Protect Your Data

Illustration by Yevgeniya Mikhailik - www.yevgeniyadraws.com

We all know we should keep a backup copy of our computer files. I'm sure many of you even have an external hard drive tucked away somewhere, purchased long ago with the best of intentions. But somewhere along the line backups became a chore, and as more time passed the thought of sitting down and doing it became increasingly daunting. It kind of makes sense (in a wrong-way-of-thinking-about-it kind of way): the ratio of tangible benefit gained to time spent makes the effort easy to defer. Backing up all of your data seems akin to stocking your garage with two weeks' worth of food and water in case of a natural disaster. I mean, what are the odds?

My data!

Well... they're actually pretty good. I've personally lost three hard drives over the years, and I've helped many others recover data on the brink of digital oblivion. These experiences are all anecdotal, but the statistics of hard drive failure tell the same story: every year, 2-4% of hard drives bite the digital bullet. I mean, imagine (really) what it would be like to lose your computer files. All the work you'd have to re-do (or more importantly, couldn't re-do). All of those photos you'd never get to look at again. We're talking about things of immeasurable value, the kind you can't put in a fireproof safe bolted to the floor. Data is a precious commodity, yet most of us allow a slight modicum of inconvenience stand between us and keeping it safe.

Of course, a little discipline could go a long way toward resolving this problem, but let's be honest: discipline is for people who already have it. In lieu of that, we're going to set up a backup system that's either completely automatic or so easy it might as well be. Our goal here is to never have to worry about keeping things backed up again.

Our first order of business: deciding what kind of backup system to use.

Local Backup

Backing up your files locally is the more common method of file backup, and is arguably the most reliable. The idea is that you have an external hard drive that stores an extra copy of your files in case you need them. If this is the route you choose, you'll have plenty of options: a trip to your local computer or electronics store will likely present you with more options than you know what to do with. When choosing a drive, you should consider the following:

• Capacity: At least as big as your computer's hard drive (I prefer twice as big)
• Software: Make absolutely sure it comes with software that will automate the backup process for you. This is a feature worth advertising; it should mention it on the packaging somewhere.
• Brand: I prefer Western Digital (WD) or Seagate. They both have a good reputation, and I've never seen a Western Digital drive fail (but that's purely anecdotal).

With regard to the drive coming with backup software, you want something that offers incremental backups. This is a backup method that allows the drive to back up everything on your computer once, and then back up only subsequent changes to your files thereafter. This is an important feature, as it dramatically decreases the amount of time your backups will take. Most products won't explicitly mention "incremental backups" on the box, but all of the software that I've seen packaged with WD and Seagate drives have this feature.

Note that if you have a Mac you can go ahead and buy an external drive that doesn't include backup software; OS X's Time Machine works wonderfully for maintaining automatic backups. You just need to connect your backup drive to your computer, choose it as the destination drive in Time Machine's settings, and you'll automatically have your files backed up whenever your external drive is connected.

(It's true that Windows 7 also comes with built-in backup software, but I've found it to be painfully slow and somewhat unreliable. I wouldn't recommend it.)

Online Backup

The alternative to local backup is online backup. Relatively new to the scene, it's more of a service to subscribe to than a product to purchase. The idea here is that you install backup software similar to what an external drive would come with, but instead of your files being backed up to a locally connected drive, they are copied over the internet to a remote server owned by the company providing the service. Once your files are backed up, you can use your backup software to access them just the same as if they were on a local drive connected to your computer.

The two most popular services that offer completely automated backup are Carbonite and Mozy. Both services have been around since 2005, and the features they offer are almost identical. The main difference is price: for home users, Carbonite offers unlimited storage for $60/year, whereas Mozy only offers 125 GB for $110/year (almost twice as much). However, Mozy does offer the option of paying monthly instead pre-paying for a full year, and has cheaper plans if you plan on using less than 50 GB. Their software also provides the option of simultaneous online and local backups for the ultimate in data redundancy. Carbonite only offers this feature with their business-class service.

