Protecting Your Data

Have you ever realized the importance of protecting your data? We can't always control situations that come up, but we can control how well prepared we are to handle these situations.

Your valuable documents and your priceless family memories captured in photos and videos are commonly destroyed by disasters, such as, fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Your important data can also be lost, stolen or your computer can crash. So it is important for you to secure your irreplaceable computer data files in case you were to have an unexpected loss.

We use insurance companies to protect our cars and our homes, but we often overlook insuring and protecting our valuable information.

If your computer data and your back-up data were stored in the same location, you could run the risk of loosing both if a disaster were to happen, such as a fire. That is why it is a good idea to keep an off-site copy of your data in your safety deposit box or other remote location.

We personally use a USB flash drive to back-up our data in addition to our online back-up service. This ensures that we always have a secure back-up.

• Relatively inexpensive to purchase.
  
  
• Convenient and an easy way to back-up your data.
  
  
• Are small and easy to transport.
  
  
• Have a retention span of up to ten years.

• Have a limited amount of storage space.
  
  
• Because of their small size they can easily be lost or damaged.
  
  
• You must remember to perform the regular back-ups, as they are not automatic.
  
  
• If they are lost or stolen, this can expose you to liability issue.
  
  
• Usually kept in the same location as the computer, which defeats the purpose of securing your data.

• A second hard drive, located outside your computer.
  
  
• Attaches easily through a USB port for backing up data.
  
  
• Store all of your data on one drive.
  
  
• Can easily be used with the drag and drop method.

• Not shock resistant and require extra care in transporting.
  
  
• More delicate that CD/DVD's and flash drives.
  
  
• Prone to corruptions due to bad sectors.
  
  
• Close contact to an electromagnetic field can potentially destroy your data.
  
  
• Usually kept in the same location as the computer, which defeats the purpose of securing your data.

• Small, stackable and easy to store.
  
  
• Provide hard copies of your data.
  
  
• Shelf live can be anywhere from 20 to 100 years, depending on the manufacturer and the conditions of storage.
  
  
• Most people know how to use them, and know how to keep them from being damaged.

• Have a limited storage capacity.
  
  
• Can be scratched and damaged easily.
  
  
• You must remember to perform the regular back-ups, as they are not automatic.
  
  
• If they are lost or stolen, this can expose you to liability issues.
  
  
• Usually kept in the same location as the computer, which defeats the purpose of securing your data.

• Provide automatic back-up of your data.
  
  
• Provide a secure remote location.
  
  
• Encrypts your data when sending over the internet for security purposes.

• Most likely there is a monthly or annual fee involved.
  
  
• Depending on the online service, some fees can be expensive.
  
  
• Online back-up is dependent on your internet connection.

We recommend that you use more than one type of back-up method for protecting your data in case one of the methods fails to work. Using an online back-up service, such as Mozy Unlimited Backup will give you the most protection because it is off-site, automatic and secure.

Another recommendation for protecting your data would be to scan important family photos and documents into your computer then back them up with one of the methods we mentioned here. Keep the back-up copies in your safe deposit box, fireproof safe or secure remote location.