Note: while the information in this article is accurate if you want to manually back up your files, you may find using OIT's workstation backup software a better option. See Atempo Livebackup.

What to back up

There are two types of files:

• Data files that you create (Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, pictures, etc.)
• Programs that you use to create your work (Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc.)

There is no need to backup the program files; they can be reinstalled. The important data is in the files that you worked hard to create. You should keep multiple copies of your files in different physical locations. For example, keep your files on both your harddrive and a CD or Zip disk.

How to back it up

Organize your data so the backup procedure is quick and efficient:

• Keep all your data together: move all the files and folders/ directories you want to backup into My Documents (or a similar folder) on your hard drive.
• Make sure any new files you create are saved in there as well.

You can store your backup data on personal media or the Williams Netware servers such as Helen, Hector, or Achilles (represented by drive letter F: on a PC).

Examples of personal media:

• recordable DVDs (DVD-R) - best for archiving (burn and forget)
• recordable CDs (CD-RW or CD-R) - good for archiving (burn and forget)
• external (usb or firewire) hard drives - best for active (daily), best for storage capacity (>10GB)
• USB flash drives - best for portability
• zip disks - good for portability
• floppy disks (not recommended)

NetWare servers provide additional protection, because servers are backed up nightly. However, keep in mind that daily server backups are retained for one month. It would be impossible to retrieve a file from our server backup that you deleted two months ago.

How to use Silverkeeper to back up a Mac to an external harddrive