Backup Basics
Backing up personal or company data which is stored on your computer, server, or mobile device is a necessary, but often overlooked, part of the computing puzzle. In most cases, I recommend a combination of online backup and local backup to an external hard drive or set of drives. Not only is it necessary to make sure that backup of the proper data is taking place, it is also a good idea to periodically perform a test restore.
Online backup services such as Mozy.com, MozyPro and iBackup are a good start. The advantages of such services are that they are relatively inexpensive and run automatically without intervention. Online backups services usually only backup data WHICH HAS CHANGED since the last backup, so they usually run fast after the initial backup.
The main disadvantages of online backup are that they get really pricey to backup large amounts of data. Time to restore is dependent on the speed of the your Internet connection and can be really slow.
As with all backups, it’s important to monitor it to make sure that the backups are actually taking place. The backup application will usually indicate if something is not working, but it’s good to check anyway.
Backup to an external hard drive or set of drives has been around since before online backup became popular, and it remains a good option in many business environments and for some home users.
The main advantage of this type of backup is that it, in most cases, is MUCH quicker to restore data from an external drive than from an online backup. A second big advantage is that there are no recurring monthly expenses for backup (as opposed to online backup).
In most cases, I recommend adding a 2nd backup drive which can be inserted into the backup rotation and stored offsite. Another method is to periodically copy all of the backup data to the 2nd drive before storing offsite.
Backup can be configured from Windows operating systems such as XP, Vista, and Windows 7 as well as Windows Server 2003, Server 2008 and Small Business Server. A variety of options are available. On a Mac, backup is configured using the Time Machine utility, which is built in. iPad and iPhone use iTunes to configure backup and restore (see http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414 for more information.) Blackberry devices are backed up using Blackberry Desktop. Here is a guide to backing up Android devices.
