How do I backup my data?

Most common devices used for a backup are:

• External Hard Drives are great for general use. You can use them over and over again, they usually have quite a lot of space, and they are good for backing up large amounts of data. Remember that external hard drives can fail too so make sure you keep the copy on your computer.
• CD’s and DVD’s are also good mediums for backing up data, and are reasonably cheap if you just want to backup a few things like your photo collection, music and documents.
• USB Flash Drives are great ways of storing small amounts of data, like work documents, etc.

A Backup is essentially just a copy of the data you backup, so the simplest way of backing up is just copying the data and pasting it in the device you want to backup to. There is also software that will do this for you automatically.

Backing up onto a server

A server is a computer which sole purpose is to hold and give out data. Backing your data onto a server is becoming more popular in homes. Having multiple computers, each one having its own backup can be costly and messy. This is where a server is handy. With a server, all the computers are connected via a network and the backup runs through the network. Servers are also handy for a centralised place for sharing data on a network.

If you would like to purchase a server please talk to one of our Spannerbox specialists.

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Things to Remember

To help prevent hard drive failure, it is good to get a UPS (uninterrupted power supply). This is a device that ensures devices plugged into it get clean constant power without spikes or drops and also has a backup battery, in event of a power cut.

It is best to not bump your computer too much as this can cause hard drive heads to scratch the discs and corrupt data.

It is also not recommended to turn off your computer at the wall or by the switch. If your hard drive is working and you suddenly cut power to it you can damage it or corrupt data.

Keeping your hard drive at a good operating temperature helps prevent hard drive failure. Usually a hard drive by itself won’t over heat, but in certain situations hard drives may be hotter than normal. If you are worried about your hard drive over heating it is a good idea to have extra cooling fans installed in your computer.