Keeping your data safe

So, you’ve left your cushy job behind, with its regular paycheck and health benefits (or your job has left you behind). But, there is another, less-discussed advantage you are leaving behind. An IT deptartment. Or at least someone to keep your computer updated, solve software problems and, perhaps most importantly, keep important files backed up.

I can’t help you keep up with the latest software, and I have a post coming up soon about health insurance, but right now I want to talk about backing up your files.

Compared to how things were in the past, backing up is stupid-easy these days. I remember when backing up involved manually writing files to dozens of floppies. In fact, I think I still have those floppies around somewhere. Now both the latest Windows and Mac operating systems have some form of built-in backup mechanism, and there are dozens of services for backing up off site. If you aren’t backing up your computer, start right now.

I do two kinds of backups. I use a Mac with Leopard (OS X 10.5), so I have Time Machine, Apple’s constant backup tool that keeps every version of every file on your computer, forever (or at least until you fill up your external hard drive). With Time Machine, I backup to a USB hard drive. My second backup, which I do less often, is a bootable copy of my hard drive on an external Firewire drive made with SuperDuper.

This may seem like overkill, but I was using SuperDuper before Time Machine came out, so it was easy to just keep it going. The advantage of the SuperDuper backup is that it is bootable. If my hard drive dies, I can boot up to the SuperDuper backup and keep working. Hypothetically. The advantage of the Time Machine backup is that it is super easy (it automatically backs up on a certain schedule as long as the drive is plugged in), and it even protects against accidental deletions because it keeps each version of each file.

If you don’t use a Mac, these options aren’t available to you, or you are worried about keeping an off-site copy of your files, you may want to look into the plethora of online backup solutions, like Carbonite or Mozy. These services usually charge a monthly fee and give you access to your data whenever you need it. There are also services that will back up your data for free and only charge you to restore files.

Whatever method you choose, start backing up your files today.