BACKUP STRATEGIES 4
Running Head: BACKUP STRATEGIES 1
Backup Strategies
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Every day, people and businesses lose data in various ways. Data security measures are essential in ensuring that we do not jeopardize our data, which is a priceless asset. Creating backups is one of the easiest and safest ways of safeguarding our data from malicious attacks or even accidents that may mess up or delete the data (Vera, 2018). There are several backup options available in the market.
The first one is using external hard drives. This tactic is suitable for backing up individual files as compared to networks. In this option, a copy of the data is transferred to another hard drive which is kept inside or outside the premises. In case the original data is lost, the copy can be used. It is a popular option because it is cheap. The only costs incurred are for purchasing the disk which varies with size and buying a USB cable. With this option, data can be backed up without any limitations. However, storage is limited. It is hard to get drives that exceed 20 gigabytes (GB) of storage.
Another option involves cloud storage. The method involves transferring the data to the internet or online sources. Data is kept offsite in a vendor’s cloud infrastructure which makes this option very secure. They are very secure and the data can be accessed from anywhere provided there is internet connectivity (Hoffman, 2017). Costs range from $1-5 per gigabyte of data depending on the vendor. Other vendors may charge a monthly fee, for instance, five dollars. Backups can be done as often as possible with no storage limits.
Portable flash storage is the next option. This involves copying the data to a flash drive that one can move around with. The devices are very light and inexpensive. They do not require any special type of software to operate. These drives are very cheap; prices range from about four to a hundred dollars. Storage capacity is limited; the largest is about 256 GB which is less than one terabyte. However, data can be backed up anytime there is a need.
With these options, I believe the best one would be an external hard drive. Unlike a flash drive, it cannot be easily lost. Moreover, flash drives break down quickly (Mitroff, 2015). On the other hand, online storage facilities are very expensive. The risk involved does not need cloud storage.
References
Hoffman, C. (2017, August 24). What’s the Best Way to Back Up My Computer? Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://www.howtogeek.com/242428/whats-the-best-way-to-back-up-my-computer/
Mitroff, S. (2015, September 26). Back to basics: The three easiest ways to back up your files. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://www.cnet.com/how-to/easiest-ways-to-backup-your-files/
Vera. (2018, July 10). The Best Practice: 3-2-1 Backup Strategy for Home Computers. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from https://www.partitionwizard.com/support.html