The task of backing up your digital data becomes more and more important as people download hundreds and thousands of digital songs and movies and upload digital pictures to their computers.

You MUST backup your data. Hard drives fail and they usually fail at inconvenient times. They fail when you have a project due for work or school. Maybe you'll have a flood in your house. The bathroom upstairs could leak all over the computer downstairs. A power outage could cause a surge that fries your hard drive. The list goes on and on...

Here is a plan for data backup: 

1. Backup all your electronic devices regularly. That means your PDA, Blackberry, and iPhone with all your contacts and calendar entries. These devices can plug into a computer and automatically back up or sync.

2. Backup data on your computer regularly. Some people can do this daily, others weekly. Think of it in terms of how much data are you willing to lose. If the answer is none, then you better backup every day. Invest in either an external hard drive with backup software or an online backup service.  Some external hard drives plug into your router and will allow you to backup all the computers in your home to the same device.

Think about backing up both on-site and off-site. An external hard drive is great until it somehow gets damaged. You could lose your computer and your backup if they are located in the same place.

For backup solutions, see my blog about backup.