| This being the age of internet, chat rooms, blogging | | | | way more space. DVD RWs can be used in such a |
| and innovative hackers, their expectation never gets | | | | way that literally every bit is used to store |
| fulfilled. The news always leaks out or is methodically | | | | information. A DVD also has the same facilities when |
| publicised by a rival or a gleeful hacker. Thereafter, | | | | it comes to sharing and easy transporting. However, |
| insult is added to their injury as irate customers and | | | | the DVD RW, many market observers feel, may turn |
| the eager press demand explanations about every | | | | out to be an intermediate technology and be |
| unsavoury detail of the incident. But data loss is not a | | | | replaced by something superior but very similar in |
| problem affecting only the big players only any more. | | | | function, or may evolve in such a way that the |
| All of us deal with some amount of data and almost | | | | problems would get solved. It must be noted here |
| all of it is important to us. Albums have been replaced | | | | that the constant research in this regard, and |
| by .jpeg files, our music is inside the hard drive of our | | | | inventions like the Blue Ray disk etc. point out that |
| pc or laptop, and our emails are stored in offline | | | | we can hope for a better technology soon. |
| folders or software like Microsoft Outlook. Students | | | | USB Devices: These are the new favourites all over |
| keep their study material in their machines, and a | | | | the world. The greatest proof of the popularity of |
| doctoral thesis is usually a file on the hard disk instead | | | | this technology lies in two facts. Firstly, the storage |
| of being a thick volume bound in leather covers. It is, | | | | space of pen drives / flash drives/ memory sticks is |
| therefore, strange that we keep losing data because | | | | constantly increasing. Secondly, their prices are |
| we have not taken the precaution of backing it up | | | | plummeting downwards rapidly. Almost all kinds of |
| elsewhere. Several start-up home businesses have | | | | files can be stored on these; they are very easy to |
| not seen the light of the day anymore after an initial | | | | carry, do not require a separate software or booting |
| incident of data loss. All of this underlines the | | | | up of the machine to start functioning, and it is very |
| importance of backup, which really cannot be | | | | convenient to share the data stored on them. For |
| overstressed. | | | | storing smaller music libraries, an iPod may be an |
| Some Methods of Obtaining Backups | | | | option too. |
| The method, or rather, the medium chosen for | | | | External Hard Drives: For larger data storage |
| backing up data will depend on the volume of data to | | | | requirements, external hard drives are excellent |
| be stored, as well as the nature of the data. Some | | | | solutions. Arrays or stacks of hard drives are available |
| common methods are being enlisted below: | | | | for corporate purposes and are provided by all good |
| CD and Floppy: The floppy has largely gone out of | | | | hard drive manufacturers. Seagate, Maxtor, ASB, |
| use by now, due to its many limitations, small | | | | LaCie all make external hard drives of varying |
| capacity and security problems. The CD is a good | | | | capacities and prices. |
| choice for obtaining backups, and is one of the | | | | Online and Offline Storage Spaces: These are 'spaces' |
| favourite choices in both domestic and corporate | | | | provided by professional firms, and are extremely |
| spheres. It is cheap, readily available, portable and | | | | secure for sensitive data storage. |
| compatible with several file formats. Storing a CD and | | | | Tapes and Printouts: Traditional storage should not be |
| sharing information from it are also quite simple. | | | | left out of the list. There is some information that |
| DVD: The DVD is a good choice for storing audio | | | | one simply needs to see on the good old piece of |
| visual information. It may not be as cheap as the CD, | | | | paper. Tape has been in use for a long time now, and |
| but offers better quality, often lasts longer, and has | | | | will probably continue for some time. |