Computer BackUp Solutions: Critical For Data Protection

Computer BackUp Solutions: Critical For Data Protection

In computing the phrase backup means to copy files to a second medium (a disk or tape) as a precaution in case the first medium fails. One of the cardinal rules in using computers is back up your files regularly.

Even the most reliable computer is apt to break down eventually. Many professionals recommend that you make two, or even three, backups of all your files. To be especially safe, you should keep one backup in a different location from the others. You can back up files using operating system commands, or you can buy a special-purpose backup utility. Backup programs often compress the data so that backups require fewer disks.

Most businesses employ complete backup solutions that provides storage on removable media, data compression, automatic backups to offsite storage and automated scheduling to increase the reliability of the backups.

The Findings

External hard drives have a much more linear pricing structure than cloud services. The more space in a drive, the more you pay—simple as that. In the end, nearly all hard drives end up costing about 10 to 50 cents per gigabyte, with just a few exceptions on either extreme.

In contrast, online backup services vary widely, with features and plan types influencing the overall cost significantly. For instance, top-dollar online backup services often provide better file encryption, multiple restore points (e.g., the option to revert to either 6 hours, 2 days, or 2 months ago), and dedicated, 24/7 customer service. Inexpensive plans typically offer little more than a set-it-and-forget-it backup system. As such, the cost per gigabyte for online backup can range from a fraction of a penny to $10 or more.

The Mini Backup: 0 to 20GB

If you only need to back up a dozen gigs of photos and documents, we don’t need to crunch any numbers. The clear solution is a free online backup service. Many big-name backup services, like Box and DropBox, offer plans from 5 to 10GB of storage at a cost of $0. Meanwhile, companies like ADrive and MEGA offer up to 50GB, free of charge.

Just keep in mind that these basic plans tend to have several drawbacks, like file size limits and restrictions on the number of devices you can include.

Winner: free cloud-based solutions

The Basic Backup: 20  to 100GB

You’re a simple user with simple storage needs. It’s just that you’ve got 40,000 family photos and a temperamental desktop that might crash any day. Unfortunately, the 20 to 100GB range is a bit awkward, with few free solution— and upcharges for those extra gigs.

External hard drives aren’t an attractive option. A 100GB drive will end up costing you between $1 and $4 a gig—highway robbery these days.

Instead, snap up a low-cost cloud plan like hubiC, Box Starter, or OpenDrive Home.

The Standard Backup: 100 to 500GB

Today’s average consumer will likely need storage somewhere in this range, enough for a small family or one HD movie enthusiast.

Here, the median cost for an online service per gig (per year) is 42 cents, compared to 41 cents for an external hard drive—virtually dead even. Consider, however, that 90 percent of external hard drives will last for three years without failure. (After that, the chance of failure roughly doubles, year after year.) So if you assume a responsible hard drive owner will replace the  drive once every three years, it’s only fair to compare that 41 cents for the external drive to $1.26 (42 cents x 3) for three years of a cloud-based service.

Yes, there’s a 10 percent chance your external hard drive will fail in those first three years, so a cautious consumer might consider the extra 82 cents an insurance policy. But for those willing to take the risk, an external drive is more cost-effective for backups in this range.

Winner: the external hard drive

The Big Backup: 500 GBs to 1TB

Here, things get a little closer. Based on our data, three years of an online service in this range will cost you about 36 cents per gig, while three years of an external hard drive will clock in at about 21 cents per gig. The math says an external drive is the right choice here, but that insurance policy is suddenly only 15 cents.

Winner: we’ll call this one a draw.

The Big Backup: 1TB+

Beyond one terabyte, the decision becomes easy again. External hard drives in this range are certainly efficient (only about 12 cents per gig, on average), but cloud-based plans are even better. Once you hit a full terabyte, the incremental cost of more space becomes less and less of a factor. For three years of storage, you’ll pay only about 4 cents per gig for an online plan. 

Winner: cloud-based solutions

Back-Up/Extra Storage for Photos, Files, etc.

Making Room On the Hard Drive

Part I – Online Storage (aka “Cloud”)

With nearly ubiquitous Internet connectivity these days, there's no reason you shouldn't have access to all your important documents not only via your PC at your desk at work, but also from your smartphone on the train home, from your tablet on your couch, and from the laptop in your hotel room or kitchen. Cloud-based storage and syncing services can make seamless your access to Word docs, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos, any other digital assets—no more emailing files to yourself or plugging and unplugging USB thumb drives. 

With these services, all your files are always accessible and in their most up-to-date state. If you don't yet have a service for storing and syncing your data in the cloud, you need one. Which one you choose depends on the kinds of files you store, how much security you need, whether you plan to collaborate with other people, and which devices you use to edit and access your files. It may also depend on your comfort level with computers in general.

What Can Cloud Storage Do for You?

