If antivirus is one of the two most important things when it comes to computing, backups are the second. Unless you're a hardcore gamer or video editor, most of us derive nearly all the benefit from the data on our computer, not the actual computer itself. In today's digital age, nearly everyone uses a computer to work, and we're all be in big trouble without the data on it. Not everyone can spring for an expensive tape backup solution, and today's hard drives would require a huge amount of DVDs and even more CDs to completely back up, so what is a normal user to do?
In over a decade of computer support, we have seen a huge number of backup solutions, both for home and corporate use. Today, the solutions boil down to two, and the first is an external hard drive. These USB drives can be as big or bigger than your computer's hard drive, are portable, are very inexpensive considering the data they can protect, and are simple to use. Simply get a drive that's bigger than your computer's hard drive (always nice to have some extra space, and at less than ten cents a gigabyte, why not?), and copy our files that are important to the drive. Store the drive in a cool, dark place away from water, magnets, and shock, and you'll have a reasonably safe backup. It's important to note that storing this backup drive in a car in the sun probably isn't the best idea (and yes, we've seen it).
The other option is online backup. This is a software based option that you pay a subscription to that automatically backs up your files to a server on the Internet. This is an attractive option because the costs can be as little at $55 annually, there's not much to do once the program's setup, and there's no hard drive or CDs to lose. The downside is that it requires software on our computer to run, and some Internet services (notably both Comcast and AT&T) put a limit on the amount of information we can transfer every month. These are minor downsides though. We've had great luck with Carbonite, eFolder, and Mozy, though new providers are coming out every day.
Of course, the most important thing about a backup is to check it regularly. Many of us simply setup this kind of service, and never check it or test it only to find that it hasn't been working for six months or so when we need it. This is why we include backup monitoring and testing in our monitored services. It's always a good idea to make sure you test your backup monthly, and our insurance policy for unrecoverable items will be in place!
Stephen Hicks is the CEO and Co-Owner of MSMB Networks http://msmbnetworks.com/, an enterprise-level Information Technology consulting firm. With an MBA in finance and an MCSA, he has worked for companies in over 50 industries in the California Bay Area. His specialties include Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory administration, wireless security, and user communication. In his spare time, Stephen is a martial artist, possessing a 2nd degree black belt in Shito Ryu karate.
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