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CMS Peripherals ABSPlus
August 21, 2002 Backups are critical for your computer, but the options for doing them may be confusing. Let’s look at some ways to backup your computer, programs and those all-important data and document files. The choice of options may depend on whether you’re backing up just your document or data files or doing a complete computer backup. The latter usually includes all program, document, data and system files and is useful in the event of a total computer crash or when you upgrade to a new hard drive and want to transfer all your programs and files. You can do a document/data or complete backup in any of these ways: Removable or Portable Hard Drive Units that connect to the USB port, firewire port or the PC Card slot of your computer are one of the most versatile, convenient, fast and easiest backup options. One such device is the ABSPlus (CMS Peripherals, from $299), which is available in a compact configuration with up to 60GB storage and designed to use with laptops or in a desktop configuration with up to 160GB storage. The key to their ease of use is the accompanying ABSPlus software. After you’ve done an initial complete backup with this software, each subsequent backup can be configured to scan your hard drive and backup all files or only files that have changed since the original backup. Backups can be done each time you boot your computer or connect the device, on a regularly scheduled basis or manually. The ABSplus provides several restore options, allowing you to restore single files, complete folders or the entire hard drive. In a disaster recovery situation, the desktop ABSplus can boot your computer via its interface cable and copy a complete image of your hard drive from the ABSplus to your computer. If you need to replace your hard drive, ABSPlus can image the files from your old drive onto the new one. For disaster recovery with the laptop units, simply remove the hard drive from the ABSPlus and swap it with the laptop’s hard drive (it’s compatible with most laptop hard drives). We’ve had opportunity to use both laptop and desktop types, and the laptop unit worked flawlessly. The desktop device suffered a few initial configuration misfires, but thereafter backed up and restored easily. Either of these units is easy to use and provides inexpensive insurance for the SOHO user. Floppy Disks or ZIP Disks remain one of the more convenient and inexpensive ways to manually backup data and/or document files (floppies require too many disks for a practical complete computer backup). To backup document or data files, copy the files to a floppy disk or ZIP (for important documents and data, we recommend two backup copies). Always, of course, store the floppy or ZIP in a safe place. Floppy disks are inexpensive, reliable, and universally available. But floppies are slow and only hold 1.44MB. The ZIP disks from Iomega are fast and hold 100MB or 250MB. Iomega’s new Peerless disks hold up to 20GB each. ZIP disks require special drives and disks, but the increased storage capacity and faster writing speed make them ideal for backup of larger files. For complete computer backup, ZIP disks are expensive at about $10 per disk for the 100MB, $15 for the 250MB and $50+ for Peerless disks, but Iomega does includes backup software with their drives. An especially convenient file backup system from Iomega, QuickSync 3, can be configured to backup a document or data file automatically by sending a copy to the ZIP drive each time you save the file. CD-R (recordable CD-ROM) is attractive for backup because of its low media price and large storage capacity (up to 750MB per disk). Most of the CD-R drives come with backup software for backing up your entire computer or selected files. Some backup programs let you drag and drop files to the backup program icon for convenient copying to the CD-R. Data Tape, or streaming tape, is a slower method of backup that uses tape cassettes holding up to 200GB. This option offers compact storage, but the drives and media are expensive--the larger capacity drives cost thousands of dollars each, and tape cartridges $120 each. Smaller capacity drives cost $200-350, with 4-8GB tapes $25. Backups included in a program. Some programs, such as Quicken, include an easy method of backing up critical files from within the program. You can backup to floppies, ZIP, removable hard drives or CD-Rs. On-line Backup Services are available from companies such as Sykes AnswerExpress or ONTrack. For a fee, they provide secure storage by having you upload critical files, via the Internet, (encrypted for security) to the company’s computers. In the event you need the files, Sykes, for example, sends them on an encrypted CD-ROM that only your computer can read. The backup method you use depends on your needs, but we urge you to select the method that works best for you and backup your computer, document and data files regularly. |
