TECH: Backing Up Precious Files

By Dean Davis

DEAR DEAN
My computer crashed and I lost many of my computer files. I am confused about the storage systems available today. What is the best way for me to back up my files so that this doesn’t happen to me again?
JOHN (Washington, DC)

JOHN

There are many archival technologies and solutions available on the market for various storage requirements (size, speed, media type, etc.) and budgets. As you may have already guessed, the amount of archival storage, or backup storage capacity, speed, reliability and other factors directly influence the price of the solution.

Generally, for home users, a CDR-based or DVD-R-based archival solution should suffice, because you should be concerned primarily with recording important documents, including MS Office documents, pictures, videos, music, etc. Music and videos typically require the most storage, and therefore you may want to archive those files separately.

However, the other common types of files can be easily archived on one of the aforementioned, affordable solutions. Keep in mind the following storage limits which apply to both CD-R and DVD-R based archival technologies: CD-R will facilitate up to 700 Megabytes (MB), while DVD-R will cover up to approximately 5 Gigabytes (GB) of storage.

Additionally, DVD-R technology has come down significantly in price, and as a result, you may want to consider this technology to suit your needs.

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