The very best cloud storage solutions play nicely with other apps and services, making the experience of viewing or editing your files feel natural. Especially in business settings, you want your other software and apps to be able to retrieve or access your files, so making sure you use a service that easily authenticates with the other tools you use is a big deal. Box is particularly strong in this regard.

The range of capabilities of cloud-based storage services is incredible. Many of them specialize in a specific area. For example, Dropbox and SugarSync focus on keeping a synced folder accessible everywhere. SpiderOak emphasizes security. Some cloud storage providers, such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, are generalists, offering not only folder and file syncing, but real-time collaborative document editing, media-playing, and device syncing.

Distinct from but overlapping in some cases with cloud storage are online backup services. Some of these, such as Carbonite, are all about disaster recovery, while IDrive combines that goal with syncing and sharing capabilities.

In fact, most cloud services offer some level of backup, almost as a consequence of their intended function. It follows logically that any files uploaded to a cloud service are also protected from disk failures, since there are copies of them in the cloud. But true online backup plays can back up all of your computer's files, not just those in a synced folder structure. Whereas syncing is about selective productivity, Backup is a bulk, just-in-case play. With syncing you pick the documents you might need and keep them in the cloud for easy access. With backup, you back up anything you think you might regret losing. Easy, immediate access is not guaranteed with online backup, nor is it the point. Piece of mind is.

The Deal With the Cloud

Just to clear up any confusion, the cloud part of cloud-based storage services refers to storing your files somewhere other than your computer's hard drive, usually on the provider's servers. As one tech pundit put it: "There is no Cloud. It's just someone else's computer." Having data in the cloud also refers to the ability to access those files through the Internet. Your data is usually encrypted before making the journey over the Internet to the providers' servers, and, while they live on those servers, they're also encrypted. The services don't upload entire files every time they change: They just upload the changes, saving your connection bandwidth.

You can access your cloud files through an app or software installed on your computer (once it's installed, it's usually pretty much invisible), though you need an Internet connection for it to work. If you temporarily don't have an Internet connection, that's okay. The service will wait until the next time you do have a connection and take care of business then.

Free vs. Paid

Many great cloud storage services have a free account that usually comes with some limitations, such as the amount of storage they provide or a size limit on files you can upload. We prefer services that offer some level of free service (even if it's only 2GB) rather than a time-based trial, because that lets you fully integrate a service into your life for several weeks while you get a feel for how it works and what might go wrong with your particular setup.

What could possibly go wrong? Human error accounts for a good deal of cloud storage tragedies, but dropped Internet connections are another common troublemaker. Ask around (or just look through our review comments), and you'll hear sad stories of how cloud storage can go wrong. One of the benefits of paying for an account is that it usually comes with additional support from the provider, so if anything does go wrong, you can get someone on the phone to help you resolve the issue.

There are many other reasons to pay for cloud storage, from getting a lot more space (a terabyte really doesn't cost all that much anymore) to being able to upload really big files. That last benefit is relevant to graphic designers, video editors, and other visual artists who often host enormous files. Other perks of paying for your cloud storage often include increased access to file-version history (meaning you can restore an important business proposal to the version you had before your colleague made a bunch of erroneous changes), more security, or more features for collaboration and working with teams.

1.) 

      https://www.dropbox.com/home

Features:

A. 2 GB free online storage

B. Can delete original files from computer (true online storage)

C. Easy file sharing

D. Many great features

E. Can upload & share many different file types (not just pictures)

F. $10/month for 1TB storage

2.) 

https://www.google.com/drive/ 

Features:

A. 15 GB free online storage

B. Cannot delete original files from computer (not true online storage)

C. Easy file sharing

D. Many great features

E. Can upload & share many different file types (not just pictures)

F. $10/month for 1TB storage

3.) 

https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/ 

Features:

A. 5 GB free online storage

B. Can delete original files from computer (true online storage)

C. Easy file sharing

D. Many great features

E. Can upload & share many different file types (not just pictures)

F. $1.99/month for 50 GB storage and 1 TB with an Office 365 subscription (included)

4.) 

 https://www.idrive.com/

Features:

A. 5 GB free online storage

B. Can delete original files from computer (true online storage)

C. Easy file sharing

D. Many great features

E. Can upload & share many different file types (not just pictures)

F. $45/year for 1 TB

Part II – External Hard Drives

The first thing to consider is the type of external hard drive you want: desktop-class or laptop-class. Desktop-class drives, with 3.5-inch mechanisms inside, require a power adapter. They are designed to stay in one place, usually on your work surface at home or at the office. Desktop-class drives currently top out at 6TB, though there are setups with two drives into a chassis for more storage. A desktop-class drive with a built-in fan for extra cooling will extend the drive's life expectancy.

Notebook-class (a.k.a. pocket or portable) hard drives are usually 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch mechanisms powered through the connector cable (so no power adapter needed). These drives come in capacities up to 2TB, but capacities from 500GB to 1TB are more common.

