Backup Schedule: Learn How Often To Backup

If you backup, you are one step away from a disaster. If you backup often, make it several steps. Learn how often to backup and how to make your own backup schedule.

Surely, one can backup to whatever backup medium he wants, but if one does not stick to a backup schedule, most of the efforts, aimed at storing or securing the important information will be spent in vain.

First, we need to figure out what we are backing up, as the backup schedule largely depends on the siz...
If you backup, you are one step away from a disaster. If you backup often, make it several steps. Learn how often to backup and how to make your own backup schedule.

Surely, one can backup to whatever backup medium he wants, but if one does not stick to a backup schedule, most of the efforts, aimed at storing or securing the important information will be spent in vain.

First, we need to figure out what we are backing up, as the backup schedule largely depends on the size of the backup data:

- small amounts of data (important work documents) can be backed up often, hourly, daily and at least weekly

- medium amounts of files (e-mail messages, project documents and work documents) can be backed up daily, weekly or monthly (at least)

- large amounts of data (e-mail messages, project documents, data files, settings files, etc) can be backed up weekly or monthly

- huge amounts of data (all of the above plus images, audios - mp3s and videos - mpegs) can be backed up monthly or yearly

- total backup (a backup of all the data on the computer) can be backed up weekly, monthly or yearly.

Which backup schedule to choose is up to you, but you will also need to choose a backup software to do that and set up the time when to perform a scheduled backup.

First of all, the backup software needs to support the backup medium you want to backup (CD, DVD, FTP, LAN, external USB or flash drive, etc). Next, you select the files you want to backup, choose the time you want to backup and leave it there. Some programs can run as a service and don't need to be launched, but some need to be running when you want the backup to be run. At any case, the computer has to be on at the time of your backup schedule.

Think the time of a backup schedule doesn't matter? What if it runs during your work day and slows down your work computer for an hour or two? To keep working _and_ to stick to the backup schedule, simply set the backup to run a couple of hours before or after your working time. This way you won't be interrupted with a scheduled backup.

Offsite Backup: Benefits And Threats Unveiled

Good backup habits are essential to everyone who uses a computer with important information. It takes just a few accidental clicks of the mouse - or worse, one isolated hardware failure - and valuable data can be lost.

One dilemma for backup users is often where to put their backups. Storing them on your own hard drive is obviously not the best option. Not everyone wants to split their backups into several parts using a CD or DVD burner, and an external hard drive isn't a ...

Good backup habits are essential to everyone who uses a computer with important information. It takes just a few accidental clicks of the mouse - or worse, one isolated hardware failure - and valuable data can be lost.

One dilemma for backup users is often where to put their backups. Storing them on your own hard drive is obviously not the best option. Not everyone wants to split their backups into several parts using a CD or DVD burner, and an external hard drive isn't a standard fixture on many users' desks.

One solution to this problem, and a solution that can save a lot of time and effort, is offsite or remote backup. Backing up to a computer offsite means that your data will end up on a different drive or computer, which basically halves the chance of catastrophic loss. This can be especially useful for office users. If your company has several locations, backing up over a network to a computer situated elsewhere can provide a contingency in case of a power surge, fire, employee misuse or plain user error.

Offsite backup over a network:

Most backup programs support network backup, and the way to use this is simple. Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN) usually feature "network drives", which appear to your computer as an ordinary drive. They often have names like M:, N:, O: and so on. Depending on permissions set up by the people administrating your network, you may be able to write to certain drives but not read from them, or you may not be able to change or delete data once it's written. These are common situations, but they should not affect the way you back up.

Once you have found a suitable location for your data - your administrator will be able to help you with this - backing up can be as easy and fast as with an external drive.

Select the appropriate drive and the data you want to save and that's it. Even though a network connection is usually not as fast as a local cable, this is just a matter of waiting. Most programs allow you to set a backup timetable, which is a great way to take the effort out of backup. If you leave your computer on at night, then setting an incremental backup every second day at 2am, for example, ensures the safety of your data. A possible disadvantage here is that if your network goes down, you might not be able to get your data back for some time. Laptop users might not always be connected to the network at the scheduled backup time, defeating the purpose entirely.

Offsite backup through FTP:

Another form of offsite backup uses a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server over the Internet. FTP is traditionally used to move large files online and can reliably transfer any files of any size.

To access data stored on an FTP server, you can use your backup program, a special FTP client or just a regular web browser. While there are two "types" of FTP server, public and private, you will almost certainly be using a private server, which requires a password to access your data. Advantages of this method include that you can view the files stored on the FTP any time you wish using any FTP client, mobile users can back up from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, and FTP backup can be somewhat cheaper than a specialised remote backup service.

