The major advantage becomes apparent when thinking about households with set ups that exclusively involve laptop computers - an increasing trend. By making it possible to hide the drive away but leave it accessible at all times it takes away one more excuse not to back up data. Leaving a computer on once a week in the day time, means you can schedule backup when you are out of the house.
The disadvantage of this set up comes with the relatively low speed of an ethernet network when compared to USB, or Apple's Firewire. If large volumes of data are being shifted, or if you expect to be able to watch a movie from it over a wireless network, you should certainly look for another solution. The device's LED lights are a touch garish, especially at night time.
Overall, this solution could suit a lot of users with its convenience, as long as network speed is not an issue. The 5.25 inch configuration means that capacities running up to many hundreds of megabytes are possible.
Apple iLife 08: iDisk
US$99 per year
www.apple.com/dotmac/idisk.html
The ultimate way to back up work is to send it over the internet and allow someone else to look after the security of your most precious data. Many companies offer such services, but Apple offers, perhaps, the most convenient solution.
Wrapped up as part of the new iLife '08 suite of products comes an updated .Mac and iDisk service. Only a click away, users have access to 10GB of online storage that is managed on Apple servers. The drive appears as if it were a hard drive, and it can be accessed from other locations, allowing you to share files with other people. Using the bundled software is pretty straightforward, and users can schedule their backups for a time that suits them.
The major disadvantage is that although additional storage is available, there is not enough to back up all the data a typical user is likely to have. Internet network speed also means transferring large amounts of data will be very time-intensive. The service is also, predictably, only available to Apple's converted followers. Overall, i-Disk is a great solution for protecting the most important files, but for computer users looking to back up photos and music, it doesn't cut the mustard.
A blend of approaches is going to be the best way to ensure that your data is safe and sound. To avoid the heartbreak that accompanies loss of important data, most important is finding the method that suits your needs and fits into your routine.
- Jonathan Biddle is Head of Industrial Design at DEM inc
RSS