Protect Your Data - Get a UPS

While this blog is mainly about data backups, and how to easily make copies of your data, it is also about protecting your files. While it is very important to make regular backups of your data, it is just as important to protect your data so you won't need to restore your files from the backups.

Most people, if not all, are using a surge protector to protect their computer from the power spikes that can occur from time to time. While you should be using a surge protector, they can't protect your computer 100% of the time. If there is enough of a surge that finds its way to your protector, it may just destroy the protector and everything attached to it.

Data Backup Plan: External Hard Drive and Optical Discs

In two previous posts I talked about using only an external hard drive or only optical discs for backing up your data. I also talked about the benefits and drawbacks of using only those two types of storage media.

In this post I will talk about a backup plan that includes both of those types of media to see if using them together will create a good backup data plan.

Data Backup Plan: Online Backup Solution

I have previously talked about backup plans that include some of the most popular methods of storing data: an external hard drive, optical discs, and USB flash drives. Now I will look at a plan that doesn't use a physical media: online storage.

This method of backing up your data has been gaining popularity over the past few years as the Internet connection speeds have increased. Now it is possible to keep your data safe and secure, while at the same time have access to it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Data Backup Plan: USB Flash Drives

The most popular data backup options are probably to use an external hard drive or optical discs, such as DVD discs. These two are popular because they have been around for a few years and are easy to find and buy.

Another good a solution is to use USB flash drives. These are also available anywhere, and now come in large enough capacities that make using them for data backup very easy.

Data Backup Plan: Optical Discs

I remember a time when computers weren't even sold with CD-ROM drives, let alone recordable CD-ROM drives. Back then, everything was done with a floppy disk. Now, CD-ROM drives have given way to DVD-ROM drives. It is hard to buy a computer today that doesn't even include a recordable DVD-ROM drive.

While affordable Blu-ray recordable drives are a few years off, today the more practical optical choice is that of the DVD. In this plan I talk about using only optical discs for backing up your data.