Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Backing Up While on the Road
It's relatively easy to back up when you're at home or at the office:
you can set up a system that copies data from one or more computers
to local or network drives and that stores it automatically. But when
you're away from your usual equipment, backups become more
difficult.
When traveling with a laptop, you face two main questions:
First, do you back up to local media (a flash drive, say, or an
external hard drive), or use the Internet to back up to a remote
location?
Second, if you do choose to back up remotely, what's the best way
to do so safely and efficiently?
Local or Remote?
Backing up your laptop directly to a hard drive or flash drive is
invariably quicker than backing up over the Internet. You also avoid
any worries about sensitive data being intercepted in transit, and you
have a handy copy of your data available for instant restoration if you
need it. On the other hand, if your laptop and its accessories are stolen,
left in a car trunk, or otherwise lost, you're likely to lose all your
backups too. So a word to the wise: if you choose to keep your backups
with you, at least keep them separate from your computer.
Local backups are best for people who generate large volumes of data—
videos, for example. If you create several gigabytes of new files every
day while away, backing up remotely might be too time-consuming. A
local backup is also the only good option if you're traveling somewhere
without high-speed Internet access.
On the other hand, if you generate only a modest amount of data on
the road and fast Internet access is available (especially if it's free fast
Internet access!), backing up remotely is an excellent option, as all
your data is safely offsite. But be sure to use an encrypted connection
or backup software that encrypts the files before they're sent over the
 
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