Computer Back-up Storage for You
Problems like virus infection, malwares, crashed hard drive, fire and flood are some of the common problems why we need to store our files. Common computer users continue storing documents, emails, play games, store pictures and videos to their hard drive without another copy of these files. Back-up files before all is lost. It is recommended that data copy supposed to be done in a separate location, that is, in a separate drive, or not inside the desktop, or outside home.
To find out the type of data back-up tool you need, here are some indicators. First,verify the amount of data that would be stored. Second, find out if the data needs to be transported or can just be accessed in one place. Lastly, how much are you willing to pay? As the rule of thumb: the bigger the storage capacity, the more pricey.
There are many data back-up devices available in the market, but do you know which one you need? Let’s study them and find out which fits.
1. Thumb drives. Thumb drives, also known as USB flash drives live up to its name. They come in different designs, have sturdy casings and conveniently small. They cost between $9 – $300. They can store large enough to store up to 128G of data, and is supported in any operating systems, be it Linux, Windows or Mac. Thumb drives can store and transfer data at a relatively fast speed. A user can read and rewrite the data thus some have a read-write encryption latch to protect important data to be over-written. To lengthen the life of your thumb drives, minimize defragmenting in order to prevent unnecessary writes.
2. Portable Hard drives. They are quite slim and come with a firewire-USB connector to connect the hard drive to the computer. Saving and transferring of the file is slower though compared to internal hard drives. There storage capacity are available in 320G, 500G up to 4TB of data which cost runs from $300 – $2,000. Some portable hard drives can also be partitioned, and hence, more dedicated space for another operating system, softwares, applications, data and documents. This is fitting for cases when your operating system of your internal hard drive is corrupted, you can still turn on your computer in using the operating system from the portable hard drive and save whatever important information from the internal hard drive. Portable hard drives are all supported in any operating systems. However, be careful not to crash it. If you are a jinx like me, buy a protection suite for the portable hard drive.
3. Optical Discs. This could be CD, or DVD. If you suspect that your files may be infected, it is best to save them in discs. Why? When, saving files to a CD-R or DVD-R, the method of burning (literally), means the disc writer makes bangs of codes to write the data files to be saved on the DVD-R or CD-R. It is physically scratched on the surface of the disc. Thus, data is not fluid and it stays there as is from the time the disc was burned. The main distinction between CD and DVD is its storage capacity. CD can definitely store up to 700MB, while DVDs can save up to 4.7 GB of data. However, to save files to disc, a computer user needs both a burning software and a CD-DVD writer hardware. The distinction between the two devices, CD-RW and DVD-RW from CD-R and DVD-R is, RW stands for re-writable. But they are the same in terms of saving files. Thus, if you are very careful and wants your future drives to be free from bad elements like virus/malware-proof, one may choose this option, though it may be a less hassle. But the advantage that the files being transported or copied to new hard drives, would only be the important ones and not the infections attached to it.
4. Tape Drives. If you could still recall how cassette tape works, then it is more or less likely to function as such. Tape drives are long-standing storage devices that saves and reads data on a magnetic tape. It may write fast or even faster than your normal hard drive, however, you may spend time and it will take longer. Tape drives are top for long years of archiving important large files that could store up to hundreds of gigabytes inexpensively. Tape drives are more practical for businesses.
5. Solid State Drives. Solid state drive or disk (SSD) is an electrical way of saving files through a semiconductor. SSD provides faster access time, since it can randomly data, and no more spinning time compared to hard discs. They have greater resilience to physical vibration, shocks, extreme temperature fluctuations and magnetic fields that could destroy hard drives. Sounds really too good to be true? Yes, there is a catch, and it’s the price. But if you are too mobile, and really accident-prone, this could be for you. SSD is also beneficial to large businesses since they reduce the number of servers needed to using hard-drive redundant copies (or RAID).
Decide on what computer storage device to get.
For more on storage of backup, check the link below. Do you want to secure your vital data files?? Do you know what to get for a computer backup software?