Peripherals and Backup Strategies and Devices

¶ … computer hardware that are attached to a computer in order to increase its capabilities. In some cases, peripheral is a term that used to refer to computer devices that are optional in nature instead of those that are usually required by principle. There are various kinds of computer peripherals that not only differ from the way they are connected to the computer i.e. internally or externally but also differ in how they operate and their purpose. There are two most famous and commonly used computer peripherals i.e. mouse and keyboard, which are primarily input devices that are used to give instructions to the computer system. A keyboard is basically described as an input device that is relatively similar to a typewriter and consists of different kinds of keys for data entry to a computer system. In contrast, a mouse is a plastic rodent with at least two buttons and is used to give commands to a computer system.

The other computer peripherals include a speaker, printer, external hard disk drive, and a scanner ("What Are Some Popular Computer Peripherals?" n.d.). A printer is an output device that allows a user to take images and/or text from the computer and prints them on a piece of paper i.e. make a hardcopy of it. The external hard disk drive is a storage device that is used as an independent drive for secure storage of data. The device acts as a backup for large chunks of data or files and is armored to withstand falls and impacts. In the past few years, the costs of external hard disk drives have reduced significantly while the storage capacity has increased beyond one terabyte. Speakers are output devices are considered as must-have computer peripherals because of their sound capabilities. These devices are primarily used for giving sound when playing a video or audio file, especially because of the increase in the use of computers in playing music.

Backups

Computer data is usually in various forms including movies, documents, pictures, videos, and software log files. Data backup strategies are important because they help in ensuring secure storage of data, especially with the increased vulnerability of hard disk drive. There are various backup strategies and devices that can be used with a personal computer at home or in the workplace to avoid loss of data. The first data backup strategy is the preventative measure of copying all data on the computer to an external storage device. The external hard disk drive is the device that can be used with this strategy and is connected to the computer through the universal serial bus (USB) port. The use of the external hard disk drive to help prevent data loss involves copying all fields on the CPU to the device.

The second data backup strategy is creating backup recovery disks of programs that are used in the personal computer. This strategy helps in preventing loss of software since an individual may not only lose data but may also lose software used in the computer. In this case, the individual can use recovery disks to prevent loss of important programs or software in the event of destruction of files by a virus or system failure (Lewis, n.d.). This strategy ensures that the user has necessary programs in case the loss would require re-installation of operating system and other programs.