Emerging Networks

Ways to Back Up Data

With viruses and hackers lurking at every corner of the internet, the threat of loosing data is ever present. Whether you have a home based PC or a network at the office, it is important to have a copy of your data, saved at safe location just in case a virus decides to wreak havoc with your system. Taking back up of your data isn’t very complicated; all you need is a storage device and basic knowledge of software used to copy or burn data on different media such as CD or DVD. Here are a few common ways to copy and save your data.

A CD or DVD works best for personal data such as photographs and videos. They are also ideal for storing presentations, documents and other small size data required in the office. An office PC is in use at all times, mostly throughout the day thus more prone to crash. Thus, it is important that even minor, seemingly unimportant data is backed up in case it is required later. Such data can be easily stored on rewritable CD or DVD and deleted when it is not likely to be used again.

Flash drives work best for office use, the best part being they can be kept safely in your pocket. It is also simpler to use compared to CD or DVD as it acts as a regular drive where all you need to do is copy and paste the data to be backed up. There is no need of software to burn the data. The drawback is that it is prone to virus attack, especially those meant to attack USB drives. It is important that your format and scan the drive before saving any sensitive data.

Apart from this, you can also back up your precious data online using FTP. Though security of the data may seem like a problem, most FTP sites are secure and also back up the data again on DVD. This is the best option when you don’t have very large data but nevertheless it is important.

Though saving your data on another media is the best option, you must also keep a copy of important data on your hard drive. For instance, if you save pictures in the C drive, which is the system drive, you must take a back up on D drive. This works best in case the system crashes wiping off your C drive, however your data remains safe in the D drive.

The type of back up used depends entirely on your requirement. In case you have a small or medium sized business you can always buy storage devices or space on the internet to back up your data.