You should begin by deciding where you will be backing up the computer to.Ideally you should use an external hard drive that has enough disk space to store copies of everything that is on your current hard drive.In order to find out how large your external device needs to be, on your windows PC click the right mouse button on the hard drive in ‘My Computer’ then select the ‘Properties’ item in the menu.  This will tell you the size of your current hard drive. 

Once you have purchased a suitably sized external hard disk, you should get some suitable backup software.  You have several options, however Norton Ghost is perfectly suited to the task.

Plug in the USB drive and by following the manufacturers instructions you should then load up the backup software.Once it has loaded, you should then create and run the backup.This may take some time, depending on the size of the hard drive being copied so you should be prepared to wait a while.Once all the data has been copied, check the files and folders on your USB drive to make sure that all the essential files have been copies and that you haven’t overlooked anything.

If this seems like a complicated process then do bear in mind there are lots of online data backup companies that you can make the process much easier for you.

The purpose for the data backup is so that in the event anything were ever to happen to your computer, for instance if it were to get a virus or something else were to happen that disrupted or even completely deleted any of your files or personal information, you would have the data backup and so you would be able to get all the data back.

There are a few different options that you can choose from when it comes to data backup, including online data backup for one because it is so convenient and because it is often free as well.

What Is Required

There are many different methods that you can choose to use to backup your computer data, but regardless there are a few things that you are going to require. All that is required to store your information on a drive or disk separate from your computer will depend on the method that you choose.

For instance if you operate on a home LAN system, you can transfer your files onto the other computers on the network so that if the computer you use primarily even went down you would have the information still stored on these other computers.

If you want to go with the online data backup option, there are a couple of online companies in particular that you are going to want to consider for their data backup services. This includes Storage Pipe for one, a company that is known for providing world-class corporate data protection solutions including online backup and recovery.

They allow for small to large businesses to decrease operations costs and complexity, and for quite affordable prices.

Another great company that you may want to consider here is Data Protection, which is a privately held company that offers effective data backup solutions. They are focused solely on backup and storage for business clients and they have designed an easily managed and quite affordable solution that is scalable.

They understand that the handling of data has evolved significantly in the past few years in response to security threats and legislative acts addressing privacy and financial reporting issues and they have made the proper steps to keep up with these advancements.

1) Next, determine the approximate quantity and file sizes you will be backing up.

2) Figure out the quantity and file sizes of any documents or applications you may want to archive permanantly to a backup device or removable media.

3) Plan for that amount of information to grow in the future.

4) You should work out your budget for a backup storage device and removable media to use with it.

5) Consider if you plan to archive photographs or scanned files, need portability of the media or the drive itself, wish to record sound or music for playback on other equipment, or need ease of use.Weigh these factors along with your need to back up the files.

6) Work out the total cost per MB of media for each drive you are considering.zip drives themselves are cheap however the disks aren't.

7) You may want to consider buying a 100MB zip drive if you need limited storage capability (less than 1GB).  An external parallel port or USB Zip drive provides the most versatility and portability.Consider buying a 250MB Zip drive if your storage requirements are moderate (a few GB). 

8) Buy an internal zip drive if you will only use the drive for backup and you are able to install it by yourself (installation fees add up).

9) You may want to consider buying yourself a CD-RW drive if your storage needs are more moderate and you will regularly back up more than 500MB of data.

10) Buy a Jaz drive or even a tape backup drive if you will be backing up large amounts of data regularly.

11) Buy an external hard disk if you will need a lot of space, wont be keeping old backups and dont need portability.

12)  If you require additional security, data protection and the ability to recover your data quickly then online data backup should be a serious consideration.

Data is often the most important part of computer usage as it can take months or years to accumulate relevant information.As technology becomes more reliable, the risk of losing information has been significantly reduced however it would be needless to lose documents due to lengths that you could have taken to prevent such an occurence. 

There are several formats of media that will allow your data to be backed up up.  Commonly used devices are external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, USB drives and for more sensitive information there are companies and services which will provide you with secure online data backup.  Whenever you backup data to an external device, said device should be stored in a different location from the original computer in case a fire or local electrical surge should damage the data backup hardware.

Data backup is most useful when done constantly and within reason.For example – if you are working on a lengthy report, you should not wait a significant amount of time before saving your work.  Consider the effort that it would take to redo the work since the last save in the case of a crash and make a judgement call as to how often you save your work.

Data backup has long been a priority of computer users who need to protect their information.Several years ago floppy disks and CDs were the popular way to save data, with USBs being the preferred means in subsequent years.These have their shortfalls and with the added element of data being lost due to human error, a secure alternative is needed.What happens in businesses where losing data can have significantly damaging consequeunces? 

What is Online Data Backup?

Online data backup solutions are a proven alternative to the traditional storage of valuable data.The user software is installed on the PC or server which is to be backed up.The software enables the IT manager to select which data to be backed up and when.  It then manages the connection to the internet and the encryption of the data to be backed up before it is transferred to secure data centres.

These data centres are in different geographical locations and your data will be mirrored at each of these sites in real time, adding an extra level of backup.  In the event of data being lost on your system, the online backup provides a simple method to view and restore the lost files. 

What are the advantages?

One of the most obvious reasons to back up data online is to save space in the office.  As well as storing your data at another site, data recovery solutions are highly secure and ensure that your data is safe.Data is encrypted using 128 bit encryption (military grade) and transferred to A-grade secure sites which are guarded with security cameras, ID access controls, backup power generators and firewalls.customers are given a secret password, account number and encryption key to ensure that only they can access and recover their data.

If you are rarely in the same location, your data can be accessed 24 hours a day via a web browser when you are travelling away from the office.  No additional hardware is needed and your data will still be backed up using the existing internet connection.

Online data backup solutions offer a high level of securty and convenience at an affordable cost.The monthly fee means uou don’t need to pay for a license and there is no set up fee.  There are no staff that require paying or tape storage costs.  The cost of storing your data is proportional to how critical it is.  The technology used to store inactive files such as those sitting on the data server would cost less than the storage space used to backup the ultra critical data which requre extra levels of security and access.

Are there any limitations?

Unsurprisingly, online data backup requires an internet connection – preferably a broadband (ADSL, Cable, DSL, Leased line) connection that can handle large volumes of data.  The initial backup of all your data can take some time, however subsequent backups of new and saved data will be incremental and subsequently much faster.

Why should my company use it?

Online backup solutions are used by a variety of industry sectors from branch offices to national govenment.  Basically any business that needs a degree of business continuity, has an internet connection and realises the importance of keeping it’s information and data secure.  It’s a commonly used phrase, but hindsight IS a marvellous thing and too often it is the case that companies dont realise what theyve lost until it’s gone.  Make sure you arent one of them.