Yes, it sounds like yet another silly “awareness month” gimmick, but computer users everywhere would save themselves a world of pain if they took away even a few bits of advice from Backup Awareness Month:
- Develop a backup plan.
- Keep to a regular backup schedule.
- Automate the process as much as possible.
- Rotate your backup media, if necessary. (ie, tape backups)
- Keep a second copy of your data in another location, if possible.
- Test your backups on occasion to make sure your backup plan works.
Even home users could find good value in creating simple data backups, be it using a DVD-Writer, Norton Ghost or even a plugin USB harddrive. It’s an expense you won’t regret the day you accidentally delete those priceless digital family photos, or have all your personal finance documents lost when your harddrive starts going bad.