Data Backup

Nine out of ten of you probably don't back up your personal data daily. Chances are excellent that you'll regret it someday. Given how simple and inexpensive online backup has become, you'll only have yourself to blame.

You hear terrifying stats all the time: Up to 10 percent of the world's 700 million computers crash every day; Fifty percent of businesses that lose their data never open their doors again; only 6 percent of Internet users back up daily; 43 percent have lost files at some point. People: there's no good reason for this—especially given the many excellent backup options out there.

Why Online Backup?

Backing up to an Internet service makes a ton of sense, for three important reasons: For one, the data is stored off site, usually on heavily secure servers. This means that in case of flood or fire or other property damage, you're covered. A second argument for going with online backup is because it's automated. There's no need to insert or even have any CDs or DVDs or plug in a USB drive that may be susceptible to the calamities listed above. Online backup services automate the process of getting your files from your machines to the backed up storage, usually on a daily basis, and in some cases, they'll watch folders or files you've protected and upload the changes on the spot.

Finally, when you back up to online storage with most of these services, you'll not only have access to your files from any Web browser, but with some services, you can share the files to contacts via links in e-mail or even view photos in the web interface.

Stay in Sync

In addition to the traditional online backup services listed below, you might consider syncing services.  These keep folders on multiple computers up to date with any added or changed files. They also usually keep a copy in the cloud, so you could use one of these as a sort of minimal, hands-off form of online backup.

Price and Other Considerations

Within traditional online backup, services you have further subdivisions. One is price: Some offer unlimited storage—but only for one PC. Others charge by the gigabyte, but let you backup multiple machines. In the end, expect to pay from 5€ to 10€ a month for a reasonable amount of backup. The unlimited providers will tell you that their option is best, but from what I've heard from industry executives, the average user backs up from 5 to 10GB, so you may find a better deal with a multi-PC plan than an unlimited.

Another differentiation is whether the service keeps all previous file versions when you save a change. Most do this, but the better ones even keep files that you delete from your protected machine. Since accidental deletions are a real possibility, this feature can really be a lifesaver. Other niceties to look for in online backup are the ability to share files from your online storage and marks in Windows Explorer entries that show which files are backed up. Right-click menu options also let you tell the service to back up a file or folder immediately.

As you can see, though it seems like a simple concept at first "store files from my PC on a server on the internet", there are plenty of options and features involved.