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Backup Solutions

 

 BACKUP YOUR LAPTOP AND SECURE YOUR DATA

Planning ahead and caring for your data is great training for a profession in the law!

Option 1 - BEST

  1. Use our Network Storage: In order to really protect your data, your primary academic work should be stored on our file servers.  They are backed up up every evening, they are housed in a secure location, and they have full emergency power for 24x7 operation.  We provide 1GB of data storage for your academic work.  Keep your documents there, and access them through the H: drive and through the VPN.
    • If you have Windows 7, you can use Sync Center to automatically backup your critical documents. For details, see Sync Center FAQ's.
    • Use The Stable  to securely backup academic documents.
    • Students can use Live Mesh 2011 to automatically synchronize their data between their laptop and SkyDrive. It can also synchronize between computer, if your own more than one. Live Mesh supports both Mac and Windows clients. For more details, see the instructions page for syncronizing with SkyDrive.

Option 2 - BETTER

BackUp onto a USB external Drive:  Having at least one copy of your documents in a second location is better than nothing.  Using an external drive, while 98% effective , might still leave you without your files in case your laptop AND your external drive are stolen or destroyed.  However, the external drive does give you the ability to quickly get your documents back, even if you do not have network connection.

Option 3 - S0-S0

BackUp onto a USB Thumbdrive: Having at least one copy of your documents in a second location is better than nothing.  But be aware that USB Thumbdrives do fail, and when they do, it is very difficult to restore files.  The other problem with thumbdrives is that they are easily lost or misplaced.

Option 4 - NOT AN OPTION --> No Backup

Although it is easy to forget about the safety of your data, the truth is that there is a high likelihood that you may lose all or some of your work while you are a law student.  There is simply no excuse for failing to back up your data.

IF DISASTER DOES STRIKE....

...we may have time to try and recover your data. 

This work can only be attempted during times when all needs for core technology services have been met.  Since network storage is provided at no cost to law students, the desire to have academic data recovered on an "emergency" basis may not be feasible. 

There are several companies that specialize in data recovery.  The cost varies, but one less-expensive option is http://www.gillware.com/.  If you mention W&L to GillWare you may get a 10% discount on their services.