Technology has advanced so much that affordable backup options are many. The floppy disk is no longer your only affordable option. Here are a list of affordable options and how you can use them and the for and against of using them.
1. The floppy disk
Still in common use despite its short life span and low backup capability its any payroll software packages still us this to back up their data
For: Cheap and easy to use
Against: 1.44MB limit per disk, easily damaged
2. CD's (and DVD's)
from 750MB up to 8.7GB these disks can hold huge amounts of data. There are CD-RW Disks (Read/Write which can be used many times like a floppy disk, or R only disks (You can only write to the CD once but read them many times)
For: Cheap and huge backup capacity. Great for archiving and easy to store
Against: There is still a limit and may not back up an entire hard disk on your computer. If you have lots of pictures and music you may need more than one disk. Not good for file servers.
3. Tape There are many different types of tape and they vary in how much data they can backup and how fast they can backup the data. Tape drives and tape software can vary greatly in price. Windows 2000 and Windows XP have simple backup software installed by default. For: Can back up large volumes of data fast and securely. Against: Canbe expensive for very fast high volume data. 4. Zip and Rev drives Zip and Rev drives are made by iomega and can back up huge amounts of data reletively cheaply. Zip disks come in sizes up to 750MB similar to a CD and Rev drives can back up to 70GB For: Affordable backup, and zip is a very common format, Rev can repalce tape backup. Against: Proprietary hardware and software, iomega are the pwneres and makers of this software and hardware. Rev is a new technology. 5. USB Flash Drive (Memory stick) These are small and very portable, can be attached to your key ring or put in your pocket. Price shave dropped dramatically over the last year so much that a 128MB flash drive can be bought for less than €30. Bring all your data with you every where. Payroll backup, accounts software backup, word and excel docment backups can be taken home at night and reduce the need for floppy and CD backups. For: Eay to use, portable, can store 2GB of data easily, perfect for desktop backups. Against: Easy to loose, small amount of back data compared to other backup methods. Not suitable for server backups. 6. External (USB connected) Hard Disk Drive These are the same as the hard disk in your computer except they are in a sealed box with their own power and cable. You can get up to 400GB (that's a lot of space) and can back up your entire computer. For: Easy to use, loads of space, very secure and can be taken away and stored for safe keeping. You don't just have to use them for backups. Against: More expensive than other options. It is more suitable for less frequent backups as swapping out disks can be expensive. Back up speeds can be slow. article:100003 (c) Nilsson Denver Ltd 2007 |
