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March 1, 2006
• Vol.3 Issue 3 Page(s) 72-74 in print issue | |
Be Prepared For Disaster Protect Your Data From Catastrophe | |
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Jump to first occurrence of: [DATA] [RECOVERY] Leitha Gallicio’s Metairie, La., home has weathered hurricanes and floods before, and the 3-foot piers that lift it off the ground have always kept her computer out of harm’s way, so she didn’t pack the PC when she left ahead of last year’s Hurricane Katrina. “We’ve been dodging the bullet for years,” Gallicio says.
If Gallicio’s experience sends a chill down your spine, you probably don’t have copies of your most important files stored in a disaster-proof place. We’ll help you plan a backup system that will keep your data safe when you don’t dodge the bullet.  Prepare For The Worst In some cases, we receive advance notice of impending disasters. In those situations, people who have already created data backup systems can grab their backups before heading towards safety. But many catastrophes don’t offer much warning. A lightning strike near your home may cause a power surge that can fry your computer. Earthquakes and tornados often strike without any warning at all. Fire is another threat--rescuing the PC or hunting for that external hard drive is the last thing on your mind when you wake up to find the house ablaze. What makes the perfect backup system depends largely on the quantity and value of your files. If your data is critical to your or your business’ financial well-being, you should view back-up hardware as only the first layer of protection. Hardware backups are handy--and also vulnerable. They can often store huge quantities of data (your music, photo, and video collections, for example). And they let you retrieve the backed up information quickly. If a PC’s hard drive fails (taking your documents with it), you can replace the drive, reinstall the operating system, and then plug in your USB flash drive to transfer backed-up files to your computer. However, the disaster that wipes out your PC may well destroy your backup device. Online backup services are sometimes inconvenient and can be costly (Quicken Online Backup Service has plans that range from $8.95 per month to $24.95 per month), but storing your files on these remote servers almost guarantees that your data will survive whatever problems you encounter. You’ll want to add this second layer of protection for your most precious files. Backup Hardware The days of carrying dozens of floppies are long gone. External hard drives, flash memory keys, and CDs make great portable storage for everyday use and for backing up important data. External hard drives, such as Western Digital’s 320GB Dual Option Media Center WDXF3200JB ($279.99; www.westerndigital.com), make excellent backup devices and are fairly portable. Heavy-duty drives often plug into your power strip and transfer data via a USB cable, but you can detach the cords and toss the drive into a bag at a moment’s notice. You can also plug the drive into other PCs (to retrieve your data) when you reach safety. If you want to back up multiple files regularly, look for a hard drive that includes backup software. The program, which installs on your computer, can pull files out of several different folders and copy them to your external drive, which means you won’t need to poke around your folder system every time you want to back up. These programs also let users specify backup schedules: You can configure the software to back up your data every night or once a week. Plan to back up only individual files--some backup software can copy your entire system to an external drive, but you may have trouble transferring the data to a new system (unless the PC’s motherboard can boot from a USB device). Flash drives, also known as USB keys, are the tiny devices that drove floppy disks into obsolescence. A flash drive, which plugs into your computer’s USB port, doesn’t require a separate power source. It can’t hold as much data as a hard drive (high-end drives store about 4GB, while inexpensive drives that store only 256MB are available for less than $20), but if you want to keep important documents in your pocket, you’re looking for a flash drive. We especially like the 1GB Kingston Data Traveler Elite ($110; www.kingston.com).
If you need to back up your data right away, grab your MP3 player or PDA. These portable devices can double as portable hard drives in a pinch. Backup Services Online data protection services let subscribers upload copies of their files to servers. If you have a broadband connection, the service can automatically retrieve the files you specify on a schedule, just as with regular backup software. You can also take advantage of a backup service over a dial-up connection, but keep in mind that dialup connections are notoriously slow. If you want to upload more than a few megabytes every day, consider upgrading to broadband. Skip digital music, photos, and videos when you select the files that you plan to store remotely, as they’ll quickly eat up your subscription’s space allotment. Instead, focus on documents, as well as data files for important programs, such as your financial software. If you back up your financial program’s data files before a disaster destroys your computer, you can install the program onto a new computer and then load your data files. Although Intuit offers a Quicken Online Backup Service ($8.95 to $24.95 per month; www.connected.com/quicken05/) that backs up Quicken (and other) files, you don’t need to choose your backup service based on your financial software or other programs. DataDepositBox.com, for example, also backs up user-specified files and lets the user retrieve the files via any computer that can connect to the Internet (1 cent per megabyte; www.datadepositbox.com). When All Else Fails Don’t give up hope if your plans fall apart and your only remaining copy of an important file is on a burned or flooded computer. Data recovery experts use know-how and hi-tech tools to extract files from horribly mangled drives. Not all drives will relinquish data, of course, but if you’re desperate to recover important financial info or an irreplaceable photo, it’s worth a shot. You may not be able to deliver the drive in person, but the faster you can ship the drive to a recovery expert (especially if it has been damaged by water), the better. If you’re thinking about sending your drive to a recovery center, you’ll need to determine if the data is worth the cost of the service. “The cost of data recovery on drives up to 60GB is about $1,200,” says Data Recovery Group’s Michael Ahern (www.datarecoverygroup.com). “Then drives from 60GB to 120GB is about $1,500 and drives from 120GB to 200GB is about $1,800.” And that’s for drives that weren’t submerged. “If there is water damage to the drive, you can expect to pay about $300 more” than the standard price, says Ahern. However, Data Recovery Group offers discounts to disaster victims. Back It Up If you regularly back up your files to local hardware and remote servers, you can breathe a little easier when you hear about threatening weather or events. As for Gallicio, she is considering sending her drive to a data recovery service. And her data backup plans now include an external hard drive and automatic backup software.  by Joshua Gulick
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