“Freedom from Fear” was the last of the Norman Rockwell famous “Four Freedom” series, inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Annual Message to Congress in January of 1941. The illustration that was created shows war-weary parents lovingly tucking their children into a warm, safe bed at night. But now that you are an entrepreneur, who or what will help give you security over your critical business data so that your information is safe and warm?
Just as those parents allayed their children’s fears, there are several products available on the market that help you store your data files in a warm, safe place so that if there is a catastrophe (hard drive crash, the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, for example), you can easily and readily recover your vital business information.
I use an online backup tool as well as an external drive to protect my data. Call me a belt and suspender kind of person, but I like to sleep at night without fear that the data that I have on my computers will be there when I need it.
For an online service, Carbonite, Mozy, IDrive, SOS Online Backup, Norton Online Backup (to name a few of the services) offer similar packages, some with unlimited storage and coverage protection for multiple PC’s. They are relatively economical, especially considering the value that they deliver. Most are less than $10 per month and some are less than $5/month. The initial backup may take some time, based on the number, size and type of files you are backing up, once you subscribe to the service. Thereafter, new files and modifications to existing files are backed up without you having to initiate any process as long as you adjust the setting to automatic. Many of these services are evolving to include mobile access via your smartphones.
If you want to be free from the fear of losing your data, have a sound backup plan in place. Sleep tight!
