Data Backup – The Options

We all know, or have been informed of the critical need to backup our data.  Documents, family photos, our music collection, financial information, and more irreplaceable types of information are stored on disks spinning at 5,000 to 10,000 rotations per minute.  What happens when part of that disk suddenly fails?  There needs to be a copy of that information to reduce your chances losing it.

So, how do you do it?  What are the options?  Is it something an average computer user can figure out themselves?  Let’s find out.

Ok, so all that precious information is currently on your hard drive, right?  We need to make a backup that can be physically located away from the original, is easy enough to perform that you’ll be able to do it regularly, and can be accessed fairly quickly and easily if the unthinkable happens. 

I’ll start by telling you the method I use.  Then I’ll mention other options.  I’ve found what works for me.  Your needs may be different. 

Using both a Windows PC and a Mac in my type of work (PC Tech and Web Designer), I need a system that works for both types of machines, so what I do is I copy just my critical Windows PC files over to a folder on my Mac and use Super Duper a $30 Mac-only utility that makes an exact copy of my entire hard drive on an external disk.   If my hard drive were to fail, I would just swap it out with a fresh disk, boot off the external drive which has Super Duper on it of course, and clone my data to the new drive.  If you rotate two or more external hard drives with this method, storing them off-site, you reduce the chances of something going wrong.  At the same time, I burn a data DVD with my critical documents and business information on it. I usually try to make sure this all happens once a week.  That’s what works for me. 

Alright, let’s look at the best technologies and options available.

Data storage options:

• Optical disks: CD’s and DVD’s
• External Hard Drives
• Web-based backup options
• Software Options

CD’s and DVD’s are cheap.  They are however fairly limited in how much you put on them.  I mentioned that I perform a regular backup of my documents on DVD.  I don’t put home movies or my family photos all on DVD, though.  It is possible, however it is harder and more time consuming which reduces your chances of actually doing it at all. 

External Hard Drives are an excellent option.  You can backup every file on you computer to one, and take the drive off site for storage.  It’s much easier to work with than CD’s and DVD’s, and takes less time.  You can find some excellent choices HERE. 

Web-based solutions are becoming more and more popular with the spread of broadband internet access.  Here are some of the better ones that come to mind:

• OmniDrive  –  Free online data storage.  Files can be browsed and edited as if they were on an external drive. 
• Amazon S3  –  For a couple bucks a month you can backup hundreds of gigabytes of data and access it anywhere in the world with a PC and broadband connection.  Some folks actually use it as their permanent file storage system, since Amazon does all the backup work for you.
• IBackup  –  Good business oriented solution
• AllMyData.com  –  Unlimited online backup.  $5.00 a month for 100GB

What about software?  You know, the shrink-wrapped boxes you buy at Best Buy or Staples?  They are useful if you want to do your own backup onto an external hard drive.  Here’s a list of options.  You can purchase them from Amazon by clicking on the links:

• Norton Ghost  –  One of the backup options that has been around for years.  Works quite well; makes an “image” or clone of your entire Windows PC hard drive.  It has a bit of a learning curve, but works quite well.
• EMC Retrospect  –  A user friendly option for data backup.  Very simple to use. 
• Drive Backup 4  –  An inexpensive option that has most of the features of the other software titles mentioned.
• Super Duper  –  My all-time favorite.  Mac only.  An excellent choice if you are a mac user.