The main disadvantage inherent in this method is data security. The FTP protocol is not secure, and even a private FTP account does not ensure the security of your files; it only protects access to the FTP server. Anyone with access to your username and password has access to your data. Added to this, unless you take steps to protect it, your data will be unencrypted as it travels to the FTP server, and could possibly be intercepted. We recommend that you encrypt your files before sending them.

One option is to store your data in a standard password-protected ZIP archive. This is a quick method that allows you to extract your files on any computer using any ZIP client. There are ZIP programs that provide tighter security by applying stronger encryption algorithms, like AES or Blowfish. This increases the security of your data, but to decrypt your files you may need to use the program that encrypted and backed them up.

To obtain access to a private FTP server, find a good hosting company (try searching with Google) and compare based on price and location - companies with servers based in your country will usually be faster. Beware that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) might charge you for the data you send, so you may wish to make incremental backups over FTP, which only backup what was changed since your last backup.

Specialised offsite backup:

Another form of offsite backup is the use of a special server provided by the company that makes your backup solution. They usually use their own protocols to encrypt and transfer your data, and a special program on their end to store it. You may have some issues using such services if you're behind a firewall, as some of these services use non-standard Internet Protocol (IP) ports.

Offsite backup services are usually paid for by the month, by the amount of data transferred or both. They can be quite expensive, especially if you wish to back up a lot of data, or use the service over a long period of time. As with FTP servers, you may also be charged by your ISP to send your data.

Still, offsite backup services represent a convenient method, as they'll usually be built right into backup programs that support the feature. Ensure the credentials of the company you're dealing with, as an offsite backup service is pointless if your backup company happens to shut up shop or "can't find" your data - just as your hard drive fails.

A guide of Outlook Express backup

In those days, email loss causes majority of business loss. Viruses, power failures, software failures, hard drive failures are only a few examples of what could destroy the data on a hard drive, including all documents, emails and other files!
Unfortunately many people actually start to do backup copies only after they lose data.

most small companies and home users don’t need to buy an expensive solution for data backup. They can simply copy important files to a CD or DVD, and if an information loss occurs, they can get it back easily.
If it is simply to copy documents, photos and other files, not the same is for emails, attachments, address book, stationery and other related information from your Outlook Express email client.
This article will explain how everybody can create a manual Outlook Express backup copy (because Outlook Express don’t offer a built in backup function) This email program is usually installed with the Windows operating system and is probably among the most commonly used email programs today.

1. Backup email messages
In Outlook Express, emails are stored in files with DBX extension. The easiest way to find these files is to open Outlook Express and from menu select Tools | Options | Maintenance and click the Store Folder button. Here you can find the path to the folder containing your emails.
This procedure works for all kind of email: SMTP / POP3, IMAP, MAPI, or even the Hotmail Account (some messages might be stored only at the Hotmail server).
To save all your emails and attachments you should copy all the DBX files from the folder.

2. Account settings:
Details about your mail and news accounts are stored in the registry. To find them, start RegEdit and select the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Account Manager” key from the left panel. To save this data, from menu select: Registry | Export Registry File. Save the file to a name like "accounts.reg". 

3. Mail Rules
The Outlook Express mail rules are stored in the registry, in the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities” key. To save this data, from menu select: Registry | Export Registry File. Save the file to a name like "rules.reg". 

4. Address Book
The backup of address book is easy to do. It is stored in files with WBA extension. To find the location where address book is stored, you should open Outlook Express and from menu select File | Export | Address Book and select the comma separated text file as your output format. Click Export, select the folder where the backup will be saved and set the name for the backup file. After that click Next and choose the fields you want to include in your backup. Click Finish and your backup will be ready.

5. Stationery
The Outlook Express stationery location is stored in a registry key. To find it, you should open RegEdit, find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Stationery” key and look at “Stationery Folder” value. There you will find the path to stationery folder. To save the stationery, you should copy all files from that folder.

If you think that manual backup is too hard, you can use a backup software tool, which can make the job much easier. Outlook Express Backup Expert is one product that can be used to easily create Outlook Express backups. It can save your emails, attachments, address book, signatures, blocked list, mail rules, stationery, accounts and settings. The biggest advantage to use automatic email backup software is the schedule function, which will create backups at specified time intervals, without user action. The downside of using a automatic email backup utility is that it costs money, usually about 20-30 USD as one time payment, while the manual backups are of course, free.
The conclusion is that email backup is a critical operation for every user.

