Allykat's Tales
Choosing a backup solution used to consist of picking between making local copies to CD, tape, DVD, or now an external hard drive. However, the new kid on the block is online services where you can upload your data to their web servers. This articles looks at the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Local Backup Copies
The traditional approach to data backup has been to copy some/all your data to CD/DVD/tape. The advent of modern external drives that can store huge volumes still make this a popular choice.
Advantages
- No web connection is required. You can be fixing computers using backup data/programs even when the broadband is out of action. This can work out faster for larger data volumes.
- Economical to run due to the low cost of HDD and CD/DVD/tape media.
Disadvantages
- No real automation. User has to manually insert backup media (except in case of HDD) and run copying software.
- Only secure against major problems (e.g. floods/house fire) if the backups are not stored near the PC.
Online Backup Solution
Storing backup data online is something that has really only been possible in the past decade as upload connection speeds have improved. You sign up to an online service and use their light client application to upload (usually FTP) your selected data to their servers where it is password protected and cloned to several servers for safekeeping.
Advantages
- Data can be retrieved/read from any PC or web device.
- Automation plays a major part. Client applications can schedule back-ups to run in the background (continuously if desired).
Disadvantages
- Data volumes limits exist making it only useful for partial backups (not full ghost imaging).
- Monthly charges for storing your data, which can be pro-rata depending on the volumes of data stored.
Choosing the right backup solution really comes down to personal choice and prioritizing which features/advantages are most crucial to you.
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