Quick Byte’s Quick Guide To Backing Up

 updated 1/29/06

There are nearly as many ways to backup a computer as there are ways to lose your valuable data. Having a well thought out backup plan that is sensible and easy to carry out is the first step. Here's what I recommend to most clients.

This foolproof 5 part plan incorporates multiple backups on multiple media and shouldn't take up more than a few minutes a week per computer.

1. What Really Matters To You?

Figure out what it is you need to back up and try to organize it as simply as possible. For the most part, there is no reason for files to be scattered all over the hard drive. Try to keep as much of your data as possible in the "My Documents" or "Home" folder.

2. Get Thee An External Hard Drive

Setup some sort of external hard drive with an automated backup system. The type of drive and system depend on the circumstance, but I most commonly use either the Maxtor OneTouch system for a single computer or NovaSoft's NovaBackup on a networked hard drive for larger operations. Nova will even email me detailed backup reports, allowing me to keep an eye on clients.

External hard drives are great because they are low cost and can be setup for automatic backup very easily. On the other hand, they are susceptible to electrical and mechanical failure like any other hard drive. Overall, the convenience can't be beat, but this type of backup should be supplemented with backup to more permanent CD or DVD disks.

3. CDs and DVDs: Cheap, Easy, And Willing To Travel

Use either recordable CDs or DVDs to do more permanent backups. It's great that they can't fail the way drives do but the real nice thing about CDs and DVDs is they can be easily left at another location. Offsite backups make it easier to recover from a catastrophic situation like a fire or flood. Discs cost next to nothing and can store scads of data, up to 8.4 gigabytes on a DVD.

4. Don't Forget Your Keys

Purchase cheap USB key drives for you and any employees or family members who might benefit from them. These cheap flash drives allow you to easily transfer smaller amounts of data from place to place. In an emergency, they can be used for a quick backup as well.

5. The Time Is Now? How About Now?

Figure out how often you should backup data using each method. This is largely dependent on the type of data you have, how often it is modified and what kind of value you place on it. It's likely that in the event you need to recover data from a backup, you will probably find yourself wishing you had backed up one more time. The idea is to minimize the damage as much as possible.

Follow these five steps and you will.

Entire Document (print, email, or web page) Copyright 2005-6 by Steven M. Lastoe. All rights reserved.