If you have any data that is important to you then you should have a backup scheme in place, even if it is simply keeping several copies of the files on different media but for many Windows users the idea of a proper automated backup scheme is something for businesses and not home users.  Then they lose some baby pictures.  At that point it is common for the sad individual to buy an additional piece of equipment that backs up at the push of a button but still tends to be kept in physical proximity to the machine it is backing up.

However if you know someone who is familiar with Linux or are not scared to try something new yourself, there are tools that exist in Linux which allow you to script a complete backup of a system, or parts thereof, to a remote location automatically; no user interaction required.  Techgage will take you through the wonderful world of rsync, crontab and 1ftp which are powerful tools in Linux and Unix to backup your data automatically and without constantly using huge amounts of bandwidth.  Spend a bit of time with some old hardware and you should be able to build yourself a backup server or NAS for free.

"Keeping good backups of your data is important; don’t be the sucker who loses important files and has to deal with it afterwards! In this in-depth guide, you’ll learn about using rsync and lftp to transfer files, writing your own scripts and automating them, and backing up to external storage, a NAS, and a remote server without passwords."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk