Mobile Computing News

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Data, the little bits of information that make computer usage worthwhile, are the lifeblood of any computer user. Everything you’ve ever created, worked on or edited over your computer’s lifespan is stored on some form of a drive as data. The unsettling thing is all of this can be lost in a flash.It is alarming how few people perform data backup to protect themselves from this loss. You really need to perform data backup frequently. How often depends on how time-sensitive the information you work with is, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll say once a month at least, weekly ideally, and daily at best.

What’s at Stake?

What’s the cost of slacking on data storage? Imagine a bank losing its customers’ data. Or a hospital losing its patient records. A legal institution losing all its digital case files. Everything. That’s the risk those organisations run if they don’t practice good data backup techniques. Ask T-Mobile: they were on the verge of a huge class action lawsuit when they thought they had lost their user’s data without possibility of recovery. What risk do you run?

So What Are Your Options?

Thankfully, it doesn’t require tech savvy to backup your files. Data storage really means duplicating your files from one location to another. So if you were to clone your hard drive’s content to an external drive, that would be an example of backing up your data. Thankfully, there are various built-in, freely available or web-based options for all computer users. Most contemporary operating systems have data backup built into the core offering, such as Apple’s ‘Time Machine’ or Windows’ ‘Backup Your Data’ function found in the control panel. Most manufacturers even have their own backup solution built in, such as Lenovo’s Lenovo Care.

Up In the Clouds

Many web alternatives for data backup have emerged. Dropbox, a web app which allows you to easily sync content between your computer and the web, is one such example. Google has recently made an announcement that users can now transfer – and, by extension, store – any file types on Google Docs.

Too Simple Not To Do

The point here is that data storage has never been so easy. And, if you have yet to be affected by losing your data, when it does happen – because it inevitably will – it will hurt far more than you imagine. It doesn’t help to regret not backing up data after it’s been lost. Not only could you be out of pocket by several hundreds of pounds in trying to retrieve the data, but it may very well be gone for good. Best not to get caught unawares.