Data Backup Software

While working as a Mac Genius at the Apple Store, one of my most miserable tasks was to tell customers that we were unable to rescue any vital data from their dying hard drive. Some customers expected this news with silent acceptance, while others became very upset that their vacation photos were lost, or that thousands of dollar’s worth of iTunes downloads were gone. These customers learned the hard way that backups are critical to maintaining the vast amounts of data that even novice computer users accumulate. As we go more and more of our lives onto our computers, data backups have become as vital as maintaining homeowner’s indemnity, and the theater fixed maintenance on our cars. If our data is so vital, why do so many of us fail to perform fixed backups? It is a fact that EVERY hard drive will ultimately fail. Failure could occur 1 week after you take your new computer out of the box, or it may not happen for 2 or 3 years. This is why fixed backs are so critical.

Data backups can take many forms. Just about every computer sold today has a CD burner installed. Many also have optical drives competent of writing data to DVDs. A standard CD can hold about 700 megabytes of data while a standard DVD can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes. In recent years, the dual layer DVD has proven useful for data backups. They grant about 8.5 gigabytes of data storage. CDs and DVDs can be very useful for archiving data for storage off of your computer’s hard drive. The disadvantages of using CDs and DVDs for data backups are that it is often hard to append more data onto them, and backups are not automatic. They demand that the end user insert a disk into the drive, select data to be backed up, and wait owing to the burn process to perfect. Many of us (myself included) have so much vital data that it would take several DVDs to backup everything. This can be very time consuming. As a result, backups become a tedious try, and will often be place off. Over time, CD/DVD backups can also prove to be more costly than other methods.

An outdoor hard drive is a very excellent choice for home and home office users. Photocopying data to an outdoor hard drive is usually quick, and painless. Outdoor hard drives are unfilled in many different sizes. I usually urge to my customers that they buy an outdoor hard drive that is at least twice the size of their internal drive on their computer. This allows patrons to backup the contents of their internal hard drive, and still have room left over for other things that they may want to store on the drive. Today, you can buy a 1 terabyte hard drive for under $100. If you want to be able to expand your outdoor storage, and keep up redundancy, the Drobo made by Data Robotics is a fantastic choice. The Drobo can accept up to 4 separate serial ATA (SATA) hard drives for a total storage room of 8 terabytes. You can store tens of thousands of songs, movies, and photos on a Drobo, and have a lot of room for expansion. The cost of hard drives has been steadily declining over the last few years, so the Drobo is an exceptional choice for someone who has a lot of data to backup, and who will also need to add more storage space over time.

Automated backups are the simplest and most hassle free method to use. Together with the right outdoor storage, automated backups can allow you to store a vast amount of data on your computer without having to worry about hard drive failure. There are several automated solutions on the market today. Perhaps the simplest of all of them is Apple’s Time Machine backup feature that is part of Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard. Time Machine will backup your files every hour as long as your backup drive is connected to your computer. Apple also makes a very handy wireless router that includes an internal backup drive all in one. It’s called a Time Shell, and it allows one or more Macs on the network to backup wirelessly, and automatically. The key to Time Machine is that your computer must either be connected to your backup drive, or be networked to a Time Shell. If you need to mend a file, a lost email, a deleted contact, or a lost photo from iPhoto, you simply need to launch Time Machine, find your lost data, and mend it. Time Machine will place the restored in rank back exactly where you had it. Older versions of Mac OS do not include Time Machine. There are many other solutions such as Retrospect, which will work also to Time Machine, but without the cool “going back in time” interface. Retrospect, and other software titles akin to it, demand more setup than Time Machine. SuperDuper, and Carbon Copy Cloner will make exact copies of your internal hard drive, but they do not grant for incremental backups. For Windows, there are several fantastic backup software options such as Retrospect, Backup Exec from Veritas, Norton 360, and others. Depending on your point needs, it’s best to investigate these software titles thoroughly to ensure that you are selecting the right one for your needs. With any backup key, the key is to take ownership over the process in the same way that you would also take care of fixed maintenance of your car.

Many companies make use of magnetic tape backups. Magnetic tape has an amazingly long shelf life – much longer than CDs and DVDs, and outdoor hard drives. Akin to using CDs and DVDs, tape backups can be time consuming and tedious. There are several devices on the market that hold several tape cartridges so that backups can be automated. As each tape reaches full room, tapes are automatically switched to accommodate more data as needed. Tape drives are normally priced early around $1000, and up depending on the room of the tapes used, and the number of tapes that can be loaded into the drive. Backup Exec, and Retrospect are two backup software titles that work well with tape drives. Tape backups work well with both Mac and Windows systems.

Online, offsite storage is also a fantastic option for businesses and even for homes. The advantage to online storage is that your data is backed up to a server offsite, and away from the danger of fire or theft, or any other problem that could cause you to lose your computer, and your data. There are several companies that offer this type of subsidy. Carbonite and Mozy are two of the leading providers of online offsite backups. These solutions work very simply. Your confidential computer, or server uploads data to a remote server hosted by the backup subsidy source. The first time your system backs up, the process can take several hours to several days to perfect – depending upon the amount of data you have. After the initial backup process is perfect, the subsidy performs incremental backups on a fixed basis. Offsite online backups will not only care for you from data loss as a result of a hardware or software failure on your computer, but they also care for against theft, fire, and other crises. If your computer is lost, your data is not. You would simply mend the data from the backup subsidy.

One of the largest obstacles to the theater fixed backups is that many patrons simply don’t know what to backup. Let’s break it down:

First, backup any vital data that you added to your computer such as music, photos, movies, Word and Excel documents, etc. All of this data would be lost should you ever need to erase your hard drive and start fresh. Second, backup software installers that you may want to keep. You may have downloaded software for your camera, or laser Laser printer drivers, or any other software that you don’t want to have to hunt for again. As long as you have the install disks for the software that you have bought, you will be able to reinstall the software back onto your hard drive once the mend of your system is perfect. The best rule to dredge up about handing out your data is to keep things clean, and also to keep track of where you place everything. Reckon of your computer as a right workspace. If it’s muddled, and unorganized, data can be lost if you need to have your computer repaired, or have the operating system reinstalled. There are several companies such as Geek Squad, and the Apple retail stores that grant computer and software repair air force. But, these companies will not grant a warranty against data loss.

Aside from caring your computer from data loss, backups also allow you to be free to perform repairs or maintenance on your computer. A few weeks ago, my MacBook Pro was acting strangely. I could not determine the cause, so I chose to erase everything, and start fresh. I was able to do so without any schooling before or worry that I would lose some of my data. Time Machine had a current backup that was less than an hour ancient. I was able to insert my Mac OS X install disk and start the process of erasing my hard drive and reinstalling my operating system. After I was refined installing Mac OS X, I was able to allow Time Machine to automatically mend all of my data. The whole process took a few hours, but I lost no data in the process, and my MacBook Pro is functioning impeccably.

Do you need help choosing the right backup method for your needs? Have no dread. There are a lot of fantastic computer consultants unfilled to help you. Most of the time, a simple Google search will help you find the right people in your area to help you. Apple maintains a item for Apple Consultants at consultants.apple.com. Craigslist is also a fantastic source. Many smaller firms advertise there. Smaller firms, as well as Apple Consultants can normally grant you with more personalized subsidy instead of the “cookie cutter” solutions often deployed by larger companies. The key is to consider your options wisely, and to question a lot of questions. Dredge up that it’s YOUR data.

Author: Howie Isaacks
Article Source: EzineArticles.com