Indentifying And Backing Up Your Data - Part 2

Last Months Article dealt with how to locate your data and identify how much space you are consuming on your hard disk. This month I will concentrate on the backup devices available to you.
Backup Devices
Back in the early days of computers backing up was simple and in general people rigidly stuck to backing up their valuable data to good old floppy disks. With the progression in technology many people have developed a false sense of security in computers and in particular hard drives. The truth is unless you backup your information you will be stung at some point when your computer fails. In today’s world of technology gizmos there is really no excuse for not backing up your data. Almost every electronic gizmo on the market now has the ability to store data. These include Ipods, mp3 players, usb memory keys, camera memory, handheld video players and even your phone. In addition you have the traditional cd/dvd drives on your computer and lastly, but most importantly, external hard drives.
Which Backup Device?
Your backup device is critical and thus I do not recommend any portable device as your primary backup. Storing information on usb keys and other portable devices is fine for transporting data but is not a good strategy as a backup solution. The problem with this strategy is that it is very likely at some point the device will be stolen lost or damaged. Murphy ’s Law applies here and you can be guaranteed it will go missing when you most need it. Thus I recommend that you invest in an external hard drive to backup your data.
External Hard Drives
Apart from the actual capacity of the drive the main differences between external hard drives is how you connect your computer to the devices. My preference, if your budget permits, is to purchase a (N)etwork (A)ttached (S)torage device ,commonly referred to as NAS drives. A Nas drive connects to your broadband modem and thus is available to all computers in your home and is independent of any single machine.
NAS technology offer the following additional advantages over directly connected hard drives
1. Available at all times even if your computer is off.
2. automatic backup of your computer to the device (some models)
3. Can be used by multiple computers at the same time.
4. Can be accessed from a remote location.(some models)
5. Ability to expand the storage without replacing or opening the drive.(some models)
6. Early warning of disk failure or other technical problems (some models)

Next months article will expand further on this topic

Indentifying And Backing Up Your Data

Backing Up Your Data
This month’s article deals with the very important function of backing up your personal files from a Microsoft Windows computer. I will deal with this topic in more detail over the coming months but this month I will concentrate on how you can identify how much space you are consuming on your computer.

Data Locations
Most, but not all, of your personal files are stored under the My Documents folder. The folder My Documents is actually an alias for the true location on your hard disk. The actual location of my documents is Documents and settings\user name\ (where user name is your login name). Each user on a pc has a separate area where their personal files are stored.
To find out how much space your data is consuming on your system proceed as follows:
1. Click Once on My Documents
2. Right Click and Select Properties
3. Click on the General Tab and the computer will calculate the space used by your personal files.
The figures shown, once the computer has stopped counting, is the amount of space your backup device must have available to be able to create an effective backup of your data. This is only your personal information and if you intend to fully secure your pc you will need a device with a much bigger capacity. Some programs do not store information in the My Documents Folder so don’t assume by backing up this folder all your data is secure. My Documents contains all the files associated with your login name and usually contains a huge amount of internet files which do not need to be backed up.

Total Space Used On your Hard Disk
To see how much space is being used by all the users, the operating system and programs on your pc proceed as follows:
1. Double Click My Computer
2. Click on your hard disk (usually identified as Local Disk C: drive
3. Right Click and Select Properties. The computer will show you a graph of your disk together with Used and Free space numbers.
If your hard drive is almost full this usually spells trouble down the line. This is because a nearly full hard disk causes your computer and your hard disk to work extremely hard to provide services to you. This will inevitably lead to failure of the computer or the drive unless the problem is resolved.
Bottom line don’t stuff your hard drive to the top and seek professional help if your disk is overloaded. Next month’s article will continue with more information on backing up your data.

Backup Your Precious Data

Computers, for better or worse, are now integrated into our lives. In this article I will outline some of the devices available to backup your data so that when your pc fails you will not lose your precious data.

Purchasing A Backup Device.
This is the most obvious but seldom done step to ensuring you can recover from computer failure. Backup devices come in many flavours but the primary three I will deal with are : USB keys, USB external Hard drives, and Network attached Hard drives.

USB Keys.
USB keys can store up to 8 gigabytes of data. That’s about 8 cd’s worth of data. If you have a large music or video collection a usb key may not have enough space to store your data. USB keys are small and easily lost!

USB External Hard Drive.
There is a huge selection available starting at around €90. Be careful and don’t buy the cheapest model as you will be relying on this device when your computer fails. Avoid the large capacity models, 750 gigabyte and over, as these drives need proper cooling and I’ve found that many of the cheaper models have no fan and overheat and fail. You must connect the drive to each computer you wish to backup and this can be a disadvantage if you have more than one pc in the house.

Network Attached Hard Drive.
These Hard drives are designed to run continuously and are normally attached to your broadband router. They offer the ideal solution for backup as any networked computer in the home can access and store information on the drive. You can also use them to store music and videos and thus reduce bloat on your pc. Remember if you store data on the drive and nowhere else you need to backup the drive to another device.

Backup Software
You can simply copy your information to your backup device but if your device comes with backup software I advise you to take advantage of it. Backup software normally allows for both scheduled unattended backups and also allows you to keep multiple copies of your data. Thus if you accidentally delete a file you can retrieve it from one of copies stored on your external device. Most of the external backup drives come with backup software included.

Conclusion:
Take the time to secure your data and I can assure you that in the future you will be glad you did.