"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." - Benjamin Franklin

If Mr. Franklin was alive today he would add a third item to that list. Death is certain, taxes are certain, and you will certainly lose something valuable if you don’t backup your computer! Yes, there are flash drives and external hard drives but, like your computer, they can also be lost, stolen, and / or destroyed. Whether your hard drive is full of personal files like wedding pictures, home videos, your child’s latest homework assignment and that novel you’re one long weekend away from completing, or business documents like budgets, contracts and blueprints, you need to be certain that one computer virus or one careless accident won’t mean those irreplaceable files are gone for good!

Not only is cloud storage the extra parachute in your pack, but it’s also extremely convenient. You can access cloud storage tools like Google Drive, iCloud and Dropbox from your smartphone and tablet as well as your laptop. Some services are automated and backup your files, for instance, every 24 hours. Many allow collaboration. You can give other people permission to not only view but update the files.And, convenience at its best, basic services are free! Google Drive and Microsoft’s OneDrive give you 15 GB free. With iCloud and the Amazon Cloud Drive you get 5 GB.Dropbox subscriptions start with 2 gigs. Losing gigabytes of files to malware can be as traumatic as losing photo albums in a house fire! You can’t avoid death or taxes, but with cloud storage you can be certain that your computer files are safe.