Mobile Computing News

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Today’s computers are more personal than ever – they’re used to store many, if not all, important documents and data. Though today’s computing technology is extremely advanced, it is still susceptible to unforeseen damage, accidents, theft, and failure. A reliable backup strategy is essential to ensure that one’s information remains secure and intact.

What to keep

From photos and music to documents and financial records, there are literally thousands of essential files stored on one’s computer at any given time. Experts advise that anything that users create themselves should be backed up – emails, calendars, documents, photos, music, videos, financial documents, and more. Additionally, it’s helpful to create secure copies of the applications used to create such documents and the settings and registration information for each. If and when something happens to one’s primary computer system, crucial files will remain safe with an adequate backup system.

How to keep it

Users should create a backup system that’s easy to use and requires little to no intervention. When considering external storage options, consumers are often bombarded by the sheer number of possibilities. While online backup systems are becoming more popular everyday, these are often not the most reliable due to varying Internet connectivity, and they don’t often provide enough storage capacity to justify the cost. Some may suggest using portable flash drives or optical media (CDs and DVDs), but these are easily susceptible to damage and typically won’t last more than a few years. Additionally, due to their limited capacity, these require that data be spread out over numerous media.

External hard drives provide the best possible option for backing up data. In contrast to onboard hard drives, which undergo changes and stresses almost continuously, external hard drives used for backup are only used during prescribed instances and therefore will last considerably longer than onboard drives.

Big and fast

Photo: Toshiba

Since hard drives sold with most of today’s systems increase in capacity fairly often, it’s wise to purchase an external hard drive that will grow with both your system and your data. A 1.5TB external hard drive will provide more than enough capacity to store all of the average user’s files, and are especially ideal for homes or small offices with multiple systems.

Another factor to consider is hard drive speed. Hard drive speed is rated in revolutions per minute (RPM). A speed of at least 5,400 RPM is more than adequate for the average user, and this is standard on most external hard drives. If necessary, faster RPM speeds of 7,200 which enable faster copying transfer of data between devices are available.

Easy does it

Fortunately, backing up is no longer the arduous task it once was, and a majority of external hard drives offer some sort of automatic backup software. This allows users to simply set up a drive once and forget about it, knowing that all important data will be securely saved. Not only unobtrusive in their use, external hard drives are also designed to blend into one’s existing computer setup, with designs that complement the appearance of almost all computers on the market today. Quiet and reliable, external hard drives stand as the perfect backup solution.

When choosing an external hard drive, users should ensure that it will be compatible with their system. Many external drives are compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, but there are a select few that are intended for particular platforms.