| Manual backup |
You choose the files, and folders you want to backup,
and manually copy them to somewhere else, such as on to a CD/DVD, or onto an
external drive. One form of manual backup is to email important files to
yourself, so they are stored on the email server of your web-based email
service. You can create a backup of some important data by printing it out,
for example: Your email addresses can be printed.
Manual backup methods are very slow, tedious, and annoying. These are some
of the reasons why most
people don't end up creating backups regularly, and suffer the consequences. |
| Semi-automated backup |
Semi-automated backups are made using software that automatically creates
the necessary backups when you run it, but you need to remember to run it,
this leaves room for human error. |
| Fully-Automated |
Fully-automated backups are created regularly and automatically by the backup software,
which sends the backup to your desired backup location, whether it be
online, or another computer, or an external harddrive. Generally fully
automatic
backups are set to run at night, or when the computer is idle. |
The ideal backup strategy is easy, and automatic. If it isn't then you
will not be likely to keep doing it. So manually backing up may be ok for
emergencies, but if you are serious about backup then you need some form of
automated strategy, that you can set and forget.
