In a large company the department of Information Technology (IT) is in charge of backing up computer files.
In spite of this, since you are responsible of the data on your computer it is wise to know and learn why backing up computer files is so essential.
For users of Windows 7 there is an easy tool that you can use to back up computer files. Additionally, there are more advanced programs and services that you can pay for to make sure that your files are safely backed up.
If you have ever been through a complete computer crash where you lost important docs like pictures, emails, music, and videos you certainly know why is critically important to schedule daily, weekly or monthly backups.
In most cases, people just forget to run backups. They usually have the intention of doing so, but they keep putting it aside. Do not risk your files just because you are not willing to buy an external hard drive, otherwise you will regret it. Ive had unpleasant experiences having to reload the entire system several times a year.
Really, a secondary or external hard drive should have sufficient space not only for the files on your hard drive, but also for a system image. If you use CDs, DVDs or USB flash drives Windows won't have enough space to create a system image which you can use to recover from hardware failures.
Backing up computer files locally is something you should always do, although there are online services where you can back up data "in the clouds", or on remote servers. An external drive works better than an internal secondary drive because you can take it from one place to another, and it is easier than having to open a computer to remove the drive to take it to another system.
For security reasons, it is more save to use an internal hard drive since it resides on your computer and it is moved around less. Many external drives get damaged when they are accidentally dropped.
With the improvement of technology there are tons of online backup providers and backup software solutions. You can start some of the services free and then upgrade for additional options. The features, advantages and benefits of these services are above the conventional back up procedures that were mentioned before.
Backing up computer files over the internet is something you need to contemplate since your data will be kept on highly secure and redundant servers conveniently located at several data centers, and you can easily restore or access these files no matter where you are in the world by only having an internet connection or even via mobile devices.
