I'm going to write a short series of articles about how you can back up your files to prevent disaster. I use all of them. When I was at Novell (a networking software company), we constantly talked about triple-redundancy. This simply means you are using three different ways of backing up in case one of them failed. I'm going to teach you four ways your digital files.
Nothing is more disastrous to a digital scrapbooker than to lose their memories because they have been sloppy about backing things up. It feels like the world, as we know it, as ended.
Today's topic: Online backup
The main virtue of backing up your files online is that it happens automatically without your interference. I personally use Carbonite. When I worked at Novell we had a similar piece of software called iFolder. It backed up all of our files, but not our operating system and settings. Every time a change occurred, the change was backed up automatically, seamlessly behind the scenes. If we lost our computer, IS&T would come along with a new computer all set up for us, we would login to iFolder and our files would download to our computer in exactly the same set up (filing structure - you name it) and off we would go. It saved us tons of time. iFolder saved my bacon three different times.
After I left Novell, I longed for iFolder. I felt exposed to the whims of computer failures without it.
When I found Carbonite, I practically did hand flips around my office because it works the same way. Your files are encrypted before they leave your computer. Every time you are connected to the Internet, they automatically back up to a Carbonite server. It happens behind the scenes without your interference. It takes a while to get the initial backup done, but after than, you are almost always caught up.
Carbonite recently saved me because I accidentally deleted a folder that had two and a half years of writing in it. (I about passed out when I realized what I'd done.) Then I remembered Carbonite. I just located the folder on my Carbonite drive, chose to restore it, and in about an hour I had it back on my computer again.
Another option is Mozy. Some people prefer that option because Mozay backs up external hard drives and Carbonite doesn't have that option yet. I have four internal hard drives in my computers so Carbonite works great for me. I also use Carbonite to back up my laptop. (Yes, my computer is bigger than most servers.)
Check it out. I can't recommend this option highly enough because it is almost impossible to keep up with the next three options consistently. You are almost always behind... With an online backup system, you are always backed up.
You'll never have to worry that you are going to lose those precious digital scrapbooking layouts... or your financial records... or your emails... or anything else that you really care about on your computer again.
