exec, NTBackup (the built-in Windows backup program). and backup scripts. Simply copying and pasting files is another option, but most users find this too cumbersome to do repeatedly. Examples of local backup media include secondary internal hard drives in a PC. CD’s and DVD’s, external USB hard drives, flash drives, or backup tapes.
Off-site/Online File Backup
Online backup programs are becoming more and more popular. These are subscription-based services. and
they work by running a program on your computer that copies your data to a secure server hosted elsewhere
on the Internet Online backups are generally easy to use. and are most are highly reliable. The fact that the
data is stored off-site means that even if a disaster destroys your machine(s). you should still be able to
recover your data. There is a wide range of online backups available. with a wide range of fi:atures and
prices. Most online backup companies offer different plans based on the total storage yo u need.
Examples of online backup products are: Mozy. Crashplan. Carbonite. !Backup. and Venyu.
What to back up’?
The most common approach is to use a simple file backup. Many backup programs will actually select most
of your important files by default (Desktop. My Documents. etc.); however. it is important to actually check
and make sure everything is selected.
A more “complete” approach is to use an imaging solution. An imaging program will actually take a
” snapsho~· not only of your files but of the complete system state. The advantage of this would come in the
event of a hard drive failure. If a replacement hard drive were installed in the same machine, the image
backup could be used to restore the system back to its previous state (instead of having to fully reinstall
Windows. reinstall all programs. and reconfigure all settings). Imaging programs are generally more expensive
Categorised in: back up