Computer Backups
What Should You Back Up?
Ideally, you should back up everything. However, depending on the speed
of your computer, the size of your hard drive, and the type of backup
hardware you want to use, backing up every file each time you do a backup
may not be the most practical approach to take. Although I do recommend
initially performing a full backup of all your data, the regular backups
you perform from then on should be concentrated on the data that matters
most to you.
In most situations, it isn't necessary for you to back up the programs you
have installed on your computer. The applications, games, or utilities you
currently have, as well as the operating system, most likely can be
reinstalled using the original disks or downloaded again. Yes, this could
be a bit bothersome, but certainly not devastating.
Here are some recommendations regarding specific data you may want to back
up:
Depending upon the specific system configuration, the locations may vary
slightly. However, you can always search for the filename.
My Documents: Usually located on the C: drive, My Documents is
where many applications save your data by default. Back up this and any
other folder you normally use to store data.
Databases: These are personal information files, such as bank
account or tax information, stored by programs such as Quicken or
TurboTax. These files are often stored in their corresponding program
folders.
E-mail: This is an important collection of data that many people
forget to back up. It includes all of your e-mail correspondence and your
address book. The location where e-mail is stored may vary, depending on
the e-mail program you use. For Microsoft Outlook Express, e-mail should
be located at C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express, and
your address book should be located at C:\Windows\Application
Data\Microsoft\Address Book. If you're using Microsoft Outlook, you should
search for the personal folders file named outlook.pst.
Favorites: If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer, your Web
favorites can be found at C:\Windows\Favorites. If you're using Netscape,
click Start, choose Find, and search your C: drive for a file named
bookmark.htm -- this file contains all of your bookmarks.
Anything you think is important: The items mentioned here are
not, by any means, meant to constitute a complete list. If you have data
you believe to be important, then I fully support backing it up, too.
Where to Store Your Backups
No matter what media you use for your backups, they must be stored
carefully -- after all, if the media is damaged, the backup is worthless.
When storing media, use some commonsense rules: store them away from
extreme heat, cold, and dampness; away from electrical or magnetic
devices; and, if possible, at a different location than your computer.
Keeping backups in your desk drawer may be handy, but it doesn't protect
them from fire, floods, theft, or mischievous children.
The term "media" refers to the type of storage, such as a disk, on which
you store your backup data.
You should also think carefully about any other threats that the backups
might face while in storage or in transit to storage. I know of a case
where a system administrator transported the backups to a remote vault in
his luxury car every afternoon on the way home from work. Unfortunately,
the car had heated seats and the magnetic field generated by the heating
coils actually destroyed the backups before they were put in the vault
each day!
TIP
Some safe ideas for storage places include a friend's home (the further
away from your house, the better), a fireproof container stored in an
environmentally controlled location or a bank safe deposit box.
Computer Backups
Develop Your Backup Plan
After you've analyzed the risks to determine appropriate risk
management techniques and come to a conclusion about the specific data on
your system that should be protected, develop a backup plan. It might even
be a good idea to write it down so that you can reference it later. The
backup plan should include the following elements:
The types of protective measures that you're planning to take. This should
include, at a minimum, data backups and virus protection.
The specific data that will be protected. You probably decided this after
reading the "What Should You Back Up?" part of this lesson.
The type of backup media that you'll use to store your data. Your plan
should also include the way this media will be stored. The selection of
backup media is covered in Lesson 2.
In this lesson, you learned a bit about data protection and backup
techniques. Lesson 2 delves right into the various types of backup media
that you may want to use. Before you move on to Lesson 2, be sure to
complete the assignment for this lesson and take the quiz. Don't forget to
stop by the course Message Board to see what your fellow students have to
say!
Lesson 2: Select Backup Media
Once you've decided what data you'd like to back up, the next logical
question is: What type of backup device should you use? In this lesson,
you learn the pros and cons for various types of backup media, including
floppy diskettes, CDs/DVDs, backup tapes, remote file storage, and more!
Choose the Media
One of the most important decisions you make during the backup planning
process is the choice of backup media for your environment. You have a
wide variety to choose from: floppy disks, optical media, magnetic tapes,
remote backup, or other solutions.
The backup media decision influences the entire backup planning process.
An easy way to remember these influences is through the three Cs of data
protection:
Capacity: Different types of media have wide-ranging capacities to
store data. A floppy disk may only be able to store a little over a
megabyte, while magnetic tapes are capable of storing gigabytes of data.
