The data on your hard drive is the most critical item inside your computer, and the only item which can not be replaced. It may be an unwanted hassle and expense to replace a defective memory module, monitor, or processor, but there is no replacing data once lost.
1. USB Flash Drives— Although I am not recommending that flash drives be used for the actual data storage, they are a convenient means of transferring data from one computer to another. Mass storage is obviously not an option, but even 512MB may be enough to backup your “My Documents” folder, several albums of MP3s, or other important files to be stored elsewhere.
2. CD and DVD Writers/Re-Writers—The extremely low price of the drive (and the blank media) makes for an inexpensive means of creating data backups, and the re-writable media increases the convenience by allowing the same disc to be erased and reused many times. The main limitation of using a CD writer for data backups is that the discs are generally limited to a capacity of 700MB per disc. Not nearly enough for a full backup, but adequate for archiving key files.
3. External Hard Drives— Installation for such a device is rather simple, and may involve the installation of some basic software, as well as making the necessary connections between the computer and the external enclosure. The capacity of external hard drives makes them ideal for backing up large volumes of data, and many of these devices simplify the process by including software (or hardware) features to automate the backup.
4. Additional Hard Drives— By simply adding an additional internal hard drive to you system, you can protect yourself from data loss by copying it from your primary drive to your secondary drive. To take the installation of a second hard drive to another level of security and reliability, the hard drives may be installed in a RAID array.
5. Online Storage— Online services allow users to upload their files to a server for safe keeping. This is an excellent choice for backup redundancy as it provides an alternative off-site storage location, safe from fires, floods, etc.
Final Words— Although not a comprehensive list of options available for backing up your data, the five items listed provide some simple and relatively affordable means to ensure that data is not lost.
