-
Posts
-
We all have CD/DVD players on our home computers, if you save your files, music and pictures to a DVD, we all know they will load onto any computer.
There cheap and disposable.
USB memory sticks are more durable and offer a bigger capability for storage.
But the name of the game is cost.
You can buy a pack of DVD’s for about £3 (3 disks, 5gb per disk) , a memory stick with the same storage is about £20
I do remember when we all stopped using 3.5 floppy disks and started using cd’s, until memory sticks increase there size to lets say 500gb, and are cheaper to buy, there is no point in using them for computer back ups.
except dvd’s take up more space than memory sticks which are more transportable too
That is true, but if you need to move all your files, lets say for presentation, you are better off with a portable hard drive.
Saying that, i do know of a remote access program that will let you work and use any file on your computer from anywhere in the world.
I think if your only doing back ups, one hit dvd’s are the best way of doing it.
cant beat a 3 1/2″ floppy one!
I love the little USB thumb drive that I use. It even has software applications, and has 4 Gigs of memory. It cost me $20. It is easy to carry around, and can be used on any computer without leaving a trace that I was there. Handy for when I’m doing my espionage thing.
Stephen
Copying backup files to a CD or DVD isn’t always successful as they CAN get corrupted. Also, when you come to copy them back again you have to go into the ‘Properties” of each file and de-select ‘read only’ or ‘hidden’ otherwise it won’t open when you access it.
Flash (or removable) drives, by comparison, don’t alter the file attributes AND they are getting ever cheaper. On Saturday I noticed in PC World a Kingston 1GB flash drive (or data key if you prefer) for only £5.99.
My first data key was a Disgo 64MB one and it cost me around £28 a while back so the prices have crashed down. At this rate 5GB keys will cost only a fiver or so in a few months time.
Amazon do 8gb usb Flash Drives from as little as £10 sometimes . They currently have an 8gb Kingston for 12.99. play.com have a SanDisk 8gb one for 13.99 . Prices are coming down all the time making them a real alternative to CDs and DVDs for storage. They look much cuter too :)
But I still can’t see anyone needing a 8GB stick.
Unless you have loads of music or tons of software, why would yo need anything over 1GB
I did look at our office hard driv and in the last 5 years we have only use 340mb for work files.
The size of backup required will depend entirely on the content of the C: drive – amazingly enough.
With ‘modern’ users it is entirely possible to have a backup requirement of anything from 1 – 5GB depending on how many misic or digital picture files they have; how big a database their e-mail application has; and so on.
The ‘old days’ of 5 or 10GB hard drives are long gone and with HDD’s going up to 500GB and even 1 Terrabyte, people are increasingly tempted to store absolutely everything and not worry about file size or compression.
I must say that 340MB of files indicates a really small database DOA. My e-mail backup alone is currently running at around 1.5 GB
Your right that does seem a bit small.
Will have to investigated and find out why its so small.
I know we have 5 hard drives in the sever, but after our upgrade 2 years ago, not sure how the current office system works.
Get involved in this discussion! Log in or register now to have your say!