Cost: Costs are extremely variable. Floppy disks and CD-Rs are
available for mere pennies, whereas DVD-Rs can cost up to $10 each.
Magnetic tape and remote storage solutions can easily run into the
hundreds or thousands of dollars. When considering cost, it's important to
take into account two separate components: the cost of the media and the
cost of the equipment necessary to read and write that media. Although the
equipment is usually a one-time fixed cost, the media represents a
variable cost -- you need to purchase media as time goes on to build an
archive of old backups and replace worn media.
Convenience: A backup solution does you no good if you're not
willing to keep current on your backups. Some backup solutions are
completely automated, requiring no operator intervention, whereas others
may require a significant investment of time on your part for changing
media, initiating backups, and other administrative tasks.
When you select media, you need to balance these three concerns based
upon your personal needs. If cost is not an issue, you can choose the
solution that maximizes capacity and convenience. However, most people
have cost limitations and must strive to seek some balance.
In this lesson, we take a detailed look at four common types of backup
media from the perspective of the three C's.
Computer Backups
Understand Magnetic Media
When people first think of backup solutions, they often think of
magnetic disks in one form or another. This type of media has been around
for decades and does indeed represent a significant percentage of home
backup solutions.
There are several common magnetic disk options used in backup solutions:
Floppy disks are the cheapest form of backup and are extremely
portable -- almost every desktop computer in existence has a floppy
diskette drive, although the newer computers are coming without floppy
drives installed. The old standard (which has been in place for more than
10 years) is the 3.5-inch floppy diskette, which has a storage capacity of
1.44 MB. Floppy diskettes are erasable and rewritable. Due to their
extremely limited capacity, the utility of floppy diskettes is restricted
to backing up very small quantities of data or exchanging files between
computers. Not recommended.
 ZIP disks are
becoming increasingly common backup solutions. They function in a manner
similar to floppy diskettes and are also erasable and rewritable, but
their capacity is 100-250 MB, depending upon the type and the recording
device. They cost approximately $10 each, with the 250-MB disks being
slightly more expensive than the 100-MB disks. The significant limitations
to ZIP disks are the relatively low incidence of ZIP drives and the fact
that with today's multi-GB hard drives, most people have more than 250 MB
of data to backup.
JAZ disks answer the capacity limitations of ZIP disks. They
utilize the same basic technology to hold 1-2 GB of data, but they require
different, more expensive devices to read and write. They are an extremely
useful solution for the home user with limited amounts of data to back up
and a decent-sized pocketbook. JAZ disks cost approximately $100 each,
with the 2-GB disks being slightly more expensive than the 1-GB disks.
WARNING
Some people consider the use of multiple hard drives to be an effective
backup solution. They simply put two hard drives in their system and
either manually or automatically copy the data on one to the other at
periodic intervals. However, this raises significant security concerns.
After all, if an earthquake or fire comes along and destroys your
computer, both the primary and the backup hard drive will be wiped out!
If you choose a magnetic disk option, remember that it's necessary to
replace the diskettes from time to time, according to the manufacturer's
specifications. Diskettes do eventually wear out and you don't want to
discover that your backup media's time has come when you're attempting an
emergency restore!
Explore Optical Media
Almost every computer user is familiar with the use of CD-ROMs to
transfer data. In fact, when you purchase new software from a store, it
most likely comes on a CD. You may not know that optical media like CDs
and DVDs can also be used for backup purposes.
Many computers now have the capability to burn (record) data on CDs and
even DVDs (although DVD burning capability is not yet as common). If your
computer doesn't have this capability, you can add it through a simple
hardware upgrade that can be accomplished at any computer store (or even
at home, if you're technically inclined).
CDs and DVDs are known as optical media because of the fact that
they use laser light to record and read data. (Traditional disk drives use
magnetism for the same purpose and are therefore referred to as magnetic
media.) Optical media comes in several forms:
Read-Only Memory (ROM) format: CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs are designed so
that the end user can only read the data stored on them. Data may not be
written or modified on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. This is the format you're
familiar with from purchasing software.
Recordable (R) format: CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are purchased blank and
users with CD or DVD burners may write data to them. However, this process
is permanent. Once data is written to a CD-R or DVD-R, it may not be
deleted or modified.
Rewritable (RW) format: CD-RWs and DVD-RWs function in the same
manner as recordable optical media, but users may erase and modify data
stored on them.
