Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Back That [Data] Up

This is going to be a shorter than usual post for reasons that will soon become apparent.

Last week, while working on a project, my computer crashed. This isn’t anything special; many people have experienced something similar. What was different was when I restarted the computer, the Power On Self Test (POST) reported an impending hard drive failure. Not good!

I make it a habit to back up my files, images, and downloads on a regular basis. Before a trip out of town, I do a full system backup on two different external drives, and one comes with me while the other is left in my safe. I’m not a fan of cloud storage, because if I don’t have access to the server it’s stored on, it’s no longer my data.

Even though I worked in IT for over thirty years, I’ve been out of the field since about 2018. Things change in IT, and they change quickly, so my knowledge of available storage options was outdated. I’ve been using traditional magnetic platter-style hard drives since the mid-1980s.
      

However, times and technology change. Solid State drives have come a long way over the last decade; capacity has gone up and cost has gone down. Thanks to some good friends, I was able to select a new 2 Terabyte SSD that's on it's way to me right now, and if necessary, I’ll get an old-style magnetic platter drive for extra storage.

My new drive should arrive tomorrow, and after I get home from work my real labor will begin: installing Windows, applications, and restoring backed up files.

For those who value their data -- which should be everyone -- make sure you have a backup plan in place and make sure it’s followed.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Fine Print


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Creative Commons License


Erin Palette is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.