Backup how to

Your data has value, whether it be the value of your time to create it or the value of research data that can't be recreated. And anything of value should be protected. Creating backups is a means to protect your data from unforeseen events that lead to the loss of data or even the machine. While the department maintains copies of the software running on y4ur machine, each faculty member is responsible for backing up their own personal data. This includes personal correspondence, documents, user installed programs, and any other files created by the user. Several options are available to backup your data including storing data on studsys, using XP backup utility and copying data to a CD.

Important data and files can easily be uploaded and stored under your personal directory on Pascal using a file transfer utility. Because Pascal itself is backed up on a consistent basis this is a reliable means to ensure that your data will not be lost. However a backup only exists for approximately two weeks before the tape is reused to make another backup. So if you replace a file with a newer version of a file, the older version will remain on the Pascal backup for about two weeks and then it will be overwritten. The Pascal backup will then contain the newer version of your file.