The Need for a Backup Solution

Accidents happen. Especially in the world of computers. There are lots of things to be done to keep your computer safe and running smoothly, but sometimes no matter how hard you try something bad is going to happen. If something does happen to your computer, you want to make sure that you can salvage as much as possible.

There are many hazards that your computer faces. System malfunctions. Computer viruses. Hard drive malfunctions. Physical damage such as fire. Theft. And if your computer goes down, everything that is on it goes with it.

What would you lose if your computer were to crash? Business files, important documents, photos, personal items, etc. How are you going to get them back? There are methods of data recovery even on the most seemingly destroyed of computers, but these procedures can be quite expensive and time consuming.

By backing up your data, you can ensure that even if you lose your computer, your files won’t be lost. Backups can even help you restore your computer in the event of a crash, if the CPU is still salvageable. Keeping secondary copies of your most important files is the best way to keep them safe. Even if a file is lost in one place, it won’t be lost in backup. Although it might cost a little bit of money to backup your files, that money will be gained back tenfold if something should happen to your computer or files.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Backup Solution

There are several things that you need to look at when deciding how you are going to backup your computer.

• Data Storage Space: How much data does the backup medium hold? 1.4 megabytes? 1.4 gigabytes? 200 gigabytes? If you have a lot of data to backup, or want to backup your entire hard drive, you are going to require a backup medium that is capable of holding a lot of data, or you are going to end up with hundreds of disks cluttering up your office.
• Ease of Use: How easy is it to use a particular backup medium? Does it involve a lot of work just to make a small backup, let alone a large one? Or is it fairly simple and straight forward to use?
• Physical Storage: How easily stored is the backup medium. Is it small and easily stored? (And also potentially easily lost). Or is it large and bulky and is going to take up a lot of space in my home, office, etc.
• Reusability: Say I don’t want something backed up anymore, or I am making regular backups of my machine and want to reuse old disks or drives. Are the disks/drives reusable?
• Cost: How much does it cost to buy the necessary drives and/or disks? How much is it going to cost over time? Is it cost effect for the amount of data storage?

Floppy Disks

Once upon a time, computers didn’t hold that much data. A computer even capable of holding a megabyte worth of data was impressive. But those days are long gone now, with hard drives capable of holding a hundred gigabytes being common.

The floppy disk with only 1.4 megabytes worth of storage is fast becoming obsolete. It doesn’t come standard with many new models of computers, and its use is going down. Our 3.5 in. floppy disks today are already a replacement of the old 5 ¼ in. disks of yesterday, disks that actually were floppy but capable of only holding tiny amounts of data. The 3.5 in floppies are following the path of its predecessor, and in a few years won’t be used anymore.

However, floppies are fairly inexpensive and if you only have a few files you want to backup, they are not a bad method. However if you are looking for a more serious backup solution, you are going to want to look elsewhere.

• Data Storage Space: 1.4 megabytes
• Ease of Use: Easy to use
• Physical Storage: Small and easily stored, but if you want to make a large backup is going to require a lot of disks.
• Reusability: Reusable
• Cost: Average about $0.25 - $1.00 a disk

Key Drives

Key drives are one of the newer backup technologies out there. Unfortunately there is not yet a standard name for key drives, so you might also come across names such as key-chain drive, flash drive or flash card. Despite the name differences they are all the same thing.

A key drive is an external drive which is very small, about the size of a key or key-chain (hence the name). Key drives vary in the amount of data they are able to hold. Smaller units will be able to hold about 16 megabytes, while larger units can hold up to 2 gigabytes and more.

The major plus of the key drive is its portability. It is very small, so you can take it wherever you go and keep a hold of your files. It connects to your computer via the USB port, and in most newer operating systems (Windows 2000 and beyond) it doesn’t even require and special drivers to operate on a computer. Just plug it into the USB port and you are ready to save and retrieve data.

For the amount of storage you receive, however, key drives can be a bit on the expensive side. $50 for 16 megabytes of storage space is somewhat high. Prices are going down though, and it is often possible to find them for quite a bit cheaper.

It is a very safe backup medium, however, as there are little chances of it breaking and it is highly reusable, working just like any normal drive. If you want your files to be extremely portable in your backups, it is an excellent option.

