Things to Consider When Choosing a Backup Solution
There are several things that you need to look at when deciding how you are
going to backup your computer.
Data Storage Space:
How much data does the backup medium hold? 1.4 megabytes? 1.4 gigabytes?
200 gigabytes? If you have a lot of data to backup, or want to backup your
entire hard drive, you are going to require a backup medium that is
capable of holding a lot of data, or you are going to end up with hundreds
of disks cluttering up your office.
Ease of Use: How easy
is it to use a particular backup medium? Does it involve a lot of work
just to make a small backup, let alone a large one? Or is it fairly simple
and straight forward to use?
Physical Storage: How
easily stored is the backup medium. Is it small and easily stored? (And
also potentially easily lost). Or is it large and bulky and is going to
take up a lot of space in my home, office, etc.
Reusability: Say I
don’t want something backed up anymore, or I am making regular backups of
my machine and want to reuse old disks or drives. Are the disks/drives
reusable?
Cost: How much does it
cost to buy the necessary drives and/or disks? How much is it going to
cost over time? Is it cost effect for the amount of data storage?
Floppy Disks
Once upon a time, computers didn’t hold that much data. A computer even
capable of holding a megabyte worth of data was impressive. But those days are
long gone now, with hard drives capable of holding a hundred gigabytes being
common.
The floppy disk with only 1.4 megabytes worth of storage is fast becoming
obsolete. It doesn’t come standard with many new models of computers, and its
use is going down. Our 3.5 in. floppy disks today are already a replacement of
the old 5 ¼ in. disks of yesterday, disks that actually were floppy but capable
of only holding tiny amounts of data. The 3.5 in floppies are following the
path of its predecessor, and in a few years won’t be used anymore.
However, floppies are fairly inexpensive and if you only have a few files
you want to backup, they are not a bad method. However if you are looking for a
more serious backup solution, you are going to want to look elsewhere.
Data Storage Space: 1.4 megabytes
Ease of Use: Easy to use
Physical Storage: Small and easily stored, but if you want to make a
large backup is going to require a lot of disks.