Backup Your Media: Choosing the Right Storage Product

Can you imagine all the data on your PC being deleted due to a simple computer crash? It would be a devastating and unfortunate incident. Thankfully, there are certain methods that you can use to better protect yourself. Whether you use your computer for business or pleasure, performing a regular backup can save you from a bundle of future hassles.

The first step is to select what type of backup media to purchase. There are three primarily factors that must be taken into consideration: size, durability, and portability.

Size
When searching for backup media, you want to select something larger than what you actually need. Suppose that you have 1 GB of data. It would therefore be wise to choose a backup media that can hold at least 2 GB of data. Realize that you will constantly be adding new files to your computer. Therefore, the amount of data on your computer is likely to double within the next year.

Durability
A vital component of any backup media is its ability to endure the passage of time. It wouldn't be beneficial if you back up your entire hard drive onto a DVD, and then it accidentally breaks. When backing up a large conglomeration of important files, it is better to use more durable media like a USB flash drive or even a cassette tape. For smaller batches of less pertinent data, either a CD or DVD would work just fine.

Portability
Portability refers to the ease in which you can transfer your media from one location to another. Obviously, a CD, DVD, tape, or USB flash drive would be fairly easy to relocate. An external hard drive, on the other hand, may weigh several pounds, and therefore be more difficult to move.

Next, you need to choose which media suits your needs best:

CDs
CDs can hold anywhere between 650 MB to 700 MB. CDs are very effective for storing or transferring relatively small amounts of data. Unfortunately, CDs are easily broken.

DVDs
DVDs can hold anywhere between 5 GB to 10 GB. They are extremely useful for storing large collections of pictures, videos, and other media files. Unfortunately, they are also easily broken.

Tapes
Tapes can hold up to a whopping 80 GB of data. Unfortunately, transferring data to and from a tape can be awfully slow. However, tapes are the most common backup media utilized by major businesses.

External Hard Drives
An external hard drive can hold large quantities of data up to 250 GB, and perhaps soon even more. However, external hard drives are very expensive and extremely fragile.

USB Flash Drives
USB flash drives are inexpensive, durable, and portable. Furthermore, they can hold anywhere from 64 MB all the way to 2 GB of data.