• Data Storage Space: 16 megabytes – 2+ gigabytes
• Ease of Use: Very easy to use
• Physical Storage: Very small and portable
• Reusability: Reusable
• Cost: Averages between $40 and $400, depending on size

Online Backup

Online backup is becoming a more common backup solution. It differs from most other backup solutions because it doesn’t involve the actual use of physical media such as disks or drives. You are storing your files at a remote location via the internet. This keeps your files particularly safe, because once they are stored there is nothing you can do to them. You can’t accidentally write over the disk, or break the disk, and it isn’t susceptible to things such as fire or theft.

In order to use online backup, you’re going to need to find an online backup service. There are quite a few of these out there, and the number is growing. When you set up an account with one of these companies, you are given a specific amount of storage space on their online server. You can then log onto this server and store however much data their service allows.

Most online backup services are only going to offer a few megabytes of storage at best, so online backup isn’t the solution for total hard drive backups. However, if you are only looking to backup key files or you want to give extra protection to some of your files, it is an excellent way to go.

Online backup services are generally easy to use, no more difficult than browsing the internet. Some even offer automatic backup routines, which will automatically backup the data you want backed up onto the online server without you having to do anything. The services cost normally between 10 and 20 dollars a month to use.

• Data Storage Space: About 100 megabytes to 5 megabytes, depending on service
• Ease of Use: Generally easy to use, depends on service
• Physical Storage: No physical storage
• Reusability: Reusable
• Cost: Average between $10 and $20, depends on service

CDs and DVDs

One of the major revolutions in the entertainment industry in the recent years has been the growth of CD-R and DVD-R technology. With CD and DVD burners you can create your own CDs and DVDs to listen to, watch and enjoy.

These media can also be used for data storage. CDs can hold up to 800 megabytes of data, while a single DVD can hold a whopping 4.7 gigabytes. Compare that to the old floppy disks and you can see somewhat why that medium is becoming obsolete.

CDs and DVDs are fairly cheap to buy. Buying in bulk you can often purchase them for less than a dollar a disk. If your computer doesn’t already have a CD or DVD burner you will have to purchase one, but this is a one time cost. You can get a CD burner for as little as $50, and a DVD burner for as little as $50.

The biggest problem with using CDs and DVDs is their reusability. With CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, once you have burned the disk that is it. You can’t put anything else new on the disk, and you can’t take anything off. The disk is finalized, and there is nothing that can be done to it.

There are CD-RWs and DVD-RWs, but even these are imperfect media. While they can be rewritten, you can’t just add a single file or modify a single file, you must rewrite the entire disk every time you wish to make a change. This makes it a bit of a hassle compared to other backup media. However if you aren’t planning to make any changes to your backups, and only wish to add to them then CDs and DVDs can make an excellent backup solution.

• Data Storage Space 800 megabytes for CDs, 4.7 gigabytes for DVDs
• Ease of Use Fairly simple to burn, complicated if you want to add to a backup disk
• Physical Storage Small, require special cases to protect against damage
• Reusability CD and DVD-Rs have no reusability, CD and DVD-RWs have limited reusability
• Cost Usually a dollar or less for the disks if bought in bulk, $30 to $200 for the burner if you have to buy a new one

External Hard Drives

If you’re looking to backup a lot of data, or wish to backup your entire hard drive, an external hard drive can prove to be the easiest and most affordable solution. They are no different than a hard drive, but unlike the one in your CPU it is not integrated into the machine and is easily portable.

Most external drives, like key drives, will plug into the USB port. Many won’t require special drivers on newer machines, so they are pure plug and play which makes them easy to use and move.

Most external hard drives are going to be between 80 and 120 gigabytes, about the same as an average internal hard drive. This makes it incredibly easy to make a straight backup of your entire hard drive, as there is just as much space on a single external hard drive as there is on your internal drive.

Prices for external hard drives differ, ranging between $80 and $150 normally, although you can find cheaper and more expensive models. If you are only looking for partial backup for a limited amount of data an external hard drive might be a bit of overkill, but for larger backup jobs it is an excellent solution.

• Data Storage Space: Averages between 80 and 120 gigabytes
• Ease of Use: Generally plugs in through USB, just like using your normal hard drive
• Physical Storage: Fairly large, a little smaller than a hardcover novel.
• Reusability: Very reusable
• Cost: Normally between $80 and $150

Choosing the Right Backup Solution for You

In order to decide which backup solution is best for your needs, you are going to have to look at what your own needs are. How much data do you intend to backup? How much are you willing to pay for your backup? What do you intend to do with your backups?

It’s also important to note that with backup, two backups are always better than one. And three backups are better than two. You never know what is going to happen to your data, and backing up files in more than one place can be a smart move. In the end it is up to you to decide which is the best backup solution for you.