| Despite all the things I enjoy about this work, there is always one thing I dislike & that is telling a customer that their data (music, photos etc) is lost or is not economically retrievable. This usually happens when a hard drive has failed, which, apart from death, is one of the few certainties in life to happen. Here we will discuss the main types of backup to avoid such a situation, & the types of media to which we can save these backups: BACKUP TYPES Full – as the name suggests, this backs up everything on the computer · Pros & cons – nothing is likely to be missed, provides a basis on which to build additional, smaller backups Differential – contains all files changed since the last full backup In other words, if a full backup was done on Monday, Tuesday's differential will backup all changed files since Monday's full. Wednesday's differential will backup all changed files since Monday's full including the files that have changed on Tuesday. · Pros & cons – again, nothing is likely to be missed, but whatever you use to back up to will rapidly become full due to the size of the backups. Incremental – an incremental backup will backup all files that have changed since the last backup, regardless whether it was a full or incremental backup. In other words, if a full backup was done on Monday, Tuesday's incremental will backup all changed files since Monday's backup. However, Wednesday's incremental will only backup files that have changed since Tuesday's incremental backup. · Pros & cons – provided you have at least one full backup, this is the best option for the typical home user, but is always wise to create an occasional, new full backup. This type of backup can be incredibly fast also, if few changes have been made since the previous backup. BACKUP MEDIA The media is what you use to backup your data onto. In it simplest form this could be a USB stick or CD, but this is not really the answer since most users have far more data than these devices can hold. Here are a few recommendations: External USB hard drive – think of this a giant USB stick · Pros & cons – easily portable & can be bought to match the size of the anticipated backup, but often require a separate power supply Network attached storage device – attaches to a network router · Pros & cons – allows several computers to access a single device if on a home network. Also gives access to files when not at home. Only useful for those who have a network set up & requires a good understanding of network technology. Offline backup – using your internet connection, software uploads your backup to a professionally managed server · Pros & cons – keeps your data off site in case of fire, flood etc, set & forget, requires an internet connection, recurring annual fees We can help with any of the above, & also provide a disk imaging service (not mentioned above) where an entire image of your system is stored off site & can be used to reinstate the entire operating system & data. Please call for a quote. | 
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