Vulnerability and Comparsion of Data Storage Devices and Services

Anyone who uses a computer needs to make sure they are regularly creating some sort of backup. The facts are not that you might have a failure of your disk drives or some other problem, like a power surge or even loss of your computer, but rather a case of when. It has happened to me when a disk drive just failed one day. I turned the computer on and it was like no one was at home. Given the seriousness of such a situation, coupled with the fact the most of us use computers in our homes and businesses, we need to make sure that we are educated in terms of the options available to us as well as make sure we implement some sort of process to prevent this catastrophe.

Effectively, there are two possible styles of backups- your own on your own disk drives at home or the office, or what is known as cloud backups, where your data is transferred to online computers at companies that specialize in backup systems. Both systems have their pros and cons and I hope to help you with that information below.

There is no one system that is better or worse than the other- it's just about points of value that are relevant to your situation. As an example, if you are disciplined, you might regularly connect an external drive to your computer, like weekly, and create a manual backup. If you are very disciplined, and computer savvy, that may be sufficient. However, if you keep the drives at the same location as your computer, and have a theft or fire, you will lose your data anyway. Hence, it may okay to have two drives and alternate the data backup each week and have one drive offsite.

Another option that many people prefer is an online, cloud backup solution where your data is remotely stored in a data center and is backed up automatically. There are some excellent software and program packages that once installed on your computer, and paid for by a yearly subscription, will allow you to create an account that is password protected and let your data be uploaded every time you make a change o your computer and it's like having a copy of your machine on a remote server.

This is a great system, but again, needs some effort to set up initially. One such service is provided by a company called Carbonite that allows you to set your computer to up-load data when it is not too busy. In other words, when your computer is not processing a task, it will use the time to upload the last made changes to your documents, There are of course, other programs which perform a similar function, but you need to check all the conditions, Some have a set fee per year, regardless of your data size, and others charge per gigabyte of data.

There is no one answer fits all, as each person's requirements are different, but I do recommend you set up one of the above styles of backup. It only need happen once, and you will immediately see the value of a service like this. I have seen businesses come close to failure after all their data was lost. It may be your accounts or your customer list. What price do you put on the value of your data?

I suggest for your own peace of mind, that you implement a strategy as soon as possible. It is the best insurance you can get for your computer.

Steven Menjivar is a author who writes articles on several subjects including online backup services and networking technology. You can read more of the articles and learn about mozy online backup reviews and free online backup services located at backupreviewz.com.