Effective Data Backup Solutions

backupThere is one aspect of computers that people tend to neglect, and that is backing up their data. Even if you are someone who has never had to deal with data loss, it could happen at any moment to anyone and you should be prepared and the best way to be prepared is to make sure you have your data stored on an external device other than your computer. In this post, I talk about the different ways you can store your data externally.

Network Attached Storage

Network Attached Storage, or NAS, is a storage device that is not connected to your computer, but is connected to your Wi-Fi or wired network. You can access this storage device through your computer and add your important data you need to keep safe. Your PC treats this as any other storage device, it will show up on your computer as a folder. The only difference is that it does not attach to the computer to be successful. It also has the ability to add your data automatically on a regular schedule, this way you do not forget to add a particular piece of data that could be very important. You also have access to your storage device over the Internet.

External Hard drives with Backup Software

The most popular way to backup your data is an external hard drive, which has a prepackaged software that duplicates your files and saves them on a secure device. Most external hard drives are easy to use, all you have to do is press a button and all of your information will be added the external hard drive. Some of these types of hard drives have a web interface as well, so you can access your files from anywhere, as they are stored online as well as on your hard drive.

Online Options

There are many ways to store your data solely online. This is a great idea, especially if you want to share data across many different PCs. You see these mostly in business situations. Some of these online drives are accessed through your web browser, such as Google Drive, while others can be attached to your computer just like another drive, such as Dropbox. Whichever method you choose, an online option can be great because no matter what happens, this data will never be deleted, even if your house burns to the ground.

USB Flash drives

Flash drives are great for carrying around small pieces of data that are very important to you. For example, if you have a presentation that you spent 16 hours creating, you will want to save it in more than one place and a flash drive is a great way to do this. Flash drives are more for traveling from place to place. They are usually not big enough for all of you data, just what is important at that moment.

Time Machine & Windows Backup

Time Machine is Macs version of a storage program already on your computer. It is an excellent built-in program that allows you to back up your data manually or you can set it up to back up automatically. You can also restore data from a certain point in the past.

Windows has two built-in programs to back up your data. These are System Restore and Backup. System Restore is automated and is intended to rescue your PC in the event of a catastrophe failure or infection. Backup is run manually and will launch a Wizard to help you through the backup process and make sure you get all your information stored.

DVD/CD

Blank CDs and DVDs are cheap ways to save extra copies of important data, but unfortunately you cannot add once you have burned the CD or DVD. If you want to add more documents of data, you have to re-burn the entire CD or DVD. Also, backing up your data this way can be time consuming and hard.

If you need help decided which drives to use for your data or if you have lost your data, call Datatech Labs for our data recovery services at 888-288-DATA today!