Back Up Devices To Be Used by Us

As 31^st March, is globally regarded as World Back-Up Day, which implies obtaining hard drives and USB thumb drives, simply to back up various forms of data, I want to highlight some crucial storage devices and the respective pros and cons here.

Now a query, suppressed deeply in mind, may surface on top, as to when did the last time we actually take data back-up on phone, laptop or PC? Evidently, failing to do so may lead to total data collapse, in case device is lost or picked up or turn corrupt. Here, this is worth mentioning that sharing images on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or on any social media platform, isn’t considered to be a safe and secure back-up, since the resolution plummets deeply once such are uploaded rendering users unable to take a second copy.

As most of us are home-bound nowadays (because of unpleasant and unwarranted conditions prevailing around the world) we can easily take out time to this cause.

To begin with, we are flooded with a multitude of options, in which purchasing a hard drive is not among the one. There are numerous tools available online, such as, when we subscribe to Amazon Prime, photos are backed-up for users complementary. Going further, in such a pursuit, iPhone offers add-on devices feature which is so economical that even iCloud subscription appears a luxury.

Let’s explore some options here:

Zero-in On Optimal Choice:

Users should be up and about, as to what stuff exactly they need to the back-up of. Mostly, photos and videos are there, but then critical documents also make an entry into such a list. Now, if our laptop or PC has our favour, we need to be selective about what should remain onto our hard drive.

Navigate across the drives, select the data (pictures, videos, music, documents etc) and initiate the back-up right there. As for phone users, they usually carry snaps, emails and texts and as for Apple users, there are unleashed a couple of ways to back the data up. One can subscribe to iCloud storage or can simply create a connection between phone and PC and data can be saved onto the latter’s hard drives, under specific folders.

Likewise, phones of Samsung Galaxy series also provide additional slots meant for external storage, thereby slashing the need for back-up drastically, (yes! without a dagger) but with a micro-SD card. To Apple’s iCloud, Samsung Cloud is the answer from Samsung, ensuring 200GB of space for just $2.99 per month.

For Photos:

Amazon and Google have come-up with two phenomenal ways which are extremely friendly to our pocket, when one reckons online back-ups. Amazon runs Prime program to ensure speedy shipping and to unfold entertainment, where subscribers get easy access to Amazon’s unlimited back-up offering.

All you need to do is to download this app, typically designed for smartphones and select Auto Save mode after which, Amazon will ensure that every image you take is uploaded right then and there. Please note that videos are not covered under such a facility. The most amazing aspect that the service has, is that if users avail Fire TV streaming stick or Echo Show linked to speakers, app offers the display option, to mark a set of photos as screensavers.

However, it should be clarified here that Google is not behind in such an undeclared race for excellence and has somewhat similar service meant for Nest Hub display units which can be accessed through Google photos. Together, with this app and Google Photos website, users are empowered to undertake free back-up of photos and videos but which comes with a compromise, i.e. such stuff is saved with reduced resolution.

But for seeking a perfect resolution, one would need to opt for Google One Plus, as an upgrade.

Use Portable Drives As A Primary Back-up Medium To Our Phone:    

Qubli, is the first to launch this service @ $39.99 which is tied to our iPhone charger, when we want our photos and videos to be backed-up at the back of screen, where a micro SD card is put into use. Card is to be bought additionally and any 128 GB capacity of card can be had at just $20 while for a 256 GB card, one would need to put in just $30. One should keep in mind that unlike Android phones, Apple iPhones don’t have an expandable memory and hence one needs to be willing to shell out more, if large memory space is desired here. For instance,

• iPhone 11 with 64 GB storage comes at $699,
• iPhone 11 with 128 GB storage comes at $749,
• iPhone 11 with 256 GB storage comes at $849,

In similar series, we have iXpand, a portable flash drive offered by San Disk that can be placed to the iPhone lightning charge slot and that comes with mega storage of 128 GB. Interestingly, this is available at a throwaway price of just $45.

Hard Drives:

Without doubt, seasoned hard drives of earlier seasons, can never be ruled out, when we consider data storage. Besides, such functions even quicker than other devices and are deeply economical too, but then, there is a downside. Such drives are vulnerable to crash, causing whole of our data evaporated.

Many among us are in a habit of taking back-up on another drive at the same time, which is a perfect step to ensure data safety since drives are cheaply available. Further, there are available portable drives as well as we can choose a 4TB model at an affordable price of just $149 or can pay around $229 for getting 1TB SSD version.

Whatever, one is in a safe position when opting for SSD, since it is integrated and a solid one piece without any movable parts and then, it is less likely to fail also.

Finally, online data back-up is widely preferred nowadays, since the storage devices of any kind, are likely to get corrupted at some point while hard drives can get destroyed under any disaster or natural calamity. But then, one should be careful enough about the security and safety of such online backups and to prevent any unauthorized access or to make it safe from hacking.

Online Option Of Backup:

Simplest among all ways and one is saved from spending extra for hardware but users have to keep in mind not to forget updating and uploading files and folders on regular basis. Google offers Backup and Sync facilities but that too has a limited storage. For more paid options for online storage, please feel free to discuss with me.