The advantages of online backup over local backup are twofold. First, the backups are completely automatic. No need to plug in an external hard drive: as long as you have an internet connection, your files are being taken care of. Second, and perhaps more importantly, your data is safe from certain catastrophes that a local backup would not protect you from. In the event of a physical disaster (fire, flood, etc), any physical backup of your files you maintain would likely be lost along with your computer. Or in the event of a theft, there is a chance your external backup drive would be stolen along with your computer. With online backups, no matter how much physical property loss you endure, your data will be safe.

Note also that both Carbonite and Mozy encrypt your data as it is being transferred to their servers, so that ne're-do-wells on the internet can't get ahold of your files as they are transmitted. Even if hackers were to break into Carbonite's or Mozy's servers (unlikely), they wouldn't be able to read any of your data. The point is, backing up your data online isn't like uploading your files to the internet; it's more like online banking. It's secure, and the benefits and convenience greatly outweigh any hypothetical risks.

Which One?

Deciding between local and online backup is really a matter of personal preference. Both are excellent solutions to keeping your data safe, and one might seem more attractive than the other depending on your priorities. As far as I see it, the advantages and disadvantages of each are as follows:

Local Backup Pros/Cons:

• It's faster than online backup
• You have the only copies of your files (complete control of your data)
• It's a one-time investment
• Backups only happen when your external drive is plugged into your computer (easy for desktop computers, a little tricker for laptops)
• No protection against theft or physical damage when the computer and external drive are together

Online Backup Pros/Cons:

• Super convenient: as long as you have internet access, your files are being backed up
• Protection against any data loss scenario
• The initial backup takes a long time (subsequent incremental backups are quicker)
• Someone else has a copy your data (a pro or a con, depending on your level of paranoia)
• There is a monthly/yearly fee

Making it Happen

This is where we make our dreams of automatic file backups come true. We want to set up a system that provides fully or nearly automatic backups, so that the usual excuses for not backing up your data become irrelevant. You won't even need excuses anymore.

If you opt for local backup, run the software that comes with your external hard drive (or set up Time Machine to work with your drive), and let it do its thing. If you have a desktop computer, just leave the drive plugged in all the time. If you have a laptop, remember to plug your external hard drive in every day (or at least once a week). Once your backup software detects the external drive, it should automatically get to work. After the initial backup, each subsequent daily backup should hardly take any time at all (often less than a minute if you back up regularly).

If you decide to subscribe to an online backup service, there's really not much you need to do. Once you install the software it will automatically start working in the background, scanning your system for files and uploading them to the backup server. The initial backup will take a long time (we're talking days here), but again, subsequent backups will go much more quickly.

In either case, there's one final step you need to take before you pat yourself on the back for a job well done and 'forget' about your new backup system: make sure it works! It may faithfully back up your files, but this will only get you halfway through a full-blown data disaster. You also need to be able to retrieve those files should something happen to your originals.

Checking this is pretty straightforward: once your initial backup is completed, open your backup software and find its recovery feature. Begin to initiate the recovery process and follow the prompts you are given up to the point where you are asked to select the backup from which to restore. If you see your local or online backup with the appropriate time/date stamp on it, you can go ahead and cancel the restore process. As long as the software can see the backup, it shouldn't have much trouble using it to restore your files should the need arise.

And that's it! We've successfully combined the best of both worlds: making your data impervious to theft, deletion, and disaster, all while making the process so easy that it practically takes care of itself. Again, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep an additional copy of your computer files (at least the important ones). Data is a precious commodity, and it needs to be protected. And with an easy setup like what we've described here, you can rest easy knowing that you're ready to thwart any data disaster that comes your way!

High five!

Illustration by Yevgeniya Mikhailik - www.yevgeniyadraws.com

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This week's illustrations were provided by the amazingly talented Yevgeniya Mikhailik! To see more of her work (and maybe buy a print or two to class up your casa), check out www.yevgeniyadraws.com.