External solid-state drives (SSDs) are found mostly in the notebook-class form factor, but these are still relatively rare because they're pricey in terms of cost per gigabyte. They're currently limited to smaller capacities, specifically in the 120GB to 512GB range. We recommend that you buy SSDs for use as internal rather than external drives.

Here is a small representation of several thousand different types of external hard drives:

1.) Transcend 1 TB Storejet 25H2P (TS1TSJ25H2P)

Amazon - $196

• Durable shock-resistant silicone outer shell
• Advanced internal hard drive suspension system
• One Touch Auto-backup button
• Easy Plug and Play voperation - no drivers required
• USB powered - no external adapter necessary
• Power saving sleep mode
• Includes Transcend Elite backup and security software
• LED power/data transfer activity indicator

For users who need a rugged, high-capacity yet cost-effective storage solution, the StoreJet 25H2P portable hard drive is a perfect choice. It incorporates a brilliant purple anti-slip rubber enclosure, and includes a reinforced hard casing and an internal hard drive suspension damper. Having passed the rigorous U.S. military drop-test tests, the StoreJet 25H2P is one of the most robust portable hard drives available. With up to 1TB of storage space, the StoreJet 25H2P allows you to store and move as much data as possible. The StoreJet 25H2P is also equipped with an extremely convenient One Touch auto-backup button. Just press the button, and it will help you instantly backup and synchronize data with your computer

2.) G-Technology G-DRIVE ev USB 3.0 Hard Drive 1TB (0G02723)

Amazon - $140

• High-speed USB 3.0 interface
• Up to 140 Mb/s transfer rates
• Pair with G-DOCK ev or one of multiple adapters to work with a variety of interfaces
• Capture, transfer, and distribute - all with one storage solution
• Bus-powered hub eliminates the need for a separate power connection

Part of the Evolution Series, G-DRIVE ev is a flexible, rugged USB 3.0 hard drive with a transfer rate of up to 136MB/s. Paired with an Evolution Series G-DOCK ev, used as a standalone device or with compatible accessories, G-DRIVE ev is designed to meet the storage needs of the creative professional. Whether in the field, or in the studio, The Evolution Series offers various docking solutions and hard drives, as well as a myriad of accessories that are interchangeable allowing for various storage system configurations to meet the most demanding digital content workflow and management needs. 1 meter drop on a carpeted concrete floor.

3.) Sony Media 2.5-Inch 2 TB External Hard Disk Drive, SILVER, USB3.0 (HDE2) HD-E2

Amazon - $147

4.) WD My Passport Ultra 2Tb Portable External Usb 3.0 Hard Drive With Auto Backup

Amazon - $92.99

• USB 3.0 connectivity
• Automatic and cloud backup
• Password protection and hardware encryption

5.) Fantom Drives GreenDrive GD3000U3P 3TB 7200 RPM USB 3.0/2.0,Aluminum External Hard Drive

Amazon - $114

• Plug and play simplicity
• Quiet fan-free design
• Easy installation
• Over 900,000 digital photos
• Over 48,000 hours of music
• Over 3,000 hours of digital video
• Over 1,350 hours of DVD quality movies

Fantom GreenDrive3 USB 3.0 External Hard Drives offer an affordable and reliable storage solution for USB enabled PC's and Macs. Quality & Durability The Green Drive family of external hard drives feature a sturdy aluminum casing for maximum durability, a fan-free design for virtually silent operation and can be stored horizontally or vertically to optimize your work space. Fantom Green Drives offer reliable storage expansion from your limited built-in hard drive so you can store all of your valuable data and digital memories. High Performance Transfers Fantom Drives GreenDrive3 USB 3.0 hard drive is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and represents the pinnacle of host connectivity allowing transfer rates up to 10 times the rate of USB 2.0. The GreenDrive3 USB 3.0 hard drive is perfect for audio and video professionals. The GreenDrive3 offers plug & play simplicity as well as its rugged features providing optimal storage for all your photos, music, videos and documents in one convenient place.

6.) WD - My Passport Ultra 1TB External USB 3.0/2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Classic Black

Best Buy - $60

• ·      1TB storage capacity
• ·      Provides ample space for storing documents, photos, music and more.
• ·      USB 3.0 and 2.0 interfaces
• ·      For use with a wide range of devices.
• ·      Data transfers up to 5 Gbps via USB 3.0 or up to 480 Mbps via USB 2.0
• ·      5400 rpm speed
• ·      Password protection and 256-bit AES hardware encryption
• ·      With automated scheduling options lets you back up your files to your Dropbox account (not included) for easy file management.
• ·      WD Drive Utilities software
• ·      Allows you to quickly configure, manage and run diagnostics on the drive.
• ·      Tough, compact design
• ·      With shock tolerance for long-lasting use and easy portability.
• ·      Compatible with PC and Mac
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