So we talked earlier about risk and manufacturing. What about risk and PC’s? If you “single source” your data on a single PC or single hard drive, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Hard Drive (or PC) failures are much more common than major disruptions to Toyota’s supply chain!

It took me a few times, but I’ve been burned by PC’s before. I had a hard drive (a 20 MEGA-byte drive in a Dell 386 PC) die on me my junior year of college (between semesters, at least) and I had a home PC crash, losing some digital pictures (back in 2004 or so, before I had taken too many).

My home laptop died on me last night. Just shut off during use and won’t boot or power up again. I’m sure the data is still there, but I have backups thankfully and I thought I’d share a reminder and some easy, painless PC backup methods. I use the first AND second methods I’m outlining below, so I’m not crying over lost data. My Compaq PC still has three weeks left on its extended warranty, thankfully (another illustration of risk and cost there, that extended warranty — waste of money or good protection?).

Folder Share

Folder Share is a free product, a company acquired by Microsoft. This is a very automated approach to backups if you have 2 PC’s in your home. My layman’s explanation of how it works:

1. Install the software on 2 PC’s
2. Select folders
3. The software automatically and continuously syncs the shared folders across your PC’s, creating a live backup.

The odds of BOTH pc’s simultaneously are very slim. If your house burns down (knock on wood), this strategy might fail though. There might be other features of Folder Share I don’t know about or use, but the price is right and it works for my simple needs.

External Hard Drive

I also use an external portable hard drive to backup my work PC, as well as files from the home PCs (additional redundancy). I’ve had good success with the Westerrn Digital Passport series of drives. I also recommend the Allway Sync backup software, available in free or inexpensive “professional” editions. There’s even a version you can install right on the External drive, you plug in your PC and it automatically syncs.

This approach is inexpensive (under $100) and easy, although you still have to be disciplined enough to plug the drive in and do the backups (schedule it in your calendar). The external hard drive might carry the same “what if your house burns down?” risk.

Online Backup

If you’re really paranoid about the house burning down, or if you have really valuable data, you might consider an online backup service. I haven’t used one and there are too many to mention. The idea here is that you install software that automatically and continuously backs up files on a remote server. The vendors promise data security, but that might not be comfortable for some, losing sight of your data. You have to select a stable, trusted vendor who won’t abuse your data or go out of business.

Does anyone have experience or recommendations? No spam posts please! You can mention company names, but only if you have used them.

So, as my dad commented on the post about Toyota and risk, we always have to evaluate economics and expected value/benefits in situations like this or the Japan earthquake.

• What are the odds a PC will crash? HIGH
• What are the odds your house will burn down or otherwise be destroyed? LOW
• What are the odds your PC crashes AND the online backup vendor might go out of business on you? WHO KNOWS?

You have to do what makes sense for you, your available funds, tolerance for risk, and the value of your business or personal data.

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.