It’s Dec. 31, 1999. If you haven’t backed up your business or personal computer files, or the files on your server, or your end users’ files lately, now would be a good time to get started. Just in case you need motivation, here are some of TechRepublic’s most popular tips and articles on making backup sets.

If it isn’t backed up, it will be accidentally deleted
If there’s one universal truth in the computing industry, it’s this: Any file that hasn’t been backed up will be accidentally deleted, corrupted by a power outage, or renamed by a careless user. The corollary is: Your hard drive will fail if you ever think to yourself even once, “Oh, I don’t need to back those up.”

Veteran IT professionals know all too well the value of backing up your data files on a regular basis. All you need to learn that lesson is to get caught once without a backup set.

Don’t just back up those files, but confirm one or two
My uncle made tape backups every single day for two years. His computer crashed on him once, and he pulled out one of those backup tapes. To his chagrin, the files couldn’t be recovered (in spite of the fact that the software had supposedly been verifying the backups). You must be sure the backups you make today will work if you need them in two weeks. Follow this link to read why an ounce of restoration is worth a year of backups.

Backing up your servers in general
Contributing writer Ron Nutter knows the value of a disaster recovery plan. Follow this link to read his article on choosing a server backup option. Contributing writer Brien Posey presents an in-depth discussion of this topic in his article on the subject of creating reliable backups .

Managing your Microsoft Exchange accounts
In this download, we’ve put together several articles that deliver valuable information on securing, organizing, and controlling Microsoft Exchange distribution lists. We’ve also included a section that details the process for moving mailboxes to servers at different sites. You can download TechRepublic’s Guide to Exchange Distribution List and Mailbox Management here .

Do it on the Web
All out of tapes and disks? As long as you have Internet access, you can make backup files on the Web. Follow this link to find out how to back up 10 MB for free on the Web.
If you’d like to share your tips for backing up your data, please post a comment below.