Remember the promise of the paperless office? The piles on our desks tell us that the office of the millennium isn't exactly paperless -- but it is getting darn close.

Every day, businesses deal with millions of megabytes of electronic information. They communicate in emails rather than letters and faxes, they have databases instead of rolodexes, and they maintain web sites that require a whole slew of computer files that weren't necessary five years ago.

It's not enough to just keep this information on your computers' hard drives. There typically isn't enough space, for one thing, but more importantly, one computer crash can eliminate your data.

That's where data storage comes in. All the information that's crucial to your business' operation has to live somewhere, whether you access it regularly, keep it as an archive, or do a little of both. And there's a different flavor for each type of storage needed.

Whatever your storage needs, our Buyer's Guide will help get you started. We've put together everything you need to help you decide which storage devices are right for your business.

Why store?

There is one main reason that a business requires storage devices: to put your data somewhere other than your computer's hard drive. But why shouldn't it stay on the hard drive?

Security
Your hard drive is not the safest place to store your files. Any computer left out in the open is at risk for tampering from burglars or corporate spies, or just nosy employees.

Natural disasters
In most businesses, the information stored on computer hard drives is irreplaceable. Customer databases, tax records, marketing materials, and intellectual property may all be stored on computers throughout the office.

But every year, thousands of companies lose computer data because of fires, floods, or even leaky ceilings. For some, such a data loss can be the end of the business.

Hard drive crashes
If your hard drive crashes, and it's the only place you store your files, you can kiss your data goodbye. Your hard drive is also susceptible to corruption from computer viruses passed on through floppy disks, emails, or files downloaded from the Internet.

Sure, there are recovery utilities that can try to retrieve files from a hard drive after it has crashed or has been corrupted. But that's still a big risk for you to take with your business. It's also a pretty nerve-wracking experience whether or not you get the data back.

Space
Even if hard drives were 100 percent secure and crash-proof, there's still an issue of space. These days most businesses generate data that requires far more storage space than your average 6 - 10 GB hard drive found on the typical corporate PC.

Portablility
You can't exactly carry your desktop computer around with you. And it's not always practical or feasible to email files. To transport your files, you'll often need storage media.

Which device is best?

To know which storage device will fit your needs, you should have a good sense for the size and type of files that you want to store, as well as your purpose for storing them.

Small files and everyday use
Floppy disks are fine for small file transfer. As files get bigger, though, a floppy frequently isn't enough. Plus, not all computers include floppy drives these days.

An external superfloppy drive, like Iomega's Jaz, uses disks that can handle up 2 gigabytes (GB) of data. It's an ideal solution for copying and distributing everyday office files like PowerPoint presentations and digital photos, provided there's a drive on the other end to read the disk.

Fatter files and occasional accessing
If you want to permanently copy files that will be regularly accessed, take a look at a writable CD drive. These devices can record up to 650 MB of data on each disc. They are often used to copy multimedia files, large numbers of very high-resolution photos, or customer databases. And at less than $2 a disc, the cost of storage is a fairly economical solution.

Writable DVD drives have recently entered the market. They can record up to 5.2 GB of data on double-sided disks and have been receiving a lot of attention lately; the current standard available is called DVD-RAM.

Regularly scheduled backups
Computer backup systems help businesses protect against both system failures and business catastrophes by providing a safe way to back up and store copies of data outside the office.

The oldest and least expensive option is the tape drive. Storage capacity for some of today's tape drives has reached 50 GB on a single cartridge.

But there are alternatives to tape, if your storage needs aren't astronomical. Many storage devices can archive your data starting in the gigabyte (GB) range. For example, a removable hard disk like Iomega's Jaz drive can hold up to 2 GB of data per disk.

Generally speaking, if you don't plan to access the backed-up data frequently, you're better off basing your decision on the cost of backup. That typically means a tape drive will be your most economical solution. While the difference may only be pennies per MB, that can definitely add up over time. See Price Guide

Tape drives

For years, tape drives have been the de facto choice for completely backing up a computer system. Ranging from less than a cent to five cents per megabyte, tape drives still provide the cheapest high-capacity backup storage solution available.

There are several different types of tape drives that allow storage capacities ranging from 4 GB to as much as 50 GB of uncompressed data (or 100 GB of compressed data) on a single cassette.

The biggest drawback? Data recovery is slow. Tape is not a random-access media, meaning that instead of pinpointing the data you want to access instantly, you have to wind through the tape to locate it.

However, tapes' low cost and high storage capacities have made them a top choice for many firms' backup strategies.

The most commonly used tape drives are DAT (Digital Audio Tape) and DLT (Digital Linear Tape).

DAT drives are especially well suited for small businesses that need to back up numerous small files. Using a 4 mm tape originally designed for digital audio players, DAT drives can handle 1 to 4 GB per cartridge. See Price Guide

Backup software
Most tape drives come equipped with software that allows unattended backups of a single computer or a small network. For larger networks, you generally have to buy third-party software that works with the backup drive and the network operating system.

Software must be able to handle problems during backup and recovery. It should allow recoveries to be made from any individual tape or disk, and should be tolerant of user mistakes, such as files that are left open, by alerting the user rather than crashing or aborting the backup.

Floppy disk drives

Floppy drives record data onto removable magnetic disks, also known simply as "floppies."

At around $20 each, floppy drives are the cheapest drives available. But with a maximum of 1.4 MB, floppies are no longer a useful backup tool in this day of graphics-heavy files.

Plus, some newer desktop computers (Apple's iMac and the latest super-slim PCs) have contributed to the declining usage of floppies by bypassing internal floppy drives completely. The same trend is appearing with laptops, which are striving to stay under 6 lbs. See Price Guide

Removable hard drives

These days, it seems that only the rare file can actually fit on a floppy diskette. To address our more expansive times, we now have the removable hard drive.

Removable hard drives are designed much like floppy drives, where disk-like cartridges that can hold up to 2 GB can be inserted into a drive. Once written with the necessary info, these disks can easily be shipped to the intended recipient.

Incompatibility is the rule in this domain. For the most part, different brand drives won't be able to read other types of media. A compatible drive needs to be available on the other end for disks to be read.

Technically speaking, the different types of removable hard drives utilize different types of technologies to get the job done. But the end result of being able to house large quantities of data is the same.

The major downside of removable hard disks is the cost. Though the drives will run only around $300, the disks can cost around $100 each. See Price Guide

CD-ROM and DVD Drives

Optical drives record with a high speed laser onto removable discs. Depending on the format you choose, you'll be able to store from 650 MB to several GB of data on a disc. There are two types of commercially available optical drives.

CD

The fastest growing type of optical storage is the recordable CD drive, which allows you to record data onto a disc that can be played in any CD-ROM player. There are two types of recordable CD drives: CD-R (write once, read many) and CD-RW (write many, read many).

With blank CDs going for under $2, CDs are an inexpensive and convenