Back the F:\ Up!!!

by Deric Stowell on June 23rd, 2010

Check it out!: Image by James Glover via Flickr

“Do you backup your computer?”

I tend to ask this question of lots of people. And every person, it seems, asks “Why should I choose remote backup? ” I am also told about how a person is currently backuing up their system using anything from a USB Flash drive, an external hard drive, even floppy disks. Lets face it, floppy disks have gone the way of the dodo bird….. long extinct.

Computers are everywhere. We use them for email, for storing our most important documents, for storing precious memories, for everything that has to be recorded and created relating to our businesses.

But few of us realize how quickly this information could be lost forever. I have seen instances where a person has just finished backing everything up to their USB drive, only to have it fail 5 minutes later. I have had customers backup their hard drives in preperation for upgrading the computer to a new hard drive or a new OS, and then when they are ready to restore their backup, the drive has failed. Many things can contribute to this kind of situation. But one thing is certain. If they had an online backup their data would have been safe and secure, and then they would not have had that problem. And usually, when a hard drive fails, it’s impossible (or very expensive) to get any data off of them.

“I Do My Own Backups”

One of the most common rebuttals to my question is the standard “But I do my own backups.”

The first problem with traditional backups like tapes or external drives is the startup costs. You have to buy and install a drive, you have to buy software to do the backups(the free software included with the drives is usually not very good), and then you have to buy a set of tapes to store your data. Quite often, you’ve spent over $1000 dollars before you’ve done your first backup.

The second problem with traditional backups is that they are on-site backups. If there is a fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, or theft, your on-site backups are probably lost at the same time as your computer.

The third problem with traditional backups is that they are complicated to setup and difficult to maintain. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Should I be using Weekly Tape 2 or 4 today?” then you know what a distraction this can be.

When is the last time that you actually tested your backup, ie restored the data to a new hard drive to make sure you know what to do when the need arises? this si something that i can help you with should you need to complete this step.

“I Don’t Need a Backup”

I hear this from a lot of people. My answer to this is “Can you afford to lose everything you own right now?” If you are like me, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Backups can protect you from Viruses

Backups can protect you from hardware failures.

Backups can protect you from theft.

Backups can protect you from fires, floods, and other natural disasters.

“I Don’t Want to Put My Data Out There. It’s not Secure!”

I hear this from A lot of peoplle I talk to. The backup system that i sell and support, MozyHome, gives you the ability to select your data’s encryption method: a MozyHome key with 448-bit Blowfish encryption or your own personal key with 256-bit AES encryption. Your files are encrypted on your computer using the key of your choice and then transferred to the Mozy servers using 128-bit SSL encryption, the industry standard for safe and secure data transfer.