Here is your weekly backup reminder and storage media update.
A week or so ago I promised you a little info on DVD writers. ZDNet (publisher of numerous computer magazines and source of lots of useful free downloads) gives its Editor’s Choice award to the Plextor PX-708A DVD-RW (internal) drive. To quote them directly: “Not only does the groundbreaking PX-708A write DVD+R at 8X—to 4X-rated discs, no less—it’s also far and away the fastest DVD-rewritable drive with CD-R (40X) and CD-RW (24X) media.” It costs about $250, and if you’re a DVD kind of person (need to back up large quantities of data), it’s probably worth investing in. I haven’t really jumped on the DVD bandwagon, myself, so I’m not queuing up.
In other news, I saw an article in ComputerUser subtitled “Prepare all you want—you’re going to get zapped anyway.” Optimistic, huh? The main point of the piece was that small businesses and individuals can’t pay for the kind of backup protection that means there will be no interruption at all in the event of drive failures and other disasters.
That doesn’t mean that preparedness doesn’t reduce the damage done or the time to get back up and running, however. You might not be able to keep a whole spare computer around to use while you’re sending your machine in for repairs, but if you’ve got a drive mirror, you’re going to be up and running again a lot faster than if you don’t. And there are affordable Uninterrpted Power Supplies for small setups (roughly $40-$60), which can protect your system and peripherals from blackouts and power surges. (Most laptops come with power converters that can handle up to 240 volts, but desktop computers, scanners, printers, and external drives do not!)
A final reminder, following the discovery that MSBlaster had somehow reappeared on a client’s machine—make sure anything you’re backing up is virus-free, because you don’t want to re-infect a clean system.
Have a good week, everyone.
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