Like most personal computer users out there, you may have data on your PC that is irreplaceable. Papers, essays, and articles that you are fighting to finish by the end of the semester. The resume that you spent hours trying to perfect and haven’t gotten the chance yet to send out to potential employers.
Photos of your children that seem to be growing and maturing at a rate that makes you think “I swear she just learned to walk the other day.” Saved data from Microsoft Money, Quicken, Quickbooks, or other money management software that keeps your finances in order. This data is important to you, and also like most PC users out there, you probably aren’t backing it up.
Being the Network Manager at the Standard-Examiner backups make me cringe on a day to day basis. Running 50+ servers in a mixed Operating System environment consisting of Linux, Unix, OS X, and Windows makes backups an every day battle. You may have heard the adage: “it’s not a matter of if a hard drive fails, it’s when”.
Coming from someone that has had years of experience in the computer world, this saying rings true and exemplifies the importance of data backups. Luckily for you, the end user, backups can be an easy, automated process. There are tons of solutions out there that make the backup of your personal computer extremely manageable and the majority of them can be had for free.
If you have found your way here to see which solution I recommend, then jump down to Mozy or Windows Live Sync (but don’t forget to read my warning on bandwidth issues).
Backing up Locally
The traditional method of backing up, backing up locally, can be done to a variety of devices such as a DVD burner, flash drive, external hard drive, a Windows Home Server, or NAS device. Probably the most cost effect way of doing so, with the decreasing cost of storage, is by using an external hard drive. Right now, a 1TB USB 2.0 drive can easily be found for around $100. Before going out and buying one, make sure that you check slickdeals.net or wait to see what kind of Black Friday hard drive deals will be available (or check the Black Friday inserts now).
Within the last couple of weeks, slickdeals has had a 1TB drive for $80 and a 1.5TB for $100, and traditionally, retailers have killer hard drive deals the day after Thanksgiving. Regardless of what storage type you choose, generally the process is the same. You select a file source, then a destination, choose some options, set a schedule, and then let it do its thing.
Centered Systems Second Copy, Acronis True Image, and Norton Ghost are all applications that I have used and work well in their own regards. Although they offer some advanced features, they all come with a price tag, and if you can get something similar for free . . . then why not?
Windows Backup
Windows Backup comes with your PC (if you are running windows of course) and gives you the convenience of scheduling and versioning (having multiple versions of the same file). If you are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, Microsoft has simplified the process of backing your precious files up from one place to another and has added the ability to backup your entire PC. Here is a quick how to on setting this up in Windows Vista (the process is very similar in Windows 7).
Synctoy
Synctoy, as its name implies, synchronizes files between two folders. This backup method is great because it copies your files in a manner that you can easily access them on your backup device. They show up as directories and files that you can browse from any computer without having to install any software or having to go through any special process. A tutorial on how to use Synctoy can be found here.
Backing Up Over the Internet
Local backups have their advantages (recovery time for example), but what happens if your house burns down, or someone breaks into your home and steals your computer? This is where off-site backups show their strengths. I personally keep both types of backups, but if I had to choose one, I would send my files into the cloud.
Some popular online backup solutions include Carbonite, Logmein Backup, and Buddy Backup (the latter two of which require two PCs in two different locations). You are more than welcome to check out these products (I have), but there are two solutions that I think are killer offerings.
Bandwidth Warning
Some internet service providers (locally to where I live there is Digis), will truncate your speed, charge you extra, or cut off your internet access if you transfer an excessive amount of data. Comcast limits its subscribers to 250GB of data transfer a month and some other heavy hitters are doing the same, but most people will not have this much data to backup. Also, after the initial backup, incremental data transfers should be a lot smaller.
Mozy
Mozy.com works similar to Windows Backup, but it encrypts and compresses the files that you choose and then sends them up to Mozy’s servers. Mozy keeps different versions of your files in case you save over a file that you didn’t mean too, and allows you recover your files from any computer that has an internet connection.
After the initial setup, the process is completely automated and costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited data. Yes, I said unlimited. So assuming you have the patience and the bandwidth, you could backup hundreds of gigs worth of music, videos, pictures, and documents. This process keeps your data safe and secure in some remote location away from any natural disaster that may come your way.
Windows Live Sync
Similar to Synctoy, Windows Live Sync (formerly Foldershare) lets you synchronize folders over the internet. This process works best with friends or family that also want to backup their data. You add computers to your account by installing the Windows Live Sync software, choose a folder to sync between the computers, and the files are compared and transferred.
This method keeps your files in sync and allows you to share music and photos with your family. Through the web interface you can also browse the hard drives of your synced computers (if enabled), and share folders for others on the internet to access.
As you can see, backing up doesn’t have to be a time consuming or expensive process. Whether you choose to backup locally, over the internet, or both, doing so will help ensure that those school papers, resumes, precious family photos, or other documents are safe and sound.
