Computer Source

Most everyone has heard that you need to do backups. The problem starts with a basic understanding of just what a “backup” is - beyond a mere copy of the data you wish to save. In our ever growing digital world, more and more tidbits of information are being collected on different forms of digital media, ranging from hard drives to USB flash drives and everything in-between. As these digital keepsakes grow, we realize that we need to protect them from loss. That is where backups come in.

So what is a backup? The simplest answer: A copy of whatever you want to save. After all, no one media storage is reliable enough to be your only copy. Hard drives malfunction. Flash media fails. CDs can break or scratch. Floppies can deteriorate. Any one of these unfortunate events could be the loss of family pictures or mission critical business data. Everyone must take steps to not only prevent data loss, but prepare for it. One key factor that make backups happen: ease of creation! There are a number of backup methods and devices. The most common are external hard drives (magnetic or flash media) and optical (CD/DVD). Both have their strengths and weaknesses. While a CD/DVD backup, if protected, can last for decades, it can also be the most difficult to create or automate. The more difficult it is to create the backup, the less likely it is to be done.

One way around this is fully automated backup procedures using multiple hard drives within a system. This is called RAID and comes in a few flavors. “Mirroring” (or RAID 1) is the most common - and it’s name hints at the method used. A Mirrored RAID is a set of two hard drives that are always an exact copy of each other. This is handled by the hardware inside the computer and is setup before the operating system (like Windows) is ever installed. If one drive was to fail, the system alerts you to the problem, but remains fully operational. Simply replacing the failed drive and rebuilding the mirror gets you back to a protected state. The other RAID format is known as RAID 5. This combines mirroring with another form of RAID called striping that combines multiple hard drives and makes them appear as one to the system. RAID 5 adds speed and fault tolerance to a system. It requires at least 3 drives (though works well with more) and performs faster than just a mirrored RAID. With more drives, multiple drives can fail without data loss. Again, replacing the failed drive(s) and rebuilding the RAID array solves any issues.

RAID arrays are used frequently in business environments when downtime can be costly. It can be somewhat expensive to setup and usually isn’t required for home users or even small businesses. In those cases manually backing up important files can work, but automating the task via software is highly recommended. Depending on how much information you have to back-up will help determine the best means of storage for you. If you only have a few files, then a USB flash/thumb drive might be a good bet. They are pretty cheap and easy to use. Some even come with their own backup software. If you have a lot of data to backup (larger databases or multimedia files), then an external hard drive might be a better way to go. Though cheaper (when compared to the amount of space you get for the price), they are mechanical and have a higher failure rate. However, with proper care and monitoring, they are the preferred method for data backup. Again, some form of automation is highly recommended. Not only does it make backups easier, but it also bypasses the “oops, I forgot to do the backup” scenario. Tape/ZIP drives were popular backup methods a few years ago, but aren’t recommended anymore due to the high failure rates of magnetic tapes.

When dealing with an external backup device and software, there are two main options: file copy and imaging. “File Copy” is what most people are familiar with. If you have some pictures you want to save from your digital camera, you might burn them to a CD for safe keeping, or even storage. This is similar to the file copy method. Software programs (including free ones) can be configured and ran using a variety of means to automate the backup process. “Imaging” is similar to the mirrored RAID method - it makes a clone of your entire hard drive and can store it in a single file. (Frequently, an image of a hard drive is split up into multiple, smaller, files for ease of storage.) From this image, if your drive were to fail, you can put the image back onto a new drive and operate like nothing ever happened. Software must be used for imaging as there is no manual way to create an image of your hard drive.

So what are the pros and cons of each? The file copy method usually takes up less space and can be cheaper since there are free programs that do a wonderful job. It’s also easier to understand and use the end result for most people. Unfortunately it also takes the most amount of time to recover from a failed drive as you need to reinstall your operating system AND all your software before being able to use the data. The imaging method is the opposite - though it can be more difficult and expensive to setup, if ever needed, you can recover to a functional state in a mere fraction of the time. Plus, an added bonus: imaging ensures you don’t forget to backup something. Most people in the information technology industry will recommend imaging as the preferred backup method, though whatever works best for you is what you should do.