How To: Back Up Your Files

by: Jen Udan | ChooseWhat.com

No matter how long you’ve been in business—one day or 10 years—it’s imperative to protect your files and important documents.

Nowadays, we save both personal and business files on our computers, which is convenient for the small business owner. However, files that are stored on your personal or office computer are at risk of being lost due to a number of circumstances, including theft, flood, fire or computer virus. Just ask ChooseWhat.com’s Operations Officer, Leo Welder, who had his laptop stolen at his company’s first office.

In order to protect yourself and your business against unforeseen circumstances, you should back up your files either on an external hard drive or online. This will keep your business files safe, secure and easily accessible to you or your employees.

1. Decide how to back up your files. 
   

   • Local Backup

     Microsoft Windows offers a Backup and Restore program, while Macs have a Time Machine program that can help you locally back up your files. With these programs, you can select which files to back up, when to back up, and to what drive to save those files. *Although these programs are useful in creating a local backup, we don't recommend relying solely on local backup because you could still lose everything if your computer gets stolen or damaged.

   • External Hard Drive

     External hard drives are cost-effective and don't require an Internet connection. They are very easy to set up as most of the devices come with a software that will help you back up your files. They are also quite fast compared to online backup services, which can sometimes eat up your bandwidth upon initial setup. You can encrypt your external hard drive so if it is stolen, the thief won't be able to access your files. However, there is a possibility of losing or damaging your hard drive, rendering it useless. There are several cost-effective external hard drives with a lot of storage space. You can easily get an external hard drive for under $100 that holds anywhere from 1 to 2 terabytes. (1 TB = 1024 GB. A typical laptop hard drive has about 250 GB of space.)

     Read more about popular external hard drives.

   • Online Backup

     Online backup is a hosted service that stores all of the files on your computer or server automatically. Online backup services offer many convenient features, such as the ability to set bandwidth limits and incremental backups, which means you can elect to back up only the files that have been changed recently. Unlike with a local or external drive, you won't be limited by space since you can easily upgrade your service plan. Your files are stored online, and you can access them remotely.
     
     Some people might be wary of storing their important documents remotely, but online backup services use special data security measures to make sure your files are as safe and secure as possible. Many of these services employ complex encryption codes that make hacking your files nearly impossible. Plus, the physical data centers your files are housed in are incredibly secure: they're typically outfitted with raised floors, HVAC temperature control systems, seismically braced racks, state-of-the-art smoke detection and fire suppression systems, motion sensors, 24/7 video camera surveillance, and security breach alarms.

     

2. Evaluate your storage needs. 

   The most important factor when choosing a backup service is how much storage you need.

   • External Hard Drive
     
     You can easily get an external hard drive to fit your needs no matter how much space you require. There are even storage products with multiple drives that can create copies. The only drawback is that when you need more storage space, it's bothersome to buy a new hard drive and transfer your files from the old device to the new one. Our recommendation is to get a larger hard drive than you might need right now, reducing the need to buy a new one in the near future.
     
     
   • Online Backup
     
     Popular online backup providers offer anywhere from 30 GB to an unlimited amount of storage - plenty of space to store all of your important files. Most online backup services offer a small free plan with 2 to 5 GBs of storage, providing you with the opportunity to test the service or store just a few key documents. Most providers let you upgrade your plan at any time, but a couple of service providers have limited plan levels such as ElephantDrive, which offers up to 100 GB for non-enterprise plans.

3. Select additional features.

   In addition to storage space, you also need to think about other features that may affect your backups.

   • External Hard Drive
     
     
   • Size:  Consider not only the size of the storage space but the size of the hardware. Do you want a slim hard drive that can fit easily on your desk? Do you want a small zip drive that can fit easily in your pocket?
     
     
   • Flexibility: Seagate has a line of external hard drives called "GoFlex" that have no built-in interfaces and allow you to easily swap cables as needed. It works for both Macs and Windows. Seagate is even leveraging the GoFlex line into a networked media play which connects to your HDTV and computer.
   
   
   • Online Backup

   • Customer Service: Most online backup providers offer phone support but a handful do not. We recommend signing up for a service that does. If you’re having problems with finding your important documents you don't want to sit around stressfully waiting for an email.

   • File Restoration: How far back do you want to be able to go to find a document you may have accidentally deleted? Some online backup providers give you 30-day file restoration, while others let you restore any file from any time period.

   • Mobile Apps:  Do you want to have your files accessible on your smartphone when you're out of the office? Some online backup services offer mobile apps for smartphones.

4. Choose between a personal and professional backup plan. 

   If you do decide to go with an online backup service, you will need to choose between a personal and professional account. When you're just starting out, chances are your business is just you. If that's the case, you don't necessarily need all the bells and whistles that most professional online backup services offer such as server backup, extra users, or file sharing. Many personal plans offer enough storage space to accommodate your important business files, making a professional plan unnecessary. However, if your busines is farther along in the start-up process and you need a service that can back up your server, then a professional plan would be a better fit.

5. Sign up for a free online backup account.

   Sign up for a free online backup service, even if you think you'll only use your external hard drive, so you can test the service and/or store a few of your most important documents in multiple locations. Most online backup services offer either a free trial or a small free personal plan that gives you a couple of gigabytes of storage. Once you’ve tested an online backup provider by uploading your files, you'll be able to tell if you like the service or not. Just remember that it’s easy to lose files, so whether you use online backup, an external hard drive, or a combination of the two, it’s important to choose the best system for your needs.

6. Set up your online backup service to automatically back up your files.

   Follow the instructions of your chosen service provider to set up your backup system. Once you've set up your system, you will go through an initial backup of your files (every service does this initial backup upon setup). During this process, you determine which files you want to back up, when you want the backups to happen, and whether you want to back up all these files automatically. You can also choose to back up files incrementally, meaning you can back up only the files that have been recently updated.

   

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• You can transfer from personal to professional online backup services or upgrade to a larger plan at any time.

• Set up your backup tool or service to incrementally back up any files that are changed instead of constantly backing up everything. 
  

• Back up both personal and professional files. In addition to all of your important business documents such as contracts, employee files, tax information, and more, you should also back up any personal files, including photos or tax files, you have stored on your computer.

• Do not rely solely on an external hard drive to back up your files. If you're using a hard drive, you should still have another backup system in place since a hard drive can be damaged, lost, or stolen.
• If you're using an external hard drive, make sure to keep it in a separate location from your computer. You can even store it in a fire-proof safe.