Back up the smart way

[Admin 0]

Back up the smart way

Applies to: All products

 

Tip: You should back up your project(s) on a regular basis. But that's only part of the story.

• Rotate through several backups. If you discover a problem or decide to reverse changes, it is sometimes very important to be able to go back more than one backup.
  
• Don't store your critical backup on the same HARD DRIVE as your project because if your hard drive crashes, then you may lose both.
  
• Don't store your critical backup on the same COMPUTER as your project because computers are sometimes stolen or damaged.
  
• Don't store your critical backup in the same ROOM as your project because fires, floods, or other disasters could destroy both.
  
• Don't even store your critical backup in the same BUILDING as your project for the same reason.
  

A prudent strategy may be to:

• backup to your hard drive every day, rotating through at least 3 or 4 file names.
  
• backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every week and store it in a storage room away from the computer
  
• backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every month and give it to a neighbor or store it in a safety deposit box.
  

Of course, the appropriate backup strategy for you will depend on how much you use the program. When designing that strategy, hope for the best but plan for the worst! Nothing ruins your day faster than losing a decade of research.

[Pierce.Reid 0]

Back up the smart way

Applies to: All products

 

Tip: You should back up your project(s) on a regular basis. But that's only part of the story.

• Rotate through several backups. If you discover a problem or decide to reverse changes, it is sometimes very important to be able to go back more than one backup.
  
• Don't store your critical backup on the same HARD DRIVE as your project because if your hard drive crashes, then you may lose both.
  
• Don't store your critical backup on the same COMPUTER as your project because computers are sometimes stolen or damaged.
  
• Don't store your critical backup in the same ROOM as your project because fires, floods, or other disasters could destroy both.
  
• Don't even store your critical backup in the same BUILDING as your project for the same reason.
  

A prudent strategy may be to:

• backup to your hard drive every day, rotating through at least 3 or 4 file names.
  
• backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every week and store it in a storage room away from the computer
  
• backup to external media (zip disk, CD-R, etc.) every month and give it to a neighbor or store it in a safety deposit box.
  

Of course, the appropriate backup strategy for you will depend on how much you use the program. When designing that strategy, hope for the best but plan for the worst! Nothing ruins your day faster than losing a decade of research.

 

Since these tips were posted, computer hard drives, home networks, and file servers on the web have provided much greater storage capacity.

 

Now it is quite reasonable to keep many, many backups. Home networks make it easy to move backup copies to other computers in the house. USB Flash Drives make it easier to transport backups to the computers of relatives and friends. Web sites are available for off site storage. All these tools should be used to protect your data.