Working Title: Back Up Those Files!
Name: Scott Simpson
Email Address: edtec541@scottsimpson.net
Date: 2009-06-30
EDTEC541 Summer '09

Problem, Need, or Opportunity
With an increased interest in computers among people who haven't had them before, and the increasing presence of computers and computer applications in everyday life, there is a large population of computer novices generating important and valuable data. These data may include anything from personal budgets and family photos to graduate theses and business documents. To computer professionals, and those that feel familiar with the operation (and risks) of data storage, having an active backup copy of their important information is second-nature. But to the computer novice, a backup solution may seem to be 'overkill' or unnecessary for a number of reasons -- chief among them a belief that a saved file will always continue to exist on media that will never fail or be lost. A dropped laptop, an unfortunate splash of fruit juice, or a careless keystroke could be the untimely demise of an important spreadsheet or gigabytes of family photos.

In many cases, as computer novices struggle to climb the learning curve of their computer, adding an entire schema and set of hardware just to make duplicate copies of files seems like a luxury or even an unwanted burden.

Luckily for novices, myriad solutions are available, often at little to no cost and with a very low barrier to entry. But in being unfamiliar with the terms and operations of computers, these options don't readily present themselves, or are beyond the reach of novices simply because they don't know what to ask a technician or a search engine.

Audience
The audience for this project would be computer novices that seek an easy-to-read overview of the options available to them, with clear steps and tutorials showing how to get started. As computer novices, the audience will have available to them a computer and some data they value. Additionally, a secondary audience would be more seasoned computer users seeking options other than what they are familiar with, or are in the position to help a computer novice get started with a data backup solution.

User's Needs
In my capacity as a customer service representative and technician for a computer company, I see the opportunity for lost data daily. Three scenarios are common:

1) A user has their data saved on the hard drive of a laptop which was dropped on the floor, physically damaging the hard drive and making data irretrievable save very expensive data reconstruction services or, in extreme cases, at all. In some cases, hard drive platters are made of glass which shatters on impact.

2) A user is cautious of the physical condition of their computer, but inadvertently deletes or makes wide-ranging changes to a file which they later realize was the only extant copy. In some cases, the file may be retrievable through very expensive data reconstruction services, but in most cases the cost of this procedure (sometimes up to $5000) is simply not worth retrieving the data.

3) A computer is stolen from a user, along with any opportunity to retrieve the file they need.

Though some options exist for retrieving lost data, these options are usually prohibitively expensive in contrast to the actual value of the data. In the case of a stolen or destroyed computer, there is no option for recovery.

The project will discuss and detail what a backup is NOT, starting points for creating a backup, and various solutions available for both Mac and PC environments.

Environment
The user will access the project via a website. The user will have or will be considering the purchase of a computer (the relative merits of which will not be discussed, except in terms of backup solutions). The user will likely bookmark the website in a web browser, or may print out a hard copy of the information for later reference. As the website will be intended for novices, there will be a clear set of steps (along with attribution where merited, and to encourage further learning).

Resources and Limitations
While all of the information presented is available from either a knowledgeable technician or enthusiast, or from various websites, the project will serve as a free resource and starting point for novices unable or unwilling to seek the information themselves. Media and information used on the website will either be generated by the author for the website or obtained from the public domain and cited accordingly.

General Solution
The website will provide an easy-to-access and easy-to-understand reference available freely on the internet for computer novices to learn about the importance and establishment of a data backup solution.