| The question is not "if" your hard drive will die, it is | | | | longer need regular access to. They provide a |
| "when". All hard drives are mechanical devices and are | | | | relatively long shelf life and can be easily removed |
| prone to mechanical failure. With a little planning you | | | | and stored in an off-site location. Performing regular |
| can make sure your important files are all backed up | | | | backups to DVD can be time consuming and slow |
| so that you can be back up and running in as short | | | | compared to using an external hard drive or another |
| of time as possible. | | | | computer. Backing up to DVD's monthly is a relatively |
| External Hard Drive | | | | easy thing to do. |
| External hard drives are a fantastic way to backup | | | | Online Backup Service |
| the files on your computer. The speed and size now | | | | Online backup services are relatively new but provide |
| make it possible to backup all of your files, photos | | | | a extra level of protection against data loss. These |
| and important documents. Copying data can be done | | | | services usually have a software client that you install |
| manually, with a backup utility or with a combination | | | | on the local computer and they encrypt your data |
| of manual and automated means. Depending on your | | | | and transmit it to the services secure data center. |
| data, a backup utility might be the fastest way of | | | | Online backup services are convenient to use, can |
| backing up your computer to the drive. The built in | | | | give you near continuous data backup and give you |
| Windows Backup utility works amazingly well and can | | | | an off-site data backup in case of theft, fire, flood or |
| backup to an external drive easily. Backing up to can | | | | any other disaster that could destroy your local copy |
| easily be done once a week or more often. | | | | and backups. Online backup services are often a set |
| Another Computer | | | | and forget process. Backups can take place |
| Similar to an external hard drive if you have an extra | | | | whenever the computer is idle. |
| computer that you can connect to on a small home | | | | Conclusion |
| network you can easily use it as a backup drive. | | | | The best backup plan is to have both local backups |
| Depending on the size of your home network you | | | | and an off-site backup copy. Hard drives in external |
| might even have a dedicated backup server whose | | | | hard drives and other computers can fail, online |
| only purpose is to collect and backup data from the | | | | backup services may not have complete backups. It |
| other computers on your home network. Backing up | | | | is always best to have more that one backup of |
| to an computer can easily be done once a week or | | | | your data. The cost of both external hard drives and |
| more often. | | | | online backup services are economical that both can |
| DVD | | | | easily be used by the average home user. |
| DVD's are best for archiving old files that you no | | | | |