Many businesses have a backup procedure already in place. However, they may not be aware of the alternatives to their current expensive, manual, archaic, tape-based backup processes. With business operations so reliant on information technology, it is vitally important to identify alternatives that can eliminate vulnerabilities. In addition, it is important to utilize an effective data protection service that will allow you to quickly restore business operations.

Because your life is on your computer Have you considered how much of your life is on your computer? Photos, emails, music, financial records, documents, and so much more. How would you feel if you woke up tomorrow and everything was gone?

With so many people using digital cameras, there is also a large amount of digital photos that need to be backed up. Unlike many other files, you usually can’t recreate the image of a digital photo. Many people, however, probably don’t think about backing up their images, and unfortunately they won’t unless something terrible happens.

Backing up your photos doesn’t have to be complex, but it may be necessary to protect your memories. To get you started, I will outline how I backup my digital photos.

1. The first thing I do is copy the digital photos from my memory card to an external hard drive. This allows provides me with easy access to my digital photos when I need them.
2. Unfortunately, if something were to happen to my home, I would lose that external hard drive. To ensure I won’t lose my photos, I also use an online backup provider, which provides offsite backup storage. A program in the background monitors the folders that contain my digital photos on the external hard drive, and then copies an changed/new files to an online server.
3. Once I have enough photos to fill a DVD, I back them up to two DVD’s. When dealing with optical discs, I always like to make two copies to ensure I won’t lose my data if one of the discs becomes corrupted. I then move these discs offsite (outside of my home) and keep them in a cool, dark place.
4. When I want to edit a photo, I copy the file from my external hard drive to the computer’s local hard drive. I modify the local copy while keeping the original intact.

By using the above data backup workflow I am able to keep my digital photos handy while also keeping than safe and secure. The important thing to note with regards to a backup workflow is to develop one that meets your needs. Make sure the workflow works for you, and if it doesn’t, you can modify it to make it so.

About the Author

Paul Salmon currently maintains Technically Easy, a blog that provides information on using various technologies. He also manages another blog that provides information on data backup.

While regular backups can help you restore your data, it isn’t much good if you backups aren’t safe as well. In this article I will outline some points that you should keep in mind when maintaining your data backups.

• Use high-quality media.

In computers not all components are created equal. Brand-name components are built better than cheaper no-name brands. This is extremely true for storage media, such as DVD’s. Cheap, bargain-basement, bulk spindles are no good for storing your data. They may not last a few months before being corrupt, and losing all your data. Your best bet is to use well-known brands such as Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, Sony or Mitsui Gold DVD.

• Always make more than one copy.

Most people probably only copy their data to one media or location. This means that if that media became damaged, you data could be lost. It is important, especially with optical discs, to copy your data to at least two places. Instead of burning one disc, burn two. This way if one disc becomes corrupted, you can, hopefully, still recover your data from the second copy.

• Store your backups offsite.

When it comes to backing up data, nothing is worse than an event destroying the original data and your data backups. This is why it is very important to store your data away from the location of the originals. For media such as optical discs and USB flash drives, simply move those to another building. Any easy way of storing your data offsite is to use an online data backup service provider. Simply backing up your data online automatically moves your data offsite.

• Store your backups properly.

The way your store your backup media is just as important as remember to actually do the backup. Make sure the media that contains your data is stored in a cool, dry, and dark place. For optical discs, store them in plastic jewel cases, then then store them on their side.

The above points should help you keep your data backups safe and secure. This will ensure that when you need your data, you can easily restore the files without any problems.

About the Author

Paul Salmon currently maintains Technically Easy, a blog that provides information on using various technologies. He also manages another blog that provides information on computer data backup.