The Importance of Backups

Perhaps the biggest area of neglect for PC users is the regular data backup. The modern hard-disk is a miracle of reliability; never-the-less all hard-disks eventually fail or wear out, and so the question is not IF one will experience data loss, but WHEN. A typical PC user doesn’t bother with backups until he/she experiences the loss of vital data. It’s like flossing your teeth – it’s a pain in the ass (mouth?) to do, but if you don’t want to lose your teeth it is something you probably should do. It’s called preventative maintenance.

Another problem with backing up is that, until quite recently, it has been difficult to implement. In the old days, it meant purchasing a tape drive, which were notoriously unreliable, and the tape media extremely expensive. With time, wear and dust accumulation, they eventually stopped working without warning their owners. Backup procedures often seemed unnecessarily complicated also; software vendors were terrible at explaining the differences between full, incremental or differential backups. Often in my career I have been called to restore data from a tape drive, only to deliver the unfortunate news that the backup hasn’t worked for past 8 months, or perhaps a year or even longer. Usually accounting data is lost – this is a true catastrophe for any business.

Fortunately backing up has become much easier since the advent of CD-Burner and DVD-Burner as standard equipment. The DVD-Burner is better as it holds much more data than the older CD format. Combined with backup software such as BackupMyPC or Cobian Backup (another example of great free software), this can be quite a good solution.

If you have more data than can reasonably fit on a CD or DVD, another very popular solution is the portable hard-disk. These are very handy and easy to attach, and they will connect to Windows 2000 or Windows XP without special device-drivers. Most of these devices come with bundled backup software, and 80Gbyte units can be purchased for around $100. These make sense for backup as they can be taken offsite after-hours, providing extra protection. This is another thing to consider, data loss is not always caused by hardware failure; taking backup data offsite daily adds that extra protection against fire and theft.

Another very feasible method of backup is to copy data to another PC on your network. Although not likely to protect against fire or theft, it is a great way to start doing backups without having to purchase any new hardware. Chances are there is already heaps of unused hard-disk space existing on one of your networked computers. If you are a home user with a tight budget and no network, another option is to bring that old attic PC back to life, or go and pick up a second computer at the re-use it centre for under $50, create a network, and copy your data to the spare machine every day. Caveat – be sure to start with a “clean” windows install! You don’t even need the clutter of an extra keyboard, mouse and monitor – you can run the box without these extras, or better, you can use a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switch, which allows you to share your existing keyboard, monitor and mouse with a second computer. I depend heavily on mine for repairing computers. An excellent model is the Linksys ProConnect KVM, available for about $80

For more information about backing up using a networked computer, see the excellent article, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1938267,00.asp. Start backing up your prized data today – with so many options, you are out of excuses!