“To find the solution that’s best for you, compare the convenience, price, and ease of use offered by each approach.[1]”
When backing up it is important to backup anything that cannot be recreated. Even if there is a hardcopy available, it is still valuable to backup these files as recreating the document from only a hard copy is a tedious task that should be unnecessary. The size of these files is a huge factor when determining what medium to use when backing up. A small file such as a word document will only use a considerably tiny amount of data, so a medium such as a floppy disk would be suitable. Floppy disks though are almost obsolete, so a more up to date medium suck as a USB drive, which cost a very small sum considering how often they can be used and how much they can store, would be sufficient in this situation.Today there are many options that can be easily accessed and stored around many workstations. The CD, DVD, USB, to the more expensive options such as external hard drives. All of these mediums provide adequate storage and backup solutions for any computer system. Which option to use depends on the workload of the user and what files will be in use. CD’s store a fair amount of data, 800 megabytes, but for users who work consistently with larger files like video; this is by no means big enough. A system that uses video would need gigabytes of data, which can be provided in the form of DVD’s and external hard drives, both of which can be accessed by the average users due to the lower costs and built in functions now provided in computer systems.
Cost is a major factor when deciding upon what to use as a primary source of backup. As mentioned, DVD burners and external hard drives cost much less than the most up to date computer system, though these many not be able to be afforded by the average user on top of the costs for the system itself. The backup system depends on what can be afforded by the user as well as what it convenient to them. An external hard drive offers the same functionality as the hard drive contained within the system, and is separate from the computer, giving protection to the backed up files, thought this many be unaffordable to the user, particularly in the short term considering the amount blank CD’s cost to purchase. “Backing up depends greatly on what the user already has at their disposal. With most computers having CD burners included, it would be a cheap method to use this medium as your backup.”
[1] Sandy McMurray, 2006, Back up your computer files, last viewed 6th November 2006. <http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/backupfiles.mspx>
