Backup is quite a common term among individuals related to information technology. Whether you own a computer, a small business or a large organization, backing up your digital data is really important to stay prepared for unforseen disasters regarding important data and files. The term “backup” means keeping duplicate copies of objects (or better say digital files or data in this context) so that we may restore them in case the original copy is defaced or destroyed.

There are two types of backup options available : offline and online backup. Offline backup usually means backing up on-site, i.e.- at your home or workplace (in a spare hard disk, DVD, network drive etc.) while offline backup stores your data in remote servers on the internet. Offline backup is the first layer of protection and online backup adds another layer, making sure you still have a working backup if your on-site backup fails in some reason. Online backup is getting popular and there are many online backup providers like IDrive-E, which is quite reputable.

IDrive-E basic is completely free for up to 2GB of storage with no file size and type restrictions, unlimited number of backups and restores; good for casual personal backup use. Feel free to register a free account and backup your favorite pictures, documents, data, music.

Moreover, you can have the online backup account as an always on mapped network drive for easy drag and drop backup and restore. Your data is completely safe and encrypted using 256bit AES encryption, protecting your privacy and threat from prying eyes. With the helper windows program, you can schedule backups easily. IDrive-E supports versioning, incremental backups and sharing of files and folders for collaborative access.

Small businesses can avail of the IDrive-E pro account which offers unlimited storage, backups and restores from any computer for only $4.95 a month. Recent enhancements include ability to create and manage multiple accounts for a small business. So, try them out today…why not when you can have a 2GB free online backup account?

The problem with most flow chart tools is that when you need to collaborate with others, they need to have a copy of the software as well. If they don’t then they end up emailing you back with a description of the changes you need to make. You then edit the flow chart, hoping you got the details right. It often goes several rounds.

Recently I discovered FlowBreeze, a tool to make flow charts in Excel. Now you really don’t need a software product to create flow charts in Excel. Excel comes with a set of drawing tools that you can use yourself. The nice thing about FlowBreeze, though, is that it automates a lot of the flowcharting steps for you.

It’s billed as a “text-to-flowchart” tool because it generates the flow chart symbols when you enter each step description in a cell. It also helps enforce a uniform layout, does a few neat things with formatting, and adds the arrows for you.

The best thing, though, is that I can create a flow chart for the user walk through of a web app’s functionality, then email the Excel file to the customers. All they need is Excel to edit it and send it back to me. That alone saves me loads of time.

The FlowBreeze site (it’s made by BreezeTree Software) has a few good freebies as well. They have some free flow chart templates for Excel, including swim lane diagrams. They also have an interesting flow chart symbol style sheet that has a number of pre-formatted shapes on it, allowing you to quickly add attractive formatting to your Excel flow charts.

FlowBreeze is definitely worth checking out.