Recordable CDs are capable of storing 640 MB of data. DVD-Rs, on the
other hand, are capable of storing up to 4.7 GB (that's approximately
4,700 MB) on each disk. At first glance, this seems like a no-brainer.
After all, a DVD-R can hold more than seven times as much data as a CD-R.
However, recall the three Cs of backup media. DVD-Rs certainly have an
advantage when it comes to capacity and convenience.
The trade-off occurs with cost. Blank CD-Rs can be found for less than
15 cents each if you shop around. DVD-Rs, on the other hand, are rarely on
sale and normally go for about $2.50 each. If you divide the capacity by
the cost, you find that DVD-Rs provide about 1.8 GB of storage per dollar,
whereas CD-Rs provide 4.3 GB of storage for the same price.
Hardware cost also varies significantly for optical media drives. CD
burners can be found for less than $40, whereas DVD burners cost up to
$100 each.
It's also quite likely that you already have either CD or DVD burners
installed on your computer, so if you're storing data in the low gigabyte
range, optical media may be the most effective solution for your backup
strategy.
Look at Magnetic Tapes
Before the advent of high-capacity diskettes and optical media, the
only available solution for large-scale backups was magnetic tapes. They
come in a variety of forms, ranging from large reel-to-reel tapes, which
are used to store massive amounts of data, to small cartridges used in
smaller environments.
Magnetic tapes can hold large amounts of data, but they have significant
limitations. First, they're expensive and require more maintenance than
other solutions due to the number of moving parts involved in their
hardware. Second, the data recovery process from magnetic tapes tends to
be much slower than from other types of media because magnetic tapes must
be accessed sequentially rather than randomly. When using magnetic disks
or optical media, you access data randomly -- that is, the drive can read
data from any portion of the media by simply moving the magnetic arm or
laser to that portion of the media and beginning to read. The components
that read data from tapes, though, do not have instant access to every
portion of the tape. When data needs to be retrieved from the end of the
tape, the machine must fast-forward the tape until the portion containing
the requested file is under the read head.
Tapes are still used in many environments because of their massive storage
capabilities. However, most home users tend to shun these devices in favor
of the more practical optical media or high-capacity magnetic disks.
Computer Backups
Understand Remote Backups
With the widespread adoption of high-speed networking and broadband
Internet connections,
 it's
become possible to move previously inconceivable amounts of data over a
network at rapid speeds. Today's basic LAN (local area network) technology
can move data at speeds of 100 megabits per second! That makes moving
gigabytes of data take minutes instead of days.
This high-speed data transfer capability has led many users to back up
their computers by transferring the data to another computer, either in
the same building or across the Internet. A number of commercial services
(such as
Automatic Backups) provide secure servers on the Internet where you
can store your data.
Many homes now have multiple computers, and it's possible to simply
transfer data over a home network to back up one computer to the other. In
fact, many two-computer households create mutual backup scenarios where
both computers store their backups on the other. This is actually quite an
efficient solution in meeting many backup requirements -- but don't forget
that the same threat that destroys one computer might also destroy the
other. For example, if the house burns down, both computers are destroyed,
and there's no safe backup of the data. (On the other hand, if your house
burns down, you probably have bigger things to worry about than your
computer data.) This is where cost and benefit analysis comes into play.
If your computers contain data that you can't live without, a mutual
backup scenario is not for you. On the other hand, it may represent an
extremely cost-effective solution if you're willing to take on the added
risk.
Use a Variety of Techniques
You don't have to select a single type of backup media for your personal
data protection solution. It's definitely possible to develop a hybrid
solution that uses several different types of media to suit your needs.
For example, you might run a full backup of your system to DVD-RW media
every week but save extremely important files to a floppy disk or CD-RW
each time you modify them, just to be on the safe side.
Computer Backups
On to Lesson 4...
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if your computer
suddenly is gone?
data
use a technique known as vulnerability assessment to evaluate the risks
facing their environment. This is a formal process that involves a good
deal of documentation and structured risk analysis. You're obviously not
going to conduct weeks of meetings and formal analysis to protect your
home computer, but you can certainly take a few lessons to heart from the
professionals. Let's take a look at a simplified vulnerability assessment
that you might want to perform for your home system:
Risk
avoidance: This is usually the least acceptable option. In this case,
you say that the risk of maintaining your data is so unacceptably high
that you won't try to preserve it at all. It's the equivalent of simply
getting rid of your computer. 