2008 Woodie Awards
Have a computer? Back that thing up!
NIATEC Awareness Column
Brady Bloxham
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Life
- Page 1 of 1
Out of all the complex and expensive electrical circuitry running inside your personal computer, the most valuable component is the data on you hard drive.
Your data is the one component of your computer that can not be replaced. Although it may be a hassle and expensive to replace a buggy mouse or broken monitor, there is no replacing your data once lost.
Take a moment to consider the most important documents, MP3s, photos, or otherwise data files on your computer. Now imagine the moment when you arrive at the sick realization those files are gone forever. Before becoming too sick over the thought of such drastic data loss, let's review ways to prevent it from happening.
A more recent solution to data backup is via online services. iDrive.com and mozy.com are examples of websites providing such a service. Both provide easy drag and drop file access through Windows Explorer, encryption, 2 gigabytes of free space, and continuous synchronization of backed up files. These days, 2 gigabytes is not enough to backup even a small MP3 collection. However, both companies mentioned above offer account upgrades to 50 gigabytes of space for around $50 a year.
If online backup isn't your thing or you don't have a broadband connection to the Internet, an external hard drive may be better suited for your needs. For $75 you can purchase a 250 gigabyte external USB hard drive from newegg.com. Using an external hard drive, backing up your data can be as simple as drag and drop from the source location to the destination external hard drive. Alternatively, software such as SyncBack, which is free, can be employed to schedule and synchronize your data with an external hard drive with a few clicks of the mouse. Additional information on SynBack can be found at http://www.2brightsparks.com/.
Lastly, for those who don't have many files to backup or a broadband connection, a simple USB flash drive may be all you need. At current prices, a 4 gigabyte flash drives cost less $30. This provides plenty of space for office documents and small collection of photos or music. In this scenario, additional software is generally not necessary due to the fewer number of items being backed up.
Simply dragging and dropping the files onto the flash drive provides the protection needed. When using the drag-and-drop backup method, it is essential to perform the backup often as this type of backup cannot be scheduled and ran automatically by your operating system.
Although, many other methods of backing up data exist, the intent of this article was to increase awareness of the importance of backing up data and provide a few simple methods for data backup using modern technology and software.
Backups are a personal responsibility and given the advancement of technology, there is no excuse for backup negligence. In summary, don't lose valuable data. Adopt a regular habit of backing up your valuable resources.
For additional information on performing backups and previous security column articles, please visit http://www.isu.edu/security.
Your data is the one component of your computer that can not be replaced. Although it may be a hassle and expensive to replace a buggy mouse or broken monitor, there is no replacing your data once lost.
Take a moment to consider the most important documents, MP3s, photos, or otherwise data files on your computer. Now imagine the moment when you arrive at the sick realization those files are gone forever. Before becoming too sick over the thought of such drastic data loss, let's review ways to prevent it from happening.
A more recent solution to data backup is via online services. iDrive.com and mozy.com are examples of websites providing such a service. Both provide easy drag and drop file access through Windows Explorer, encryption, 2 gigabytes of free space, and continuous synchronization of backed up files. These days, 2 gigabytes is not enough to backup even a small MP3 collection. However, both companies mentioned above offer account upgrades to 50 gigabytes of space for around $50 a year.
If online backup isn't your thing or you don't have a broadband connection to the Internet, an external hard drive may be better suited for your needs. For $75 you can purchase a 250 gigabyte external USB hard drive from newegg.com. Using an external hard drive, backing up your data can be as simple as drag and drop from the source location to the destination external hard drive. Alternatively, software such as SyncBack, which is free, can be employed to schedule and synchronize your data with an external hard drive with a few clicks of the mouse. Additional information on SynBack can be found at http://www.2brightsparks.com/.
Lastly, for those who don't have many files to backup or a broadband connection, a simple USB flash drive may be all you need. At current prices, a 4 gigabyte flash drives cost less $30. This provides plenty of space for office documents and small collection of photos or music. In this scenario, additional software is generally not necessary due to the fewer number of items being backed up.
Simply dragging and dropping the files onto the flash drive provides the protection needed. When using the drag-and-drop backup method, it is essential to perform the backup often as this type of backup cannot be scheduled and ran automatically by your operating system.
Although, many other methods of backing up data exist, the intent of this article was to increase awareness of the importance of backing up data and provide a few simple methods for data backup using modern technology and software.
Backups are a personal responsibility and given the advancement of technology, there is no excuse for backup negligence. In summary, don't lose valuable data. Adopt a regular habit of backing up your valuable resources.
For additional information on performing backups and previous security column articles, please visit http://www.isu.edu/security.
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