One of the byproducts of the electronic data age is, well, electronic data -- and lots of it. While desktop and notebook computers have high-capacity disk drives, you still need to store data someplace other than your computer, especially if you want to:
- backup key data in case something happens to your computer
- archive old data you don't immediately need, but don't want to lose
- store and distribute memory-consuming media and presentations
Backups bring you peace of mind
If you're lucky, your important computer systems will never crash, and you'll never have to face a massive data loss. Luck aside, however, it's a good idea to just assume that one day your computer will suffer a fatal error. On this assumption, you need to safeguard your critical information and back up your computers regularly -- once a day is a good benchmark. A successful backup requires two things: a utility to manage the backup and someplace to back the data up to.
But if you're like most people, the term "backup" can conjure up visions of complex software and hardware schemes that only the most devoted IT guru can understand. So you might be surprised to know that with storage devices from HP and the utilities built into Windows® XP Pro, you can easily back up your system, archive old data, and store media without even breaking a sweat (much less morphing into an IT guru).
XP and HP to the rescue
The professional version of Windows® XP comes with a backup utility pre-installed. Conveniently called Backup, the utility can be used to compress and archive files for backup, and then decompress and restore them when needed. This utility provides you with a single, easy-to-use interface, where you can specify where you want to back your data up and what data you want to back up. You can even set Backup to run automatically, as frequently as you'd like.
Where to put it
Without some place to store your backup data the Backup utility won't do much for you. While you can back the data on your computer up on the computer itself, the data isn't very safe if the entire computer goes down. Instead you should back your data up to a different system, designed specifically for protecting your data. The most common system for holding data backups are tape drives like the HP dds/dat drives. Tape drives are a good system for data backup because after the backup is complete you can physically remove the tape holding your data and take it off site (to protect you against fire damage).
The Windows® XP Backup utility can save your data directly to an HP tape drive and, in the event of a system failure, can even recover the data directly from the tape drive once you get back up and running. You can read a complete overview of the Backup utility on the Microsoft Web site.
Other storage options
When you hear the term "CD" you may immediately think of music, but CDs are a great media for archiving data in an easy to store format. You can copy older (but still important) software to CDs, drop them in a jewel case, and file them away (on site or off). When you need to access the files again, you only have to pop the CD into your computer to view them.
Another important use for CDs is to store and disseminate presentations and other information about your organization. You can build CDs that include slide shows, multimedia demonstrations, and other promotional materials right on your own computer without having to involve an outside agency. What's nice about this approach is you can tailor each CD to the person or client you are sending it to, instead of trying to create a single CD that addresses everyone's needs.
In the past, CD-ROM writers and software utilities were a little temperamental, and CDs that you created weren't always reliable. However, new technologies have all but eliminated those issues and made CDs a practical solution to data-archiving needs.
To make archiving even easier, Windows® XP includes built-in CD-ROM-writing software, so you won't need a separate CD utility program to create your CDs. Copying files to a writable CD-ROM is as easy as dragging-and-dropping from window to window. If you don't already have a CD-ROM writer, HP has several CD writers, both internal and external, that you can use in conjunction with the built-in XP CD-ROM writing software.
For more information
Even though it is from the Windows XP Home edition documentation, this discussion of backup best practices applies to all Windows® XP users. Learn more about HP Storage products
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