The Best Guide for the BL0 Area

Backing Up Your Data

Published: 31st August 2008 14:03

Make Regular Backups - Protect your data from disaster

Backups are your last line of defence.

No matter what the disaster that strikes: Hardware failure, theft, fire, flood or viruses.
Ask yourself what would happen if you lost all your critical business data?
How long would it take you to recover?
How much disruption and delay would occur?

Backup tips

• Plan for the worst case. Think about the worst thing that could happen to your computer data and protect against that.
• Keep your data in one place on your computer, use a folder inside ‘My Documents', so that it can be easily backup up.
• Backup all your data (don't worry about the programs or operating system - they can be copied from the original disks).
• Test your backups - Every couple of months, restore some data to make sure that the backup system is working properly.
• Store some backups away from home or office in case your backup data gets stolen or damaged along with the computer.

It doesn't cost much to protect your data.

USB Memory Sticks Memory sticks plug into a computer's USB port.

Price: less than £20.

Capacity: 8 Gigabytes of storage.

External hard disks

An external hard disk that plugs into a computer's USB port is a fast, efficient way of backing up lots of data, but they are less convenient for keeping backups offsite.

Price: less than £50

Capacity: 120 Gigabytes of storage.

Recordable CDs / DVDs

With a CD/ DVD writer, it is easy to create a backup using blank CDs / DVDs.

Price: Most PCs come with DVD/ CD writers as standard - If you buy in bulk, CDs are about 20p each, DVDs are about 70p.

Capacity: up to 700 megabytes per CD, up to 4.7 gigabytes per DVD.

Tape Drives

Larger businesses use tape drives, such as DAT drives to make backups.

Price: Tape drives start at £250 and tapes cost about £10 each.

Capacity: DAT drives can store 36 gigabytes uncompressed, 72 gigabytes compressed.

Thanks to Phil Tickle from Banana IT for this article.

Email: phil.tickle@thinkbanana.com
Web: www.thinkbanana.com

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