How valuable is your data?

I want to ask you a question. What value is your data? I mean, if you lost all the data on your computer, how much would you lose. Most of us would undervalue their data. Could you go back and recreate your financial data from Quickbooks? I know that I couldn’t. What about valuable documents or sentimental digital pictures? With this in mind, here are some questions answered about backups.

Remember to email me your questions so I can get them in one of the articles.

Here we go:

Q. What backup options are available?

A. A backup is simply a copy of your important data files. Your options range from the simple 3.5” floppy disk, to a removable cartridge drive, a tape drive, a CD-R or CD-RW drive, or even a second hard drive. In a business environment, you may opt to back up to a network device, such as a server, which should then have it’s own back up. Finally, Internet users can also backup to an online source. These companies usually charge a monthly fee to cover server up keep.

Q. What’s the best option?

A. After considering budget and equipment, the best option is one that you will use regularly. If you don’t use it, it doesn’t do you any good. Most desktop computers would benefit from something installed in the local machine. Something with removable media, such as a Zip drive or a CD burner would work nicely. Tape drives are the more expensive option. A CD Burner with CD-RW media (That’s the rewrite able kind) can turn a CD into a 650 MB floppy drive. It makes a convenient way to drag and drop files onto a CD that you can take back and forth between work and home or store offsite for safe keeping.

Q. What files should I backup?

A. The main objective in your backup routine is to protect the data files that contain information that you don’t have somewhere else. Text documents, spreadsheets, financial records, and databases should top the list. Data that doesn’t change such as audio or pictures should be backed up once and then stored off site. It wouldn’t make sense to include these on a regular backup that is done daily, weekly, or monthly. The same goes for program files. As long as you have the installation disks, you don’t need to take up space on your regular backups.

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