A free evaluation copy of Outlook Express Backup Expert can be found at: http://www.bodrag.com/outlook-express-backup.html

Data Storage Media – A Guide to Selecting Media For Storing and Backing Up Computer Data

Not so long ago computer data was backed up onto floppy disks. These days there is a bewildering range of different media options available for storing and backing up computer data. This article explains the differences between them so users can select the most appropriate for their needs.
Data, or information stored on your computer, can either be held on fixed disk drives inside the computer or on removable media such as CD's that can be inserted and removed.  Removable media can be used to transfer files between computers or to backup the data already existing on fixed disk drives. There are three types of removable media: Magnetic, Optical and Flash.

Magnetic Storage 

Magnetic Storage: Hard disks, floppy disks and digital audiotape are examples of Magnetic storage. They operate through a read/write head, which creates and reads magnetic impressions on the disk.

The downside…

•    The magnetic impression only lasts for around five years
•    The capacity of most removable magnetic disks is too low for many types of files


Optical storage 

Optical Storage holds information in digital form that is written and read by a laser. All CD and DVD devices are examples of this.

The upside… 

•    Increased capacity: one Optical disc can store the same amount of data as over 500 diskettes
•     Durability: they last up to seven times as long as Magnetic forms of storage



Flash Memory (Solid-State Removable Storage)

Solid-state memory (or Flash memory) is a high-performance plug-and-play storage device that contains no moving parts. It is found in digital cameras, video game consoles and digital audio players. You can use it in the form of USB Flash Drives to transfer or backup data. Flash memory is small, light and fast.


Backup

Backup is the copying of files onto portable media so that if your computer crashes, data won’t be lost in oblivion. Backup is usually routine in large businesses but is often neglected by individual users. Some suggest backing up data files and duplicating your hard drive weekly. It takes around 45 minutes to backup a 500-megabyte hard disk.

There are two options- Local or Internet backup. The following is a list of Local backup options. Most of these also double as devices used to transfer data between computers. 
•    Diskettes
•    Zip Drives
•    CD's
•    DVD's
•    Flash Drive


Internet Backup

Another backup option is sending your files to an Internet site for safekeeping. If your computer crashes you can simply download them from the site. Here are a few examples of such sites:

Backup Defender- www.backupdefender.co.nz
My Backup- www.mybackup.co.nz

N.B. The author does not recommend or endorse any of the above service providers.


Diskettes and Zip Drives

Diskette

A Diskette is a 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk. The older version, the floppy disk, is 5.25 inches square and flexible. Copying to a diskette is quick and economical.

Ideal for…

•    Those who use their PC for personal finance - the diskette enables you to retrieve checkbook balances etc.
•    Projects that need to be continuously backed up such as a film script, as it is a cheap alternative.

Not so good for…

•    Some newer computer and laptop models that do not have a diskette or floppy drive installed.
•    Large amounts of data as diskettes don’t have a great storage capacity


Zip Drives

A Zip drive is a small, square shaped magnetic disk that is ideal for backing up your PC. The 100-megabyte size holds the equivalent of 70 floppy diskettes. They also come in a 250-megabyte size

Ideal for…

•    Duplicating your entire disc drive
•    Archiving
•    Storing graphic images or other large files 
•     Transferring large files
•    Keeping certain data separate from files on your hard disk 


The downside…

•    They seem to be a fleeting technology - most computers do not have a Zip Disc drive installed and opinion varies on how long they will be around for.


Compact Disks

There are different standards of CD's that have different capabilities. Just to confuse us they are recognized by seemingly similar acronyms; CD-R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DDCD and E-CD.

CD-R

CD-R (Compact Disc - Recordable) is a CD that can be recorded to only once. It usually holds 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB of data, although newer versions hold up to 80 minutes of audio (700 MB of data). If your PC has CD burning software and a compatible CD-R or CD-RW drive, the CD-R can be used in the same way as a diskette. However unlike a diskette it cannot be deleted or overwritten. Look out for CD-Rs that have an additional protective layer which make them less susceptible to damage caused through scratching.
Ideal for…

•    Making music CD's
•    Storing photos
•    Storing permanent data


Not so good for…

•    Transferring files as they can only be used once


CD-RW/CD+RW

A CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable) and CD+RW can be recorded onto as many times as desired. Data can be overwritten and erased. Other than this, the CD-RW is identical to the CD-R. If it wasn't for their finite durability CD-RW’s and CD+RW’s could be reused endlessly.

Ideal for…

•    Transferring files
•    Holding temporary data

Not so good for…

•    Holding important permanent files-in case they are accidentally deleted

Double Density CD (DDCD)
This disc has a much greater storage capacity than an average CD-R or CD-RW.


