There are many ways to backup your data, but not all of them are the same! Here are some of them;
1.Network
2.RAID
3.Hard Copy
4.Remote
5.Incremental
6.Full
All these different methods have advantages and disadvantages.
Network
Network backups can also be called online backups depending on where they are being stored. If they are on the local network then it's network, but if they are being stored on a server off site then it's an online.
The advantages of using this type of backup is that if you back up your data then the data is normally safe in a secure building and safe from fires or water damage.
The main disadvantage of network backups is that if the server/system fails that you uploaded your backup data to then there is a high likely hood that your data could be lost unless they server creates extra backs of it's self. Another disadvantage is that it can take a long time to backup your data onto another server. This all depends on the location of the server and your connection to that server and/or the internet.
RAID
RAID backups are where your hard drives are automatically backing up your data onto another hard drive or splitting up to data onto multiple hard drives.
The advantages of using RAID backups is that there is also a speed increase in accessing your normal data, this is because you can get the data from two sources which increases the overall speed. Using this method to backup is one of the fastest because the data doesn't have to go threw any networks which would normally slow the procedure down.
The disadvantage of using RAID backups is that the backups are still only on your computer, so if your computer brakes or all of your hard drives fail then your data is lost, also if your computer is stolen then your data is also stolen.
Hard Copy
Hard copy backups are backups that are put onto exte
al medium, such as CDs, DVDs, tape drive and exte
al hard drives. Hard copy backups could also include any print outs.
Advantages of using Hard copy backups are that if your computer brakes, then your data is safely stored on other mediums or exte
al devices.
Disadvantages of using hard copy backups are that when you've backup your data you have to store the mediums and exte
al devices in a safe place and these will take up a lot of space over time.
Remote
Remote backups are almost like network backups where your data is stored onto a server/system on a network or over the internet. But the main difference is that you have more control over your data as you have access to the remote backup system.
The main advantage of using remote backup is that you can access your data a lot easier and restore your data when ever you need to.
The disadvantages are similar to the network backups where it can take along time to backup the data over a network or internet.
Incremental
Incremental backups are backups that are done only when the data has changed from the last backup that was last done.
The main advantage of using this method of backup is that it's a lot quicker then doing a full backup as only the files that have change from the last backup taken will be backed up.
The main disadvantage of using incremental backup is that a full backup is always required at the start which can take a long time depending on the size of the data.
Full
Full backup is where the whole hard drive is backed up.
The advantage of using a full backup is that all the data on your hard drive is backed up and can be easily restored.
The big disadvantage is that this type of backup can take a really long time to complete as all your data is being backed up.