Book Description

Individuals and businesses are faced with a daunting task when choosing a backup strategy. It is crucial to choose the appropriate backup storage device for any backup job. There are many aspects you must think about. Read this: www.ipsnews.net/ for detailed information.

The first step is to decide what type of data you’d like to backup. It is essential to determine the size and number of files that you will back up.

Decide what is most important for you regarding backup of your data. It is worth considering the following issues How reliable is the data storage device that you are planning to use? Is it secure from unauthorized access or natural catastrophes such as flood and fire? Think about which backup files you rather keep at home , and which ones you would prefer to be transferred to an FTP server for greater security.

Determine the file size for the applications and documents you wish to permanently archive onto the backup storage device or removable media. Be aware that this size could increase in the future. Think of how quickly your document or photo archive will grow, and make sure to expand your backup storage accordingly. If you only have a tiny storage requirements for backups, you can backup to CD. It is not common to back up greater than 500MB. If you think that your data will increase quickly, backup your data to a DVD drive.

Also, you should think about the portability and accessibility of backup data. Do you prefer to have your backup files at home, or do you prefer having them on hand while traveling?

A USB Zip drive or external parallel-port is the best option for the most portability and flexibility. If you’re looking for a smaller storage capacity (less than 1GB), then a 100MB Zip drive is the best option. If you need adequate storage (a few gigabytes), then buy a 250MB Zip Drive. Internal Zip drive is ideal when you intend to use the drive as a backup. The cost of installation could add up.

Calculate the budget you have for a data storage device for backup and removable media to use. Your backup expenditures will largely depend on the frequency you are going to back up and the volume of backup. Consider the price per megabyte of storage per drive. Disks cost more than zip drives.

Buy an Jaz drive, or tape backup drive, if you are going to back up huge amounts of data on a regular basis. It is also possible to make an estimate of the future expenditures. Therefore, you should consider buying an external hard disk, in case you require a lot of space, aren’t conserving backups from the past and don’t require the portability.

You should also take into consideration the longevity and reliability of the backup device. Specifically, you need to make sure that the device be functioning at the time of the recovery. It is difficult to determine this because you aren’t aware of what time the data loss will happen. However, it is sensible to know the anticipated life span of a particular device.