Personal Backup and Storage Guide

Data loss can happen at anytime. I have had my computer fail two times now, but fortunately I have my data backed up. It is very easy to do so and it takes one of these products listed below.

1. Apple Time Capsule

A very popular product by Apple is the Time Capsule. A great backup solution that plugs into your wireless router, or even easier, you can make it your router. Yes that’s right, the Time Capsule is a backup solution and a router. This will allow you to backup from anywhere in your house as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi.

• $299.99 – 1TB (Apple)
• $499.99 – 2TB (Apple)

2.External Hard Drive

The easiest way to backup your data is using an external hard drive. An external hard drive is great for backing up data and using it for extra storage. I have a 500GB Western Digital and use it for backup and storing my movies and music on. The downside of using it to store extra data is the fact it isn’t very portable. If you want to take your laptop to a friends house you will not be able to access the data without bringing the hard drive with you.

• Western Digital – 1TB – $129.99 (NewEgg)
• Western Digital – 2TB – $169.99 (NewEgg)
• HP – 1TB – $127.99 (NewEgg)

3. Drobo

This is for the power users. This is a very expensive solution, but it offers the most storage. The Drobo itself doesn’t come with any hard drives, so you do have to buy your own. With the Drobo you are able to put 16TB of storage into it. The Drobo runs over your network.

• Drobo – $359.99 (just the device) (NewEgg)
• Western Digital – 1TB- $96.99 (NewEgg)

4. Carbonite

This is an off-site backup solution. You easily install an application to your computer and will put all of your computer’s data to Carbonite’s “cloud”. You are able to pull your data off, in case something happened.

• Carbonite – $55.00 a year - (Carbonite)

5. Internal Hard Drive

An internal hard drive is the cheapest solution. It is only available to people with a desktop computer with open hard drive bays. The internal hard drive will be easy to put in, and work very well in case your main hard drive dies. The new internet hard drive can also be used for extra storage.

• Western Digital – 1TB- $96.99 (NewEgg)

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