Once you’ve made the smart decision to back up your data, the next decision is how to go about backing up the data properly. There are many types of backup hardware and software services today – the choice will depend on the size of data you require, as well as your budget and time constraints. For businesses, having a dedicated optical backup drive is probably a smart idea – dedicated backups will ensure that you have a quality, automated backup of all of your data.

Hard drives

The traditional source of backing up data is an alternative (second) hard drive, which is connected to your PC, or connects remotely to your laptop. The main advantage of a hard drive backup is that you have virtually unlimited room for data – you can always upgrade to a larger hard drive to ensure that you’re capturing a complete backup of your main machine. Additionally, the synchronization between the two machines is easier than ever: connecting multiple PCs for an automated nightly backup only requires a connection: you can either keep a USB connection to your main desktop or connect your laptop at night. Most automated backup software will ensure that the process runs while you’re asleep and will conclude by the time you wake up to face the day.

Flash drives

A popular convenient form of storage today, flash drives are increasingly inexpensive, portable and flexible. Today, you can get a multi-GB flash drive that you can carry on your keychain for under $20, giving you the ability to remotely store and backup moderately large files with relative ease. Especially for busy business travelers, flash drives are a great way to ensure that you can easily transport important files securely and make updates in real time when you may not have an Internet connection. For files that may be too large to email, flash drives are an ideal transport medium.

Optical Drives

Common forms of optical drives include CD-RW and DVD-RW drives, which give you the ability to read and write data for storage. One major advantage is that you can store vast amounts of data on multiple CDs, which is especially useful for businesses that use a vast amount of data. The cost of optical discs has fallen substantially in recent years, resulting in a cost effective way to replace paper records without needing to have a lot of space for extra backup servers or hard drives. Optical drives can be configured for regular backups to ensure synchronization of new, important data.

Online Backup Sources

If you’re a casual user, then the choice will depend on your lifestyle – if you travel frequently, it’s probably wiser to invest in an online backup service, so that you can sync you data on the go. Additionally, an online service is more flexible, since you can adjust your data needs by upgrading the service. There are several free, such as Google Apps, and subscription-based services, such as Mozy, which provide a virtual hard drive accessible via the web and desktop software.