Last time, I wrote about backing up, and we are going to continue in that vein with some basic strategies that I recommend for backing up and a review of some of the software options out there. I’m focusing almost entirely on options that pertain to CD/DVD backup going forward, though most of the information can easily be applied to other backup devices. On the other hand, some can’t.

Like I wrote previously, a good start is to know what you want to back up, know where it is located on the computer (or the network), and if necessary, organize it so that backing up is simplified. The second step is choosing a device such as a CD writer to back up to.

The next decision you need to make is how often you are going to back up. This is, at least in my opinion, largely dependent on who you are and how valuable your data is to you. Obviously, if your data is particularly valuable, you may want to back up more often. If you’re an airhead (who me?) you may benefit from a regularly scheduled backup time or day. Along those same lines, when you get around to choosing the software you use to backup, you may want to automate the process as much as possible, but I thing it’s a good idea to stay involved to a certain extent.

You should also consider having multiple copies of your backup. A good general idea is to have two or more (I would say 3) medias (CDs, Zip Disks, etc...) and rotate them. If you’re using rewritable CDs for instance, you could erase the oldest disk for a new backup, and use it for the current backup. You could also never erase disks and collect them until you can shingle your roof. The keep them all option isn’t so bad for people who backup once in a blue moon like me, but is probably a bit unwieldy for people who backup weekly or more often.

Another valuable consideration is keeping a copy of your data offsite, perhaps in a safe deposit box, or at your mom’s house. The possibilities are limitless, but the idea behind it is that in the event of a worst case scenario, fire for instance, a copy of your data is somewhere else.

Finally, you could check to make sure the data you have backed up is actually valid, meaning the backup worked correctly. In my opinion, this is the very best thing you can do other than the actual backup, but probably the one fewest people do, To a certain extent, some of the programs that I’m going to discuss do this for you, but I’m not all that trusting of software in practice. If you do choose to do this, you’ll need to copy or extract the files from the disk and open them. You might even want to take a close look at complicated files, such as databases. While this is a little time consuming, it is a fairly rock solid way of being sure that your data is backed up correctly. Ultimately, your comfort level will guide you in most of these decisions in any case.

For our purposes, there are two categories into which backup software falls into, but I don’t think they are named as such, so I dub them, Archivers and Replicators and they generally behave as such:

Replicators: Software that stores your files in a typical dos/windows hierarchy. If you looked at the disk you would see the familiar file and folder motif. Advantages to this format include the ability to plainly see your files in windows explorer and the ability to easily access them from any computer without software installation. Disadvantages include the lack of compression so that space is saved, which I think is a minor issue at best. A more important disadvantage is the lack of a scheduling component in any of the major products of this type, but

Archivers: Software that can compress all your files to a certain degree and creates an archive file in which they are located. Using one of these you can generally store more information on the media, but you cannot access the files without using the software you backed them up with. Generally, this software also tends to be a little more sophisticated due to its dedicated functionality whereas the replicators tend to be less so as they are usually more multipurpose tools.

In my opinion, for most of my clients the replicators are preferable because they keep you a bit more involved in the process. The fact of the matter is that I prefer replicators, primarily because I don’t really trust technology, and take some level of assurance from being able to see the files and folders plainly on the disk. With that in mind, we’ll take a quick look at the archivers, and then check out the replicators. (I sound like one of my bio professors: The archivers are heterotrophic mammals which evolved from early troglodytes and are notable primarily for their triaxial forearms, while the replicators possess a dorsal notochord and…)

Honestly, I don’t have a lot of experience with the products, but most experts recommend Dantz’s Retrospect program. I took a quick look at it and it worked, but didn’t really impress me. Not that, it did anything that bothered me per se. Retrospect will allow you to fully automate your backup process and does everything you would expect a program of it’s type to do. Unfortunately, it costs $130. whereas most of the other programs I am considering are free or less. However, if you think Retrospect is for you, check out http://www.dantz.com for more information.

I’m more familiar with the Iomega Zip Backup program which I have used for years, and never had a problem with. Again, this program isn’t going to bring down the matrix or anything, but it does do the job adequately. If you own a zip drive, this program should have come with it, but if not, it is available as a free download. If you don’t own a zip drive, this program is useless.

The last archiver that I am at all familiar with is the Microsoft Backup program, which inexplicably appears in some versions of windows but not others, assuming it is installed in the first place. It bites and is largely unsupported by Microsoft. Don’t use it.

Well, we blew past 1000 words and I’m trying to keep these to a reasonable length, so the Replicators will have to wait until next time. In the meantime, Chucky was not the character I was thinking about for the last trivia question, but several people guessed him, so maybe he said Come Out And Play-ay too, I don’t know. However, I do know that it was uttered by the character Luther from The Warriors at least a few years earlier. This time the quote is “Give Me Your Hands If We Be Friends…” Who am I thinking of?