How and Why Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Computer

(A/K/A "The Backup Nut's Online Pulpit")

Yeah, I'm a Backup Nut. That's what my friends, colleagues, and clients call me -- the Backup Nut. Sure, I'll own that. You might even call me the Backup Fanatic, or the Backup Evangelist.

Why? Because I'm constantly preaching backup with the zeal of a revival preacher, usually to people who don't want to listen until it's too late. "Too expensive," they say, or "I don't have anything important on my computer."

Nonsense and heresy, I say unto thee.

"But I have nothing important to back up."

I can't tell you how many calls I've gotten from people who had "nothing important" on their computers -- until their computers crashed. Then they realized that they really did have important stuff on their computers, such as:

Work-related documents
Schoolwork (homework, book reports, essays, etc.)
Tax and business records
Addresses and phone numbers
Music
Family photographs
Internet favorites
Logins for banks and other financial institutions

Perhaps the most heartbreaking data recovery calls I've received have been from people who lost photographs of friends and loved ones, especially when those people had passed away. Clients have told me, in tears, that losing pictures of their late relatives felt almost like mourning their deaths all over again. How terribly sad.

Unfortunately, however, these people's data loss was their own fault. Why? Because the Backup Nut warned them long ago that some day, sooner or later, they would experience a data loss; and that they should prepare for it by making good backups.

The first time he met them, in fact, the Backup Nut pleaded with them to set up some sort of backup solution, and he repeated his sermon with the zeal of a preacher each time they met. (Can I get an amen, brother and sister geeks?)

But alas, the Backup Nut's sermons fell upon deaf ears and hardened wallets. "Too expensive," they said. But come the judgment day, they'll find that the few dollars they "saved" by not preparing in advance for a data disaster will instead cost them hundreds or thousands of dollars in data recovery fees. "On many graves the headstones glisten, of those who heard but wouldn't listen."

He who Sows Negligence Will Reap Big Bills for Recovery

With data protection, as with most of life in general, we reap what we sow; and if we neglect to backup our data now, we will reap huge bills for data recover when -- not if -- we experience a data loss. Because if there's anything I've learned in all my years in Information Technology it's that data loss is inevitable. It's just a matter of time until it happens to any of us, dear brothers and sisters.

And because of this -- because I know that the future is dark for those who neglect to protect their data today, it is my mission -- nay, it is my calling -- to preach Backup to those who still stumble in the dark, lest their data perish on that great and terrible day. So I've established this site as my online pulpit to preach the truth of Backup to those who still don't believe, in the hope of saving their data when that dark and dreadful time comes upon them.

From this pulpit I will preach, teach, exhort, and expound upon Backup. If you listen, you'll learn things like:

Why bother backing up your PC?
Different backup strategies and their advantages and disadvantages
Different types of backup media
How to automate your backups
The advantages of redundant backup solutions

Finally, I should point out this site is primarily intended for laymen, not I.T. professionals. Why? Because if you're a professional, you already know this stuff and don't need me telling you about it. The Backup Nut's flock are the sheep, not the shepherds; and my goal is to make backup understandable and available to the average person, not to delve into the finer points of doctrine.

So please don't bombard me with email debating esoteric points of backup philosophy. It may make for interesting conversation at a geekfest, but it's irrelevant and confusing to most of my flock. Thank you.