Buck up and Backup

by: jameswalsh
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Word Count: 802

More inspired than usual, I wrote all my articles on time and the weekend was spent rather smugly at a job well done..... or so I thought! The first mail I saw in my inbox early Monday morning was a message from my editor screaming URGENT. I opened it rather casually but was horrified to find that the mail said she couldn’t open my attachments as they were saved as docz files. You might wonder why that couldn’t be easily remedied, after all I’ve been holding forth on backup and should just access the files and resend as word documents. Except that I hadn’t practiced what I preached and had deleted all my work without backup not for a minute imagining I might need it again!
I write now from firsthand experience that backing up data should be done with the religiousness of a prayer. Data is of extreme consequence in today’s world. Every day we store data that we build our lives on. Considering how important this data is and knowing how temperamental all things associated with information technology are, it only makes sense that we always remain prepared for data loss. The easiest way to combat data loss is to have a good backup that won’t leave us caught on the wrong foot or take up precious time to recover or in the worst case scenario, recreate.
What to Backup
While backing up data is mandatory, one might wonder if it is important to backup all our data. Especially since everything we do these days involves data the volumes to be stored can end up being huge and not everything we accumulate is of relevance or important. The bottom line to consider when wanting to know if certain data should be backed up is ask yourself what could possibly happen if you needed the data and didn’t have it. That should give one a fair idea of the important data versus the trivial inconsequential data that might just occupy storage space.
However, to be more organized about backup there are some data that you must backup even without questioning the importance of. Digital photographs, software that has been paid for and downloaded from the internet, music purchased and downloaded, e-mail address book, personal projects, bank records, other financial information etc. This of course is in an individual capacity. When it comes work related data it is best to have a backup of everything.
It really wouldn’t be overly pessimistic to imagine that one could lose data. It happens to the best of people, it happens to the experts. There is also absolutely no way of knowing when you could lose data. Therefore, it would be most prudent to backup data as and when you have made changes or created new files. If done as a matter of habit and routine, there will be less chances of being caught off guard.
Backup Media
Considering the importance of data it is but natural that there are various media available for backup. Backup media is available to suit every purpose, size and budget. Given the wide choice available it can be difficult to choose the best backup media that would be adequate and affordable.
Most backup media come with a shelf life. This is a fact that end users ought to keep in mind when looking to buy back media. It then boils down to buying the hardiest of what is available and what is affordable. The average person might be quite content to backup data in CD ROMs. The advantage of this media is that it is inexpensive, easily available and all personal computers are built with drives to adapt. The down side of CDs is that they are susceptible to scratches, mishandling etc which could result in the loss of data.
DVDs are almost considered the next generation CDs which have been designed to improve on the defects of CDs and offer a higher storage capacity. They are though more expensive in comparison.
The USB flash drives are a delightful backup media which are portable, fairly hardy and have an amazing storage capacity. The only drawback would be that they are easily misplaced.
External drives are also a very robust backup option but the costs involved maybe high for a common PC user as one has to invest in hardware and in some cases disks as well.
The newest backup option is online backup where one can store data over the internet and at a remote location. The hazards involved in this form of backup, is that it is dependent on the backup company’s server functioning all the time, one has to pay a monthly fee, if the company closes down one could stand to lose all the data.
The best backup option is one that is fairly affordable, hardy and with a reasonable storage capacity to suit our backup needs.

About the Author

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk

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