Today, many people still store their important information and documents in the hard drive of their computer. For this reason, getting into the habit of routinely backing up the data stored on your computer is a good idea. If you don’t want to lose any of your valuable data and information, then routinely backing up the data on your computer is a practice that you should definitely consider.
By creating a backup of your important and precious files, you’ll minimize the risk of losing your school or office work, tax documents and prized pictures in the event of fire, theft or hard drive failure. While backing up photos and files isn’t hard, people often get confused as there are several different ways to back up data. Today, storage space is cheaper than ever but the options and types of storage can make things a bit complicated. You could use a small universal serial bus (USB) or go for a giant external hard drive. Another to back up your data is storing it in the cloud. So, which choice is right for you? Based on expert recommendation, following are the three best ways to back up your data.
Use an External Hard Drive
A hard disk drive similar to the one inside your computer, an external hard drive is where you can store any kind of file. As external hard drives are generally small and portable, you can easily carry the data you backed up in the external drive with you. By backing up your data on an external hard drive, you’ll can ensure that your valuable doesn’t get lost in case your computer is damaged or stolen. Whether you use Windows or Mac, you can easily back up your data to an external drive. Here’s how to go about it:
On Windows
- Get an external backup drive from any electronic store. A good thing to do would be getting a drive with twice as much space as your computer. This will ensure that you have enough space for multiple backups and any data that you might get in the future.
- When you plug in the external drive to your computer, Windows will ask if you want to use it as a backup. Answer ‘yes’ by clicking the ‘ok’ button. In case the option to backup doesn’t pop up on your screen, click on the Start Menu, enter ‘backup’ in the search box, and hit Backup and Restore.
- Click the ‘Set Up Backup’ button and hit Next.
- Finally click on ‘Save Setting and Run Backup’. Windows will now start backing up data to the external drive.
On Mac
- Same as Windows.
- In case the option to backup doesn’t pop up on your screen, go to System Preferences, click on Time Machine and set it as a backup disk.
- Click on ‘Select Backup Disk’ and choose your external drive.
- Mac will now start to back up data to the external drive.
Save It to A NAS Device
Another way to backup your data is saving it to a network attached storage or NAS device. A server dedicated for storing data, NAS can be operated wirelessly or with a wire depending on your computer and the drive. The information displayed by NAS will look just like the information on your computer’s hard drive. The biggest benefit of NAS is the ability to back several computers simultaneously.
With a network attached storage device, you can setup automatic backups that mirror any changes made on the computer. As soon as you make a change to a document or folder, network attached storage will reflect that change. Also, using the software option of most NAS devices, you can configure remote access to ensure that you can access your documents and files regardless of where you’re in the world. In simple terms, NAS is you own private cloud storage. Isn’t that amazing?
If having private cloud storage is your main reason to switch to network attached storage, then make sure that the NAS device you choose allows a full cloud storage experience. Private cloud storage and increased storage space are just a few of countless reasons to use NAS for backing up your data. So, do consider this option.
Store It on a USB Flash Drive
Small solid-state drives, USB flash drives allows you to back up your data and carry it in your pocket. Available in a variety of designs, flash drives plug into your computer through the USB port. You can easily back up your data to a USB flash drive by copying your data to it. There are many benefits of using a flash drive to back up your data, including affordability and portability. Following are three reason to choose a USB Flash Drive for backing up your data.
Simple to Use
With just one click, you can backup your data to a USB flash drive. That’s how easy it is to use a USB for backing up your data. Installation isn’t difficult either. All you got to do is plug in the USB drive and let Windows recognize the drive.
Affordable
USBs are inexpensive—250 GB drives are available for less than $100 while 500 GB drives come within $300. Also, there’s no additional cost. Surely, that’s a good reason to consider USBs for backing up your data.
Portable
A USB flash drive is a portable device that can be used for backing up the data on several computers. The portability of the USB drive is another reason to choose it over the other ‘back-up’ options mentioned above.
Today, backing up the data on your computer is more than ever. The aforementioned-methods are the 3 best ways to back up your data.
by Bobby J Davidson
I love our companies and we love what we do. For more information on the Davidson Family of Companies, visit www.bobbydavidson.com/about. Sign up for my Newsletter at the bottom of this page.