Recommended Backup Data Solutions

There are so many ways to backup your data. On this page, you’ll find recommended solutions we’ve tried or used.

Online Data Backup

The solution of choice is Mozy. When it comes to online backup, storage can come at a premium price. With mozy, you get unlimited space for $4.95 per computer. It’s also one of the easiest solutions to use. Install it, select the folders you want to save. Mozy will do a full copy the first time. After that, it’ll keep up with the new/changed files on your computer and save them accordingly. All runs in the background you hardly know it’s there.

External Drives

Admittedly, we don’t use a ‘packaged’ external drive. Instead, we use a cheaper but just as good option. A regular hard drive inside a hard drive enclosure. If you don’t want to mess with them, you can use one of the external drives here. To help make your choice, do a search for product reviews.

Backup Software

If you don’t want to spend extra money, take advantage of your computer’s built in backup feature. On Windows, you can find that in Program Files, Accessories, System Tools. If you use a packaged external hard drive, you’ll probably receive companion software to help you sync your files to the drive. If you use a ‘home made’ external drive like we do, you can use Syncback SE. We like this one because it can keep our files synced up to the external drive and also backup our files to an FTP server.

DVD Writer or Tape Drives

This is probably one of the safest way you can backup your data. Get a decent DVD writer and create backup disks regularly. More work but longer lasting. We use and like the Sony DRX-830U.

Tape backup is more traditional, but they can store a ton of data without the hassle of multiple disks. They do cost a lot more to get set up. Since we don’t use them, we can’t recommend a specific brand or unit. But to help you get started in the right direction, you can take a look at the Iomega Tape Backup Kit.