Ideal for…
•    Backing up
•    Storing archival data

Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD (E-CD) is an audio CD with CD-ROM data added. CD-ROM data is added in the space not taken by audio. Recording artists can use this to include videos, lyrics, interviews or promo material. The E-CD can be played on a CD player but to view additional material you need access to a multimedia-capable device, such as a CD-i player, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM drive.


Bridge Disks
A CD-Bridge disc holds extra information on a CD-ROM XA track. The disc can be played on either a CD-i player attached to a television, or a CD-ROM XA drive attached to a computer. Software such as Photo or a Karaoke CD player can provide lots of fun with the Bridge Disk.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disk): More than movies

Although DVD's have become more associated with video, they can also hold audio and computer data; hence their name Digital Versatile Disk. Like the CD, a DVD is a 120-mm by 1.2mm thick disk. However the DVD has more tracks than a CD so holds far more data. CD's have an unvarying storage capacity of 750MB, whereas DVD's store up to 17GB.

A range of acronyms is also used to distinguish between the different types and capabilities of DVD's available. These include DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-Audio.
DVD-ROM

DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc - Read Only Memory) is similar to a movie DVD, but is designed for computers. The DVD-ROM stores data in the same way that the CD-ROM does and is used in the DVD-ROM drive of your PC.


The upside…

•    Larger storage space – hold more data than a CD
•    Can be filled with nearly everything; video, music or computer specific data
•    A base speed of 1.32 megabytes/sec


The downside…

•    Many older computers do not have a DVD-Rom drive installed
•    Can be recorded on only once


DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is designed for audio data and high-quality music. Its storage capacity is seven times that of a CD and provides at least twice the sound quality. Like the Enhanced CD, DVD-A can contain other data, providing the listener with extra information such as lyrics or images. DVD-A is predicted by many to replace the standard audio CD in the music industry.

DVD-R

Like the CD-R, the DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable) can be recorded on once.


The upside…

•    A DVD-R can contain an assortment of information; video, text, audio and computer data

•    A DVD-R can be played on your normal DVD video player but remember, if you have additional data not of the same format e.g. video and audio together, you will need a DVD-ROM or Multimedia player of some kind

•    A DVD-R is read at the same speed as commercially made DVD's


DVD-RW and DVD+RW
Similar to the CD-RW, a DVD-RW or DVD+RW (Digital Versatile Disc – Rewritable) can be recorded on, rewritten and erased multiple times. Other than this they are identical to the DVD-R.
DVD minus and plus are just different versions with the same functionality.

The Future of CD/DVD Storage

The majority of the technology industry predicts that soon DVD’s, with their larger storage capacity and faster access time, will replace CD’s. DVD-ROM drives are likely to be sold with new computer systems in the way that CD-ROM drives once were. However we are always on the cusp of newer technologies, such as the HD-ROM.

HD-ROM (High Density-Read Only Memory)

HD-ROM uses a more precise particle beam to write data. This enables information to be written on more durable materials such as metal so storage is virtually permanent. HD-ROM has hundreds of times the storage capacity of the CD-ROM.


Flash Drives

A Flash drive is a small portable memory stick that holds anywhere from 1Mb to 1GB of data. It is surprisingly lightweight and is often worn around the neck or carried as a funky key chain. They are compatible with any PC that has USB port and with Mac OS 9 and OS X, Windows 2000 and XP or Linux 2.4.17.


The upside…

•    Durable - more so than CD's or DVD's
•    No need for batteries or a separate power source 
•    Convenient - your computer should recognize the additional drive as soon as you insert it into the USB port
•    Ideal for backup
•    Larger storage capacity then many other portable devices
•    More portable than ZIP drives, CD's and Diskettes
•    Quick transfer rate (approx. 1Mb/sec)
•    Edit, rewrite, delete as many times as desired
•    Help desk personnel can use Flash Drives as a portable toolkit that includes system updates and recovery tools.


The downside…

•    More expensive than other portable devices
•    Viruses - The portability and compatibility of the Flash Drive increases the chance of spreading viruses. In many cases viruses carried by a Flash Drive will not be detected as most antivirus software is reactive and only recognizes known viruses
•    Theft - a Flash Drive can make it easier for data to be stolen from an unlocked PC 
•    Little Security - the size and weight of the Flash drive makes it very easy to misplace.  Most have little or no security features and data is accessed easily. Some Flash Drives do have built in security; either a password or in some cases a finger print system - but this comes at a price.