I believe in backup – maybe too much.  I have a mixed strategy when it comes to backup – many ways of backing up that have evolved over time:

  1. I use Carbonite (http://www.carbonite.com/) as my ongoing backup.  It’s about $50 a year for unlimited backup.  As long as you have decent upload bandwidth it pretty much keeps up with all of your data.  I like this as it runs unattended – so I don’t forget any backups and it’s offsite
  2. I have a USB hard drive I connect about once a week
    • I use Sync Toy (from Microsoft) – this is a simple utility that mirrors data between folders
    • I have one set that’s an exact copy of my data – this would be what I would use in the event of failure most likely as it could copy items right over
    • I have another set where I copy over updated/new files but leave the deleted items – in case I deleted a file
  3. I also, about once a quarter, make backup copies onto DVDs (using Acronis True Image) and put them in my safe deposit box.  I ended up using this software as it would break up a backup into 4.7 gb pieces so I could burn them onto DVDs.  Other software would burn directly to DVDs but one DVD (usually many DVDs in) would fail and I’d have to start over (made a lot of coasters that way).

So if you don’t backup – START DOING SO.  Carbonite is a simple and easy option – but even a backup USB hard drive (I started with an old hard drive from another computer) can be a great option.  Multiple backup options are good – as it increases your change of surviving a process.  Please don’t be another tragedy – back up your data!

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