Imagine you have just finished your data backup. You backup your data regularly, have multiple copies of all your files and store them safely away in your closet. The media you have chosen are high-quality, Taiyo Yuden DVD+R discs, so you are confident that your data will be there when you need it.

Let's add something to this scenario. You go out one evening, and come back to your house in flames. Not a nice scenario, but it servers a purpose for this hub. Everything inside your house is destroyed.

Once you start to get your life back together, you setup your new computer. Just then you realized that not only did you lose all your data, but also all your backed up data. Whether it was digital photos, work files or that important essay, everything is gone.

When backing up data it is important to store your backups offsite. What I mean by this is that you store your backed up data at a different location than the original files. This means that if the above scenario happens, you will still have your backed up data, which also means that you can restore your data in the future.

There are many ways you can store your data offsite. By simply using DVD discs or USB flash drives, you can easily transport your data to another location. Several options unclude:

• A relative's house.
• A friend's house.
• Your work.

It is easy to store DVD discs or flash drives at any of these locations, and they don't take up much room. If you are so inclined, you can even carry an external hard drive to another location, albeit, not as easily as the previous two ideas.

Another option to backup your data offsite is to use an online backup service provider. This is the easiest of the options as you can set your backup to be automatic, and you don't have to worry about moving any media. Once your files are online, they are automatically offsite at another location.

The next time you are thinking about backing up your data, also think about where you will store your files. Storing them offsite will help keep your data protected so it will be available when you need it.