Don't Fall Victim to Data Loss, Backup Your Data

Keeping valuables data safe and secure, tucked inside a bank vault or some other lock-down location is commonplace, say the Personal Technology Experts at Support.com, Inc.

Yet when it comes to keeping data safe and secure, well, common sense seems to go out the window.

Consider these hair-raising statistics
from Harris Interactive, Inc. on behalf of Backblaze:

• 35% of computer owners have never backed up their computer
• 51% of computer owners backup less than once a year (or never)
• Only 2% of computer users backup their data more than once-per-day
• Oddly, women are 33% more likely than men to have never backed up their computer

It's imperative to note that backup must be kept on file to be effective: every week, 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States, while 31% of all PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control (various sources).

This gap in common sense also affects businesses: according to the National Archives and Records Administration, 93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster; while 50% of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately.

Pretty scary stuff, and while some data can be accidentally deleted, corrupted, or damaged by malware, there are still many other reasons why data loss occurs, many of which we can't control.

One thing you can control is whether or not you keep data protected via backup. The concept of network backup is simple - copy data from one PC to another over the network, or onto a storage device such as a CD/DVD. You can schedule it so that your data gets backed up automatically, regularly, and without manual effort.

Some well-known data backup methods are:

• Local Backup: The simplest and easiest way to backup your data is manual. Copy files onto an external storage media - USB flash drives, external hard drives, CD/DVD, etc.
• Network Backup: If you have more than one machine at your home/workplace and they are on the same network, you can backup your data over the network.
• Cloud Backup: Cloud storage is a storage/backup solution where data is stored offsite, on a remote server, over the Internet. Cloud backup service providers have a cluster of highly scalable servers, and provide simple web interfaces or applications to allow users to store and retrieve any amount of data. The greatest advantage of cloud storage is that you can access it from any computer, anywhere in the world.

As a final reminder, make sure to always protect your computer from viruses, malware, spyware, and other online threats. If your computer already has an anti-virus program installed, make sure it's up-to-date and accompanied by a secondary security program such as SUPERAntiSpyware 5.