Backup your data - but how?

Backing up data is not something new. Storing data on several places to create a redundancy in case something happens is a must for important files that you don't want to lose. But what about the other files, those that you don't really need but still can't get yourself to remove just for the sake of it? We will now look into a few techniques and tips for making backups of your data.

External hard drive
External hard drives is a fast way to backup your data and can store a huge amount of it. Also, it's a secure way, especially if you plug it off the computer when you're done and store it at a safe place where none but you can find it.

One problem with external local storage is that it's complicated and time consuming to bring it with you and handle files when you for example want to sync with other computers manually.

Sometimes files and folders are not enough for making backups on. It is possible to make a backup of the whole hard disk drive with a program like Clonezilla. This is called making an image of the disk that you can restore. The whole process is called cloning. Compare restoring everything to what is was with the time consuming reinstallation of Windows including updates, programs and manually putting back files.  

Cloud storage services
Cloud storage services has taken the world by storm. Today there's a lot of them, some of the more famous are Google Drive, Microsofts Skydrive and Dropbox. These services let's you store you data on their servers and also sync it to all devices you have connected to them with your account. You can access you data from anywhere you are, as long as you got an Internet connection. For files you use very day this is great!

Cloud storage is very neat when it comes to smaller files like documents and pictures. But since our Internet connection to these services are much slow it's no good idea to upload movies to them. Maybe in the future when connections are faster. Also, these services has a limit in storage far lower than the one of your local storage.

Something you need to think about when using cloud based services is that your data is traveling through over the Internet and the cloud servers. You have no direct control over the data on these servers. Someone might for example hack into the servers and compromise your information. Therefore it's important to think twice before uploading sensitive information. You should also read the terms of service. When using cloud services in other contexts than personal, for example as a teacher at a school you have to check which rules exists in your case. Sending sensitive information about others, like students over the Internet and cloud services might not be a good idea.