| While working as a Mac Genius at the Apple Store, | | | | selecting the right one for your needs. With any |
| one of my most unhappy tasks was to tell customers | | | | backup solution, the key is to take ownership over the |
| that we were unable to rescue any important data | | | | process in the same way that you would also take |
| from their dying hard drive. Some customers received | | | | care of regular maintenance of your car. |
| this news with quiet acceptance, while others became | | | | Many companies make use of magnetic tape |
| very upset that their vacation photos were lost, or that | | | | backups. Magnetic tape has an amazingly long shelf |
| thousands of dollar's worth of iTunes downloads were | | | | life - much longer than CDs and DVDs, and external |
| gone. These customers learned the hard way that | | | | hard drives. Similar to using CDs and DVDs, tape |
| backups are critical to maintaining the vast amounts of | | | | backups can be time consuming and tedious. There |
| data that even novice computer users accumulate. As | | | | are several devices on the market that hold several |
| we move more and more of our lives onto our | | | | tape cartridges so that backups can be automated. |
| computers, data backups have become as important | | | | As each tape reaches full capacity, tapes are |
| as maintaining homeowner's insurance, and performing | | | | automatically switched to accommodate more data as |
| regular maintenance on our cars. If our data is so | | | | needed. Tape drives are normally priced starting |
| important, why do so many of us fail to perform | | | | around $1000, and up depending on the capacity of the |
| regular backups? It is a fact that EVERY hard drive | | | | tapes used, and the number of tapes that can be |
| will eventually fail. Failure could occur 1 week after you | | | | loaded into the drive. Backup Exec, and Retrospect |
| take your new computer out of the box, or it may not | | | | are two backup software titles that work well with |
| happen for 2 or 3 years. This is why regular backs are | | | | tape drives. Tape backups work well with both Mac |
| so critical. | | | | and Windows systems. |
| Data backups can take many forms. Just about every | | | | Online, offsite storage is also a great option for |
| computer sold today has a CD burner installed. Many | | | | businesses and even for homes. The advantage to |
| also have optical drives capable of writing data to | | | | online storage is that your data is backed up to a |
| DVDs. A standard CD can hold about 700 megabytes | | | | server offsite, and away from the danger of fire or |
| of data while a standard DVD can hold up to 4.7 | | | | theft, or any other problem that could cause you to |
| gigabytes. In recent years, the dual layer DVD has | | | | lose your computer, and your data. There are several |
| proven useful for data backups. They provide about | | | | companies that offer this type of service. Carbonite |
| 8.5 gigabytes of data storage. CDs and DVDs can be | | | | and Mozy are two of the leading providers of online |
| very useful for archiving data for storage off of your | | | | offsite backups. These solutions work very simply. |
| computer's hard drive. The disadvantages of using | | | | Your personal computer, or server uploads data to a |
| CDs and DVDs for data backups are that it is often | | | | remote server hosted by the backup service provider. |
| difficult to append more data onto them, and backups | | | | The first time your system backs up, the process can |
| are not automatic. They require that the end user | | | | take several hours to several days to complete - |
| insert a disk into the drive, select data to be backed up, | | | | depending upon the amount of data you have. After |
| and wait through the burn process to complete. Many | | | | the initial backup process is complete, the service |
| of us (myself included) have so much important data | | | | performs incremental backups on a regular basis. |
| that it would take several DVDs to backup everything. | | | | Offsite online backups will not only protect you from |
| This can be very time consuming. As a result, backups | | | | data loss as a result of a hardware or software failure |
| become a tedious endeavor, and will often be put off. | | | | on your computer, but they also protect against theft, |
| Over time, CD/DVD backups can also prove to be | | | | fire, and other crises. If your computer is lost, your data |
| more costly than other methods. | | | | is not. You would simply restore the data from the |
| An external hard drive is a very good choice for home | | | | backup service. |
| and home office users. Copying data to an external | | | | One of the biggest obstacles to performing regular |
| hard drive is usually quick, and painless. External hard | | | | backups is that many consumers simply don't know |
| drives are available in many different sizes. I usually | | | | what to backup. Let's break it down: |
| recommend to my customers that they purchase an | | | | First, backup any important data that you added to |
| external hard drive that is at least twice the size of | | | | your computer such as music, photos, movies, Word |
| their internal drive on their computer. This allows | | | | and Excel documents, etc. All of this data would be |
| consumers to backup the contents of their internal | | | | lost should you ever need to erase your hard drive |
| hard drive, and still have room left over for other things | | | | and start fresh. Second, backup software installers |
| that they may want to store on the drive. Today, you | | | | that you may want to keep. You may have |
| can buy a 1 terabyte hard drive for under $100. If you | | | | downloaded software for your camera, or printer |
| want to be able to expand your external storage, and | | | | drivers, or any other software that you don't want to |
| maintain redundancy, the Drobo made by Data | | | | have to hunt for again. As long as you have the install |
| Robotics is a great choice. The Drobo can accept up | | | | disks for the software that you have purchased, you |
| to 4 separate serial ATA (SATA) hard drives for a | | | | will be able to reinstall the software back onto your |
| total storage capacity of 8 terabytes. You can store | | | | hard drive once the restore of your system is |
| tens of thousands of songs, movies, and photos on a | | | | complete. The best rule to remember about managing |
| Drobo, and have a lot of room for expansion. The cost | | | | your data is to keep things neat, and also to keep |
| of hard drives has been steadily declining over the last | | | | track of where you put everything. Think of your |
| few years, so the Drobo is an excellent choice for | | | | computer as a true workspace. If it's cluttered, and |
| someone who has a lot of data to backup, and who | | | | unorganized, data can be lost if you need to have your |
| will also need to add more storage space over time. | | | | computer repaired, or have the operating system |
| Automated backups are the easiest and most hassle | | | | reinstalled. There are several companies such as |
| free method to use. Together with the right external | | | | Geek Squad, and the Apple retail stores that provide |
| storage, automated backups can allow you to store a | | | | computer and software repair services. However, |
| vast amount of data on your computer without having | | | | these companies will not provide a warranty against |
| to worry about hard drive failure. There are several | | | | data loss. |
| automated solutions on the market today. Perhaps the | | | | Aside from protecting your computer from data loss, |
| easiest of all of them is Apple's Time Machine backup | | | | backups also allow you to be free to perform repairs |
| feature that is part of Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard. Time | | | | or maintenance on your computer. A few weeks ago, |
| Machine will backup your files every hour as long as | | | | my MacBook Pro was acting strangely. I could not |
| your backup drive is connected to your computer. | | | | determine the cause, so I decided to erase everything, |
| Apple also makes a very handy wireless router that | | | | and start fresh. I was able to do so without any |
| includes an internal backup drive all in one. It's called a | | | | preparation beforehand or worry that I would lose |
| Time Capsule, and it allows one or more Macs on the | | | | some of my data. Time Machine had a current backup |
| network to backup wirelessly, and automatically. The | | | | that was less than an hour old. I was able to insert my |
| key to Time Machine is that your computer must either | | | | Mac OS X install disk and begin the process of erasing |
| be connected to your backup drive, or be networked | | | | my hard drive and reinstalling my operating system. |
| to a Time Capsule. If you need to restore a file, a lost | | | | After I was finished installing Mac OS X, I was able to |
| email, a deleted contact, or a lost photo from iPhoto, | | | | allow Time Machine to automatically restore all of my |
| you simply need to launch Time Machine, find your lost | | | | data. The whole process took a few hours, but I lost |
| data, and restore it. Time Machine will put the restored | | | | no data in the process, and my MacBook Pro is |
| information back exactly where you had it. Older | | | | functioning perfectly. |
| versions of Mac OS do not include Time Machine. | | | | Do you need help choosing the right backup method |
| There are many other solutions such as Retrospect, | | | | for your needs? Have no fear. There are a lot of |
| which will work similarly to Time Machine, but without | | | | great computer consultants available to help you. Most |
| the cool "going back in time" interface. Retrospect, and | | | | of the time, a simple Google search will help you find |
| other software titles similar to it, require more setup | | | | the right people in your area to help you. Apple |
| than Time Machine. SuperDuper, and Carbon Copy | | | | maintains a listing for Apple Consultants at Craigslist is |
| Cloner will make exact copies of your internal hard | | | | also a great source. Many smaller firms advertise |
| drive, but they do not provide for incremental backups. | | | | there. Smaller firms, as well as Apple Consultants can |
| For Windows, there are several great backup | | | | normally provide you with more personalized service |
| software options such as Retrospect, Backup Exec | | | | instead of the "cookie cutter" solutions often deployed |
| from Veritas, Norton 360, and others. Depending on | | | | by larger companies. The key is to consider your |
| your specific needs, it's best to research these | | | | options carefully, and to ask a lot of questions. |
| software titles thoroughly to ensure that you are | | | | Remember that it's YOUR data. |