| More than normal I am getting the frantic phone calls | | | | Local backup works and in most cases it works |
| from friends and family... "my hard drive crashed," or | | | | perfectly. What is DOES NOT do is provide |
| "I can't start-up my computer," or "I am getting | | | | protection against theft, fire/flood/other physical |
| some funny message on my screen." | | | | disaster, does not support remote access (in most |
| Not good news, especially if you don't have a copy | | | | cases,) and in some cases it does not provide |
| of your precious data/media. | | | | protection from multiple equipment failure. That is |
| In most cases I am able to help folks and restore | | | | where online backup services play a helpful role. |
| their computer back to normal... a few high-fives and | | | | 3) An online/cloud/remote backup storage solution |
| all is well. However, in some cases a hard drive fails | | | | (Ex. MobileMe, Mozy) |
| or a piece of malware has done some bad things to | | | | Online backup is storage of your data in a remote |
| the data - and then I am forced into having a | | | | location (cloud) somewhere out there on the Internet |
| challenging conversation about data recovery and | | | | - usually in a location with many computers and |
| associated costs/risks of losing the data. Not a good | | | | where real estate is extremely inexpensive. |
| conversation for either person, especially when the | | | | Companies position these services as a "SAAS Model" |
| data is so valuable. | | | | (software as a service) and they continue to |
| In these situations I've learned the hard way - it's | | | | become very popular. Over time you will begin to see |
| best to wait until the situation is not so tenuous | | | | most software distributed this way (Ex. Microsoft |
| before lecturing friends and family about backup | | | | Office Live,) especially as high-speed Internet access |
| strategies. So now I can point everyone to this Blog | | | | becomes ubiquitous. This model makes perfect sense |
| post and avoid the funny faces, the "I know, I | | | | as consumers replace their devices often, want |
| knows" and my own hot air explaining the importance | | | | immediate access to their data from multiple locations |
| of back-up. | | | | (home, office, iPhone, car, etc.) and don't want to |
| The simple answer to securing your VERY precious | | | | fuss with upgrades and CDs, etc. |
| data (papers, financials, music, pictures, etc.) is to | | | | The online backup software runs in the background |
| automatically back it up so that data exists in three | | | | on your computer (or network) on a predefined |
| locations. This will take some initial setup work, then | | | | schedule, typically once a day. This program collects, |
| you should never have to worry about backup until | | | | compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to a |
| you actually need the data (or a piece of equipment | | | | remote backup service provider. |
| fails.) | | | | Benefits include: |
| Why three locations? | | | | - No user intervention, automatic |
| 1) Original location (local hard drive, network drive, | | | | - No tapes, cds or other manual steps |
| etc.) | | | | - Maintains data in a remote location |
| This is self-explanatory - you create the data and | | | | - No equipment storage limitations |
| click "save." | | | | - Secure (encrypted) |
| 2) Local/portable backup solution (Ex. NAS drive | | | | - Some vendors provide remote access to the data |
| (Network Area Storage,) external USB hard drive, | | | | Downsides include: |
| thumb drive, CD/DVD, etc.) | | | | - VERY slow to download and upload large amounts |
| This is the typical back-up solution. For the most part | | | | of data as you are typically limited by your local |
| - it's a good solution and solves the problem of | | | | Internet connection speed and available network |
| backup. Drives and media are rather inexpensive and | | | | bandwidth. This is usually not an issue on a daily basis |
| easy to use. Most people use a manual process to | | | | as you only backup incremental data, which typically |
| backup their data this way. They wait until the end | | | | happens in the background when you are sleeping. |
| of the week, month, or when their computer is | | | | - VERY frustrating trying to restore 80 gigs of digital |
| acting funny. It the reminder... Ooops I better backup | | | | music if your hard drive crashes - that will likely take |
| my stuff. More sophisticated folks use a NAS drive | | | | weeks to restore online. This can be a big issue for |
| and software to automatically backup their data | | | | some and most vendors will sell you the option to |
| nightly. Others even more sophisticated, setup RAID | | | | restore from a DVD they will create and send you |
| solutions to automatically mirror their data to other | | | | for extra $$$. |
| local hard drives. | | | | |