Wharton Computing Student Support

Backing Up: What Are the Best Solutions For You?

Overview

Backing up your important documents and files is vital. Computers will always eventually fail and oftentimes this will happen when you least expect it. This document will help you choose which backup options are best for you.

Method	Description	Size Range (1024MB = 1GB)	Portability	Endurance	Ease of use	Archive quality*
CD	Writable CDs are a common method of backing up and transfering files	640MB to 700MB	High	Medium	Medium	High
DVD	Writable DVDs have recently become a standard fixture in mid to high range computers	4.2GB	High	Medium	Low	High
External Hard Drive	External hard drives are a great way to store a large amount of data, but they are not very portable	40GB to 500GB	Medium	Medium	High	Medium
Flash-drive	Flash-drives are very small devices which can plug in to almost any computer, making them highly convenient	128MB to 4GB	High	High	High	Medium
Floppy	The low capacity of floppies combined with their unreliability makes them a poor choice for backing up data	1.44MB	High	Low	High	Low

*Archive quality denotes the ability of the media to be used as a long-term (many years or decades) archival medium for data.

Additional Considerations

CD

• Will last for a long time if kept in case

• Most modern computers have a CD writer and writing software

• CD-R can be written once, while CD-RW is rewitable

DVD

• Will last for a long time if kept in case

• The many formats (+R and -R, single layer, dual layer) can be confusing. Many computers do not have DVD writing capability

• DVD+/-R can be written once, while DVD+/-RW is rewritable

External Hard Drive

• Will eventually break under normal use

• You can choose between a larger, bulkier drive, or a much smaller, USB powered, highly portable, but slower and lower capacity drive

• Many external hard drives come with software which can automate the backup process for you, allowing you to set it up once, then forget it

Flash-drive

• Will last for a long time, but easy to lose

• Can work with virtually any modern computer

• Widely available for sale at sizes starting at 128MB, they can also be found in smaller sizes when given away as promotional material

• Is also know as a thumb-drive, Jump Drive, or memory key

Floppy

• Easilly damaged under normal use

• Its small capacity and slow speed will mean that it would take a very long time to backup data

• Newer computers are commonly found without floppy drives