How to Backup Your Computer Files

Transcription

1 Protecting Your Valuable Data Alan Tigner 04/14/2014

2 Today s Agenda Define the backup concept. Cover the most common methods of backing up your data. Cover some backup software. Conclude and provide some process recommendations.

3 What is a Backup? Computer backup is defined as creating an exact copy of your files on a medium other than your primary hard disk.

4 Why Backup? The reason that we make computer backups is to protect against the event that something happens to damage our files so they are no longer usable. If we have backups of our files, we can restore these files to our computer through our backups.

5 Primary Methods of Backup File level Targets individual files and folders Appropriate for your pictures, documents, music, etc. Full System Used for bare metal restore Can be used in some cases for file restore

6 What Formats can be used to Backup Computer Files? The original method of backing up computer files was the floppy disk. This medium is now obsolete and is not found on new PCs. Floppy disks could only hold 1.4 megabytes of data which makes them not practical for the large quantities of data found on today s PCs. Recordable CDs and DVDs can hold up to 700 MB and 4.7GB respectively and are easily used as a backup medium. The only downside is that this medium is normally a write once technology (WORM) and can be difficult to manage the physical copies over time.

7 What Formats can be used to Backup Computer Files? Another technology which is becoming common for computer backup is the USB flash drive. These are removable, highly portable drives which are very small and can hold several gigabytes worth of data. The largest one currently available is 1TB and costs around $1200. You can also make backups of your files online. This form of backup (aka Cloud storage) involves copying your computer files onto a server at a remote location which you can access from any computer that is connected to the internet. This allows you to eliminate using physical media such as USB drives, hard drives, or CD/DVDs while still backing up your data in a secure fashion.

8 What Formats can be used to Backup Computer Files? The most common type of backup medium today is the USB, FireWire, and/or esata external hard drive. The cost of these drives has been in a steady decline during the past few years making it perhaps the most cost effective backup solution. A 3TB desktop external drive typically costs around $100. Another variant is a USB powered unit that needs only the USB connection to supply the power for the device. These are smaller and work well in a mobile setting.

9 Example External Hard Drives

10 Types of External Hard Drives Local/direct attached (DAS) connected directly to your computer via a USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, and/or esata interface. This type of storage requires a host (your PC) and is more complicated to share with other PCs. The Drobo brand is a popular DAS type of device. Network attached (NAS) connected to a local area network (LAN) and accessed over your home network. Typically these are stand-alone devices that DO NOT require a host, powered by an embedded OS like Linux, and are generally very small, single purpose, headless computers. These units generally offer failsafe redundancy via multiple hard drives but can also be found in a single drive configuration.

11 Typical NAS Installation

12 Types of Hard Drives (applies to both direct and network attached solutions) Single disk a single, self-contained external hard drive. Has no redundant properties. Dual disk A pair of drives that when configured as such provide 100% redundancy using a technique called mirroring. If one disk fails, the other takes over. Multiple disk (3+ drives) an array of hard drives that are typically organized as one logical volume and can be configured for single or dual level redundancy. The dual and multiple configurations use a storage technique known as RAID.

13 What s the Best Method? Only you can decide which form of computer backup is best for you. The final decision is generally determined by answering the following questions: How much data needs to be backed up? How critical is the data? How often does it change? How much are you willing to spend?

14 Conclusion Regarding Methods Floppy disks are really not practical for today s computing environment and CDs and DVDs are not that far behind. USB Flash and external hard drives (direct attached and NAS) are much more effective and flexible but are more expensive than CDs or DVDs. Online backup has become very appealing since the backup destination is generally in a managed data center environment. This solution is at the high end of the cost curve on a per/gb basis but falling.

15 Backup Software There are many software options on the market that address various levels of backup sophistication. Backup software is included with the Windows OS US/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore Macs include an application called Time Machine that can be used to backup and restore from a variety of external storage devices. Other solutions can be found that perform more advanced functionality (like imaging) but are generally not free (Acronis, Norton Ghost, etc.). Most external drives come with some form of backup software.

16 Backup Types Unstructured - An unstructured repository may simply be a stack of floppy disks, CD-R/DVD-R media, or even external hard drives with minimal information about what was backed up and when. Over time this method can become an organizational challenge. Structured Structured backups typically include full volume, incremental, differential, and continuous methods. These generally require a larger storage pool and may host all of your data in one location.

17 Backup Methods - Synchronization File synchronization (or 'syncing') in computing is the process of making sure that files in two or more locations are updated through certain rules. In one-way synchronization, updated files are copied from a 'source' location to a 'target' location, or locations, but no files are copied back to the source location. In two-way sync, updated files are copied in both directions; usually with the purpose of keeping the two locations identical to each other.

18 When to Backup If you are very active with your computer, then backups should be more frequent. A daily backup is recommended if your backup hardware configuration is fairly transparent. This would include using a central at-home storage device or an online service. If it has to be setup each time, it s not transparent. Leaving your computer turned on and using a scheduling tool is the best way that you can avoid missing a backup cycle.

19 Restoring Your Data Can be as simple as copying your files from the backup to your primary storage. Many backup programs allow a point in time restore. Restoring a full system (bare metal) can be complicated and better suited for those with more advanced technical skills although it s getting easier.

20 What I Do Automatically backup my data in several locations daily. Store all my critical files (photos, music, video, documents, software) on a 4TB Network Attached Storage (NAS) server using RAID 5 level redundancy. Use a synchronization tool to backup my critical folders from the NAS to a primary landing area (the Windows Home Server in the next bullet) and a secondary (USB portable) destination. Use a Windows Home Server 2011 (HP Microserver w/8tb non-redundant storage) to perform a full backup (automatic) for all the PCs (5 total) I have in my home. Use an online backup solution (Carbonite) to store my most critical files (not my photos).

21 What I Recommend for You At a minimum, backup your critical data to a portable hard drive. Use a formal backup or synchronization tool to perform your backups. Consider an online backup solution. The following reviews compare some current offerings.

22 Questions??