The information that we generate on a daily basis increases progressively, and this has increased exponentially in recent years, where more and more people are taking photos and videos. Unfortunately, nothing is perpetual and it may be that our memories are ruined by a computer failure. That is why it is necessary to always have the possibility of making a backup copy at hand. Of course, it is important to know how to choose the right medium to do it, but which one to choose?
What is the proper medium for backing up?
We must start from the fact that the concept of backup is defined by its own meaning, that is, it is nothing more than a backup in case an accident occurs. Therefore, it is important to have a large storage capacity, not only to save the files that we save over time, but also for automated backup functions such as Windows Shadow Copy, which make a copy of the content of our hard drive at a specific moment in time. In this case we can only choose to use a hard drive or a drive
For this we need a comparative scale and for us it is the cost of storage, that is, when it costs us to maintain each gigabyte of information that we want to store. Are alternatives to external storage drives better? You all already know the external hard drives and SSDs on the market. However, let’s see how it works to store data in the cloud and optical drives.
flash drives
However, other users prefer to only save their files in alternative formats. And it is that we cannot forget that there are several ways to make backup copies other than the use of a hard drive or an SSD. The most common of all is the use of Pendrives due to their portability. Although if we talk about the cost per gigabyte of storage, we will realize that they are not only far behind external hard drives, but also USB SSDs. The problem with these types of drives is the fact that if we work with very large files, then we will find that we will not be able to make backup copies on most drives on the market.
Our recommendation is the Kingston Data Traveler Max, which is sold with traditional USB and Type C connectivity and with capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. Its cost per gigabyte is higher than an SSD, so it is the type of drive that we recommend the most, but if you like to have something with high portability
cloud services
There are plenty of free cloud storage services online that give us a few tens of gigabytes to upload things. Its versatility allows us to later recover the information from any device. We refer to services such as Google Drive, Mega, Dropbox and many other similar ones. If you are one of those people who are looking to have your vacation photos or a thousand and one photos of your pet in a safe place, then the best service you can opt for is Mega.
Not only due to the fact that its PC application is completely mimicked with the Windows file explorer, but also because its mobile application has automated mobile uploads. Of course, be careful with the data rate and do not forget that you have limited bandwidth. So it is ideal for uploading and downloading small files. In the event that you need more storage, you can opt for the subscription plans, at a minimum price of 60 euros per year for 400 GB and limited to 1 TB of transfer. Our advice? For that price ignore this option and opt for an external hard drive or a USB SSD.
optical storage drives
Gone is the case for most people to make backup copies on optical discs, although we believe that it is a totally undervalued option in that regard. Our advice today? Completely avoid DVD recorders, mostly due to the fact that this format only allows us to save 4.7 GB of data per disc, except for some variants that allow us to save 8.5 GB.
Why do we say this? Because of the fact that although there is an average difference of 70 euros between one format and another, with 40 euros we can buy a bovine of 25 Blu Ray discs of 50 GB capacity, that is, 1250 GB in total. While if we opt for the DVD then 500 GB will cost us 90 euros. So the difference in terms of storage cost is obvious.
It is not the option that we recommend the most due to the hassle of having to write the disks, the fact that some of them may fail and that the storage, apart from being slow, is read-only. We will have to dump the information back to the storage unit of our PC to use it. Of course, we are talking about making backup copies and not working directly with the format.
USB SSD Drives and Hard Drives
Despite being of a different nature, we have put them together for a reason, both are the most used by the public today. If we talk about performance in the sense of access speed and work speed, then SSDs win hands down, but if we talk about storage capacity it is clear which format wins.
Do you remember the Shadow Copy function that we have talked about earlier in this article, well, because solid state drives have a write limit, if we use this function then it is much better to go for a hard drive? Which are still the best option to have a backup of our data.
