One very important, but often overlooked, issue for any computer is backup. I have often received support calls asking what can be done to get files back when a hard drive fails. While there are some cases where a failed drive is still somewhat readable, physical drive failure often means you are out of luck unless you send it to a specailized data recovery service. I have been given quotes by services that do this kind of recovery starting at $300, and some companies start at $500. Of course having a good backup plan in place before it comes to this avoids the loss & hassle should your drive fail.
Sooner or later every hard drive will wear out after it has been in service for a number of years. The life expenctancy varies by manufacturer and model but most drives are warrantied for 3-5 years so that should give you some idea and like anything else with moving parts, the usage will play a huge factor. I still have some drives that are over 10 years old that still run fine (although I don't use them much currently) and then I have seen drives fail within the first year after purchase. If it is within it's warranty period you will get the drive replaced, but you are on your own for the data it contained.
Here are some options and recommendations for backup:
- External hard drive - The two most common types are USB and Network external hard drives. If you only have one computer to backup, then a USB drive will suffice. If you have two or more computers, I highly recommend using a network drive. These days many peripherals are available with built-in networking which makes access by multiple computers very convenient. The cost of a network drive is usually only a little more than a USB version of equal capacity.
- Online backup - In recent years this option has become viable for even single computer home users. There are a number of companies that even offer free storage for the first few gigabytes and there is the added convenience of no hardware to purchase or install. I recommend MozyHome and MozyPro.
- Backup software - In most cases, external drives come with backup software to enable automatic scheduled or real time backups and online services all provide their own software. If your drive didn't come with a program, want more features/options, or just don't like the one that came with your drive, I would recommend SyncBack.
If you have any questions or needs beyond the information above, feel free to contact me. Here are a few links to the solutions mentioned above:
| SyncBack Backup Software |
|
| SyncBackSE |
SyncBackPRO |
 |
 |
| |
|