Backing up data is a headache at best. It's work, and after working on your computer all day the last thing many people want to do is more work. So, how does one safely backup the data that's important to them?
The first rule of backing up and archiving your data is to keep your data at two different locations. For instance, burn all your photos to a CD or DVD before adding them to a library such as iPhoto. Burn two copies of the same disc and periodically send one disc to a family member or close friend. This prevents loss of data due to flood, fire or theft. I burn all my discs twice and keep one copy at home and one copy elsewhere.
When burning a CD or DVD, let the software completely verify the data has been burned correctly. This takes longer, but ensures that your disc has been burned without errors or corruption.
USB flash drives are coming in larger capacities all the time. I own a couple, but I use them to move data not store data. I can't recommend them for long term storage because I don't believe that they're designed for that. Additionally, they're small and easy to misplace.
Tape backups are another option, but tend to be costly and out of the price range of most consumers. However, for small businesses, a tape backup and archiving strategy is something that can be considered. Make sure to bill the cost of backups into each job and don't make this and option, charge everyone for the same service and do it whether they like it or not.
Tapes can be expensive, but tend to hold a lot of data. LTO tapes can have a shelf life of 30+ years if stored properly and can be written to and rewritten more times than most users actually will ever do. While it's not the only choice out there, LTO is an industry standard and is compatible on both major computing platforms.
Hard drives are the one of the worst devices to backup or archive to. Hard drives fail, it's inevitable. Even a brand new drive can put data at risk. If you have to off-load data from a workstation to an external hard drive, do it over two different hard drives before deleting the data from your local drive. This is known as dual redundancy and it's the safest way to temporarily store data on a hard drive.
So, the best practice tips are as follows: Don't every rely your data to be safe on one device or at one location. Always backup twice, minimum, and don't keep all of the backups at the same location.
If you're simply not disciplined enough to practice safe backups or archiving, then look into online services that perform backups for your computer automatically and at a price.
Erik