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Protecting your Data
There are many ways to backup your data to minimise the chances of data loss. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages.
| Method | Pro | Con |
|---|---|---|
| floppy disk | works on old computers | very limited capacity. Slow. Newer computers are beginning to not even have floppy drives. Floppy disks last for about 2 years. |
DVDs |
about 4GB - 8GB of backup space. Viruses can't infect them. Cheap and relatively fast. Automatic archive. | it's a bit of a pain if you have more than what will fit onto a DVD. Your backup software must take this into account or you need to develop a strategy. Dual-layer DVDs are very slow to burn and cost more. You can get bad batches of DVDs and DVDs seem to be more vulnerable to errors and consequent surprises when you try to restore from them. |
| CDs (read only) |
up to 700MB per disk. Automatic archive. | usually very reliable. Very fast to copy. Very cheap. Like DVDs even more difficult to backup tens of GB of data unless your backup software is very good and you keep using it. Bad batches of CDs are uncommon but do happen. |
| hard drive | very fast. Backup your entire hard disk at once - no trying to work out how to split your data or special software required | if you get a virus, ALL you data will be in danger - particularly if you're not aware that your machine has a virus. Typically people don't think about archives - i.e. what if you wanted a copy of the document you created 3 weeks ago but have since altered/destroyed? |
| remote backup | offsite backup | expensive. low capacity - try backing up your photos!. Locks you into one company. |
| USB thumbdrives | handy. fast. | same problems as hard disk drive. not yet great capacity. |
| tapes | large capacity. Industrial strength. Backup software is normally excellent and business grade | Very expensive. Slower than hard disk. |
Best backup method
So what's the best backup method? I've painted a dim picture above, haven't I?
Your best backup strategy depends on what it is you want to backup, how much, whether the data changes, how much time you have and how much money you have to spend on it.
It is worth developing a backup strategy and most importantly checking that it works from time to time.
For most I would suggest burning DVDs. For small amounts of data - MS-Office documents and such like - the remote backup could be an excellent option. I am not a great fan of hard disks for backup media simply because of their vulnerability to infection.
Offsite backup is interesting too. If using DVDs to backup, for instance, you might buy 2 different brands of DVDs (in case you get a bad batch in one) and backup the data twice. Then take one set of DVDs and give them to someone you trust or put it in storage. That way if the worst happens you have your important data in more than one place.
Problems
The biggest problem with backups is - let's face it - it's a pain in the bum. Your computer seems to run so reliability and the odds of losing all your data seems so low that despite all your best intentions, you wind up not doing it and not checking that it's working. Then the day comes and you've lost everything. And suddenly all those emails, photos and documents take up a painful importance as you understand what is gone, never to be recovered.
Ouch.
So the biggest question is this. How much IS your data worth to you. Enough to stay disciplined? Enough to pay someone to be disciplined for you?