Lipford Computer Services

It’s kind of a running joke in the IT industry: Everyone knows they should back up their data…but no one actually DOES it. Data backup is the sort of thing most people don’t think about until it’s too late. At that point, the process becomes something completely different, called Data Recovery (not surprising it can also become much more expensive at that point). But, as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s what I want to talk about today.

First though, my history in the field of data backup. Like most people, I was not always a studious follower of proper backup procedure. Despite this fact, I was not hesitant to tell others that they should back up their data. Perhaps at the time I just didn’t have any data that I couldn’t “afford” to lose (I put the “afford” in quotation because I don’t really mean it in a strictly monetary sense, though that is certainly one way in which it could be interpreted). But as I got older, and as my digital life became a larger and larger part of my real life, I began to become acutely aware of how much it would hurt to not have that data around anymore.

I think the true catalyst came as I began to migrate my rather extensive music collection into a digital form. But other reasons also included my personal documents, work documents, pictures, school work, books, web bookmarks, and so much more. At some point I became a devout following of the data back up way. Enough about me though. Here’s what it means to you:

Face it. Your entire life is migrating into digital form. The benefits to this are many, as digital data is easier to sort, store, share, and modify than its physical counterpart. But the best thing (to me anyway) is that digital data is much easier to save during a disaster! Unfortunately, digitization also brings new forms of destruction (like demagnetization) and degradation (physical decay, and curruption) to your life.

What happens if your house were to burn down? Do you think you would have time to grab everything you would want to save? It occurred to me that with a proper backup solution, the only thing I would need to grab during a fire would be an external hard drive. Later, it also occurred to me that I would be better served to have my most important data back up to a completely separate location. Some people tell me I’m being overly cautious. Perhaps.

Basically, backup falls into a couple of categories:

• External hard drive - usually a USB or Firewire connected hard drive.
• NAS (Network Attached Storage) – a small on-site server that all the computers in your house back up to on a regular basis.

• Data Storage Facility – a company that specializes in digital data storage. Kind of a like a physical storage unit, for digital stuff.
• Friend/Relative’s House – exactly what it sounds like. Keep a rotating backup with someone you trust.
• Cloud Storage – data is stored on a server somewhere. Like your email if you use Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo.

What’s right for you? Probably a mixture of both. In short, I think it’s best to keep a regular backup of all of your data on site, updated at the schedule you are most comfortable with, and an off site backup of your most important information.

If you have questions about setting up a data backup solution for your data, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

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