Computer Backups

The importance of computer backups

The importance of computer backupsBill Gates, founder of Microsoft once compared the computer industry with the automobile industry stating "If General Motors had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

General Motors responded by saying "That's true but who would want to drive a car that crashed twice a day?"The importance of computer backupsIt's not a matter of IF your computer is going to crash but a matter of WHEN.

WHEN your computer crashes you could lose all of your important documents, pictures, email, and other files that will be gone forever IF you don't have a reliable backup.

The importance of computer backupsIf a business were to lose all of its customer records, financial data, or programs & data critical to running the company it could possibly shut the business down temporarily or even permanently.

Even losing one critical file could cause major problems.

As a network administrator it's your job to make sure this NEVER happens.

History of BackupsOnce upon a time a FLOPPY DISK was an acceptable method for backing up or transferring data.

Today there is a wide range of choices for backing up and transferring data.

Comparison of old vs new media

16 GB DATA = $10.3016 GB DATA = $11,370Current Prices on Amazon.com Types of BackupsPortable storage devices such as USB Jump Drives are great for transferring data.

But for dedicated routine backups there are better choices.

External Hard DriveNetwork Attached StorageCloud Backups

External Hard DriveAn external hard drive equal or greater in size to your computers internal hard drive is an easy way to backup everything.

Most modern operating systems have a built in backup program or you can use a 3rd party backup solution such as Norton Ghost for Windows or Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac.

PROS: Inexpensive, Easy to Setup.CONS: May not survive a disaster such as a house fire or if your computer and external drive are stolen you are out of luck.

Network Attached StorageA Network Attached Storage (NAS) system is a backup server that acts as a local drive for computers on a local area network.

A NAS usually has redundant hard drives (RAID) and synchronization to another NAS at another location for further redundancy.

PROS: Extremely Reliable, Fast and Secure.CONS: Expensive and requires technical expertise to setup and manage.

Cloud BackupA cloud backup is actually a service that you pay for to have your data backed up over the Internet to a remote location.

Examples: Mozy, Carbonite, Backblaze

PROS: Affordable Monthly Fee, No Equipment to buy.CONS: Depending on your Internet connection can be slow to backup and restore files. Online SynchronizationSimilar to a cloud backup, online file synchronization services work like a Personal NAS that allows you to open and edit files from multiple locations and the changes stay in sync.

For instance you could work on a file on your home computer and any changes you made will be there when you get to work or school.

Example: DropBox.com

5 Reasons Every Teacher Needs a DropBox Account1: It's free - Well you get 2 Gb for free which is more than enough for me to save my teaching documents.

2: Seamless Synchronization. Youve just finished typing up your lesson plan for tomorrow on your home PC. Save it to your DropBox Folder and it will appear locally on every PC you have installed it on at work or at home in seconds. Don't stress if you get on a computer that does not have it installed you simply login to www.dropbox.com and you can upload and download all your files. Got an iPhone too, well all you need is the DropBox app and your files are all in your pocket.

3: Public folders: Got a homework sheet, video or photo that you wish to share with work mates or students simply save them to your public folder and everyone can access them via a URL.

4: Never lose anything - Total Security: If your laptop gets stolen, have a hard disk failure or have a technical disaster of some sort all of your documents will be sitting up safe and sound in the cloud ready for you to download at your leisure.

5: Say goodbye to disks and Memory Sticks forever: Remember when you install DropBox on a PC or Mac the computer views it as a physical drive like a memory stick. Click and save. Rename Files, whatever, no messy uploading and downloading or multiple files appearing. And best of all you won't need a memory stick or disk anymore.

www.thenerdyteacher.com/2010/03/dropbox-must-for-all-teachers.html

DropBox Features

Review3 Types of Backups1. External Hard Drive2. Network Attached Storage (NAS)3. Cloud Backups

What type of computer will never fail ?