Data Backup

A critical part of your digital life is your data: your photos, email, bookmarks/favorites, bookkeeping, etc. Your data is irreplaceable. That is why it is important to have a backup of your data.

You could suffer data loss by any of the following calamities: fire, theft, flood, percussive exposure (a sudden drop), mechanical and electronic component failure, etc. Protect your data as it is the only irreplaceable component of your computer. You can buy a new computer, but you can’t buy your old data.

Keep a copy of your files on a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a stack of CD-R and DVD-R disks, a Time Capsule, or with an online backup service such as BackJack. Better yet, use multiple backup devices and services, keep at least one off-site, and backup frequently. Be sure to test your backups once in a while by restoring a file and examining it against the original.

Try out BackJack’s online backup service with a 15-day free trial. I use BackJack’s service and have been very satisfied: I receive email confirmation of backups and test restores have been flawless! It’s easy to select which files to backup and the software runs automatically on a schedule. If I miss the schedule (e.g. if my laptop is asleep), BackJack starts up the next time my MacBook Pro is awake. Please contact me and I’ll be happy to help you plan a backup strategy, pick hardware and services, and automate the process as much as possible so you can be secure in knowing that you have your precious data in more than one place.

Should you be left with a damaged or malfunctioning storage device and no backup, I may be able to recover your data, but there are no guarantees. It’s much better to have regular, frequent backups.