Google Drive has came a long way, from first rumors in 2009 to the public launch in 2012. Now, the Big-G is all geared up to offer another milestone in online cloud backup space with "full-pc backup and sync" feature to it's Google Drive service.

Scheduled for release on June 28th, 2017, the "Backup and Sync" service from Google will help everyday users back up files and photos from their computers, so they’re safe and accessible from anywhere. Backup and Sync is the latest version of Google Drive for Mac/PC, which is now integrated with the Google Photos desktop uploader. As such, it will respect any current Drive for Mac/PC settings in the Admin console.

After using SSD on one of my PC and missing the blazingly fast speeds of it on my Apple Mac computer, I finally decided to get the iMac upgraded to SSD. To get data migrated from the old iMac Disk to my new Samsung EVO 850 SSD, I connected both to my other system running Windows 10. I installed and tried 3 popular data migration utilities on the Windows 10 PC which claimed to get the HDD to SSD migration job done, but all of them failed to recognise and clone the HFS+ (Mac OS X Partition) from the Bootcamped dual-boot configured iMac HDD.

Luckily, my memory served me on time and I went ahead using excellent, free "HDD Raw Copy Tool" utility for Windows to get the old HDD disk cloned as an exact one-to-one copy without any partition issue. We have used the same tool earlier to make compressed backup copies of Raspberry Pi SD-Card.

Hard-disk performs the most important job of storing your data, keeping a check on their health and performance should be the topmost priority for prevent any data loss. Ashampoo HDD Control 2 monitors, reports and maintains your hard drives for optimal reliability and performance. The simple to use utility features S.M.A.R.T drive failure warning system, automatic disk defragmentation, data recovery, benchmarking, ability to adjustment noise level and power management of your hard drive(s) and much more. The software usually costs $24.99 to purchase but is being offered for free under a limited period giveaway.

When it comes to perfect backup's, RAW disk-images are the choice for safest form of backup and restoration of fully functional operating-system installations. We have shared two methods of using the same to backup Raspberry Pi SD Card from Windows as well as Hot Backup's from RPi itself using Linux DD disk imaging utility. Once created we can also Mount these backup images with full read-write access for various tasks like Data recovery (For example imaging an corrupted disk and accessing the disk-image from another working computer to recover data).

OSFMount is a free Windows utility which allows you to do that, the software enables users to mount local disk image files in Windows with a drive letter which can be accessed like any other partition. The images can be mounted in read-only mode as well as write-enabled mode, OSFMount also supports creation of RAM disks (See What are RAM Disks and How they can be used to make use of non-addressable wasted RAM on Windows) which offers a huge speed boost over using disk-based images.

Since we are supposed to do a lot of tweaking and tinkering with our Raspberry Pi installations, it is always a good idea to backup the working SD card image before venturing for any experimentation. One way to do this is to take the whole SD card out and use another Windows/Mac computer to backup and restore the full sd-card image as demonstrated earlier. To save you with this much hassle, here we are with another method to perform automated "hot backups" from a Raspberry Pi itself to an external USB disk drive or remote storage. Simply use the provided Shell script and enjoy fast, efficient and automated RPi backups.

SysRestore is a freeware which allows users to backup and restore entire system hard disk or partition to prevent it from any unwanted changes. With this software, you can restore the disk or partition with its data back even if your computer is attacked by virus and crash undoing unwanted changes on system and disk. Unlike the windows built-in system restore, SysRestore is based on sector by sector copy which is able to backup any partition including boot, restore files, restore system after crash, restore different snapshot, boot system from backup. While windows built-in system restore is based on file copy which can only backup files on system partition.

The good news is SysRestore Pro is being given away to 1000 users for free until July 31, 2013. Just download and use the registration serial number provided below.

Once fully configured according to your custom needs it's a good idea to create an raw image backup of your Raspberry Pi SD Card setup, once backed-up a user simply need to re-image the card in-case the underlying operating-system or filesystem gets corrupted. There are various methods to backup and restore the Raspberry Pi SD card, we reviewed all and here are the best options to get the task completed in shortest time with smallest file-size.

The most widely used Windows utility for RAW image backups and restores Win32 Disc Imager is an easy to use option but the resulting file-size is bigger as it is uncompressed, using any popular compression format results in smaller backup size as shown below. However, this approach consumes more time and requires manual efforts twice.

Cloud sync and backup niche is already crowded with big players like SugarSync, DropBox and SkyDrive. Adding another option to these offerings, popular remote desktop access service LogMeIn has came up with there very own cloud syncing solution - Cubby.

One thing you will instantly notice about Cubby is that, it's an well designed and easy-to-use cloud backup and sync solution. The service allows users to share digital content across all their computers, tablets, smartphones or anything connected to internet via an web-browser. Apart from the usual 5GB free storage (with upto 25GB referral limit) and other cloud backup and sync functionality, Cubby features DirectSync allowing syncing across devices which does not count against users cloud storage, public and private sharing and the ability to sync-n-backup any folder of user choice.

Online storage of your documents and media files not only provides a secure backup but also enables faster sharing and anywhere access.

Almost all popular cloud services like SugarSync, DropBox, SkyDrive offer a free usage tier with paid upgrades for higher storage usage. However, a new cloud service provider BookMyCloud is offering Unlimited storage and bandwidth in the cloud with various advanced features like Multiple Repositories for Multiple Departments/Projects, unlimited virtual folders, unlimited password protected shared folders, publicly downloadable file-links with expiry, ability to view and edit documents online and support for custom domains and free sub-domains to access your online virtual disk.

The interface is simple to use and streamlined with drag-n-drop support, view-n-edit support for documents, code and image files.

Our mobile phones contain important data - be it our phone-book, pictures, videos or other documents. Things can get really messy in-case of a lost or non-working phone, and online mobile backup services are the answer to this problem.

BullGuard Mobile Backup 12 is one such handy service, the utility is supported on all major mobile operating-systems - Apple iOS, Google Android and Nokia Symbian. The subscription based service offers seamless, encrypted, automated and hassle-free mobile data backup in the cloud with web-access. Best of all - it supports seamless data migration between two different devices.

BullGuard Mobile Backup 12 is now available for free (2GB Plan) for 12 months under a limited quantity promotion, just follow the instructions and grab your own online mobile backup account for free.