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"How-To?":
Note: this outline of backing up personal computers is just that - an outline. It is not meant to provide detailed information about using specific hardware or software. If you have questions about your own backup needs, and you are a member of the helpnet-list, please post your questions to the list. This page also does not provide a complete list of technologies and approaches. Instead, I have selected the ones that seemed to me to be most appropriate for members of our network. The specific software mentioned here is for Windows 95 and 98 (and in some cases NT). If you are using a different operating system the same basic backup principles remain true. - Jonathan Falk The recommendations come first, for readers in a hurry. To get the details and explanations, please read the rest of the page. Plan A: basic protection. Everyone should backup their data files at least weekly, and more often for critical information that changes frequently. If you only have a small amount of data (perhaps less than 10 Mb), then it can be feasible to backup to floppy disks, although floppies are slow and not terribly reliable. For larger amounts of data, backup to a Zip disk, tape drive or a CD (CD-R or CD-RW). Use multiple backup sets, and rotate them. Store them in a safe place (i.e. not on top of the computer), and keep one set at a different location, to protect against theft, fire, water damage, etc. Plan B: full system backup. For complete security, supplement the data backup with a backup of the entire system, using Drive Image or a similar program. The drive image can be saved on a separate disk partition, a second hard drive (if your system has 2 drives), or archived on a recordable CD. The latter two options protect you in the unlikely, but possible event of a total hard drive failure. The drive image should be updated whenever changes, such as new hardware or software, are made to the system. If needed, you should be able to restore the system in a few minutes. If you have a CD-R or CD-RW drive, you'll find many other uses for it - archiving old programs, transferring large files to other people, etc. An alternative approach: using tape for everything. Instead of saving a drive image on your hard drive or on CD, you can use a tape drive to back up your entire file system, if your drive came with software that will allow a full system restore. Schedule periodic full backups, and more frequent incremental backups (backing up just files that have changed). Tape drives are relatively slow, and it will probably take hours to do a full backup or restore, so schedule backups to run unattended, such as overnight. Tape drives can also be less reliable than saving to a hard drive or CD. Be sure to test to make sure that you can restore a drive before you actually have to. Why do we need to do backups? All of us have critical data stored on our computers. Yet relatively few of us are really conscientious about backing up that data. That's the equivalent of storing all our paper records outside on top of the picnic table, and just hoping that it doesn't rain or get too windy. There are all kinds of ways data stored in computers can be lost: hardware failures, theft, vandalism, fire, power surges, or (very commonly) human error, like accidentally over-writing a critical file. Here's a quick test to see how important having a good backup system is to you. Imagine that the next time you go to work you find that your computer has vanished without a trace. What would you do? How much of a pain would it be to reconstruct all your information? Are there things that would be gone forever? Would your organization be crippled? Your answers to these questions will give you a good idea of how much time, effort and money you should be putting into a maintaining a good backup system! The rest of this page provides some general guidelines, information and opinions about backup approaches suitable for individuals and small organizations. Where to back up There are many choices about how and where to backup. For a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of these options, see "How to learn more," below. Here I'll just say that floppies are too small, too slow, and too unreliable for most backup purposes, unless you only have a very small amount of data that you want to save. Removable hard drives, like the Iomega Jaz, are too expensive, and Web-based backup solutions are not yet really viable for most of us. Network backup approaches are beyond the scope of what we're going to cover here. So the discussion here focuses on:
You can make an argument for any of these approaches, depending on what you're trying to accomplish. In choosing one, key considerations are:
Data backups What to backup. At the very least, everyone should back up their data on a regular basis. To make this easier, you should save all your data files in a single folder, with appropriate subfolders. You can use the "My Documents" folder that Windows sets up, or create your own folder. With a little work, you can probably configure your E-mail program to save your messages in this folder, too. Also, don't forget to save your E-mail address book, Web browser bookmarks, and anything else you'd feel very bad about losing. Where to back it up. I think critical data should be backed up to removable media, such as a Zip disk, CD-RW, or tape, for maximum safety. That way the backup can be stored in a separate, safe location, so whatever happens to your computer, or your office, you still have your information. Unless you only have a small amount of information to back up, putting your backups on floppy disks will be very tedious. And if a job is very tedious, it's less likely to get done. Backup schedules. A lot can be written about backup schedules. For an in-depth treatment, see the "Backups and Disaster Recovery" section of PC Guide. The variables include how frequently to back up, how many backup sets to keep, and what sort of rotation schedule to use among the sets. (Again, how compulsive you should be about all this is directly related to how bad you'll feel if your data is lost.) One rule of thumb is to backup at least weekly – and more often (daily or several times during the day) if there are critical data files that are being changed frequently – and rotate among multiple backup sets. One reason for multiple sets is that if a file becomes corrupted, it could be a while before the problem is discovered. In the meantime, you may have overwritten your good backup with a copy of the bad file, so now your backup is corrupted, too. With multiple sets, you can keep backups for a longer period before they are overwritten. Also, having multiple backup sets makes it easy to keep one backup off-site. How to back it up. You can use the Backup utility that comes in Windows 95/98, or third-party backup software that may be included with your Zip, tape, or CD-R/CD-RW drive. Many third party programs are more powerful than Windows' basic Backup program, but the Windows program will get the job done. For more about Windows Backup, see "How to learn more" below. If your backup will fit on a single disk or cartridge (a Zip disk, CD, or tape cartridge) you can use the scheduling feature of Windows 98, or scheduling built into a third-party backup program, to automate the process. Set it up to run when it won't interfere with your use of the computer, like overnight. System backups If your data is safely backed up, you won't be wiped out by a computer disaster. But think of all the work involved in restoring your computer to health if, for instance, the hard drive failed, or if Windows was fatally fouled up, perhaps by a buggy installation of a new program (it happens all the time). If you have to start from scratch – reinstalling Windows, making sure you have all the right drivers, reinstalling all your software, getting all the configurations back to the way you like them, and then putting your data files back – you could be facing many hours, or even days of work before things are back to normal. That's where having a complete system backup pays off, making it possible for you to be back in business in minutes. Drive images. The best way to backup your hard drive is to create a "drive image," a compressed record of the contents of very sector of the drive, which can be stored in a safe place. Two programs which will do this are Powerquest's Drive Image and Norton Ghost (both approx. $60-65). The compressed drive image takes up perhaps 40% or so less space than the data on the disk that it is imaging. You should make a new drive image whenever you change the hardware or software in your system. That will minimize your work and problems if you have to do a full restore. Where to store the drive image. The drive image will be useless if it is stored on the same drive it is imaging, since one of the first steps in restoring a drive is to format it, which will wipe out the saved image. Store the drive image on a second hard drive, if your system has two (most don't), on one or more CD's, or on a separate partition of the same physical hard drive. The recordable CD (CD-R) and the rewritable CD (CD-RW) have really come into their own as useful multi-purpose tools for all kinds of data needs. CD-R's, which can only be recorded on once, can be read by any CD drive. CD-RW's can be written on and re-written may times, but they are not universally compatible with all CD drives. However, a CD-RW drive will also be able to record CD-R's. You can use CD-RW's for your own archival purposes, and record CD-R's to give to other people, as a way to avoid compatibility problems. About partitions. A partition is a division of a hard drive that the computer treats as a single drive. Most PC's have a single hard drive partition, labelled drive "C." It is possible, however, to create multiple partitions on the drive. For instance, if you have a 4 Gb drive, you could create two 2 Gb partitions, C and D. If Windows, which is on drive C, gets irreversibly fouled up, you could just format drive C, and restore it from a drive image saved on drive D. There is a hard and an easy way to create new partitions. The hard way is to use the "fdisk" utility that is provided in DOS. Since fdisk destroys all data on the entire hard drive, this involves backing everything up and reinstalling it. The easy way is to use a program like Powerquest's Partition Magic (approx. $60-65), which allows you to create, resize, and remove partitions, and move programs between partitions on the fly, without losing data. The tape alternative. One way to meet all your backup needs is with a combination of Zip drive for data backup and a drive image to a separate partition or CD(s). (This is my current ideal solution.) An alternative approach is to use a tape drive for all the backups. (This is what I'm currently actually doing.) People either love tape drives or hate them. They are certainly many times slower than other alternatives – a full tape backup, with a "compare" to ensure that the information has been recorded properly, can take many hours. The type of drives that you are likely to use for a small organization can also be unreliable, although most of the literature I've read seems to say that these drives will do the job if you're careful to follow the recommendations about making backups, verifying them, and storing the tapes. Tapes can store vast amounts of information on a single cartridge, far more than a CD can hold, which makes it possible to do unattended backups of large drives. Since there's no need to change anything in mid-backup, you can start a backup in the evening when you quit work, and it will be all done the next morning. What does it cost? Note: the specific hardware and software listed below are given only as examples, not necessarily as recommendations. The prices are very rough approximations, based on a perusal of current (as of late October 1999) catalogs and Web sites. Your mileage may vary – look carefully for deals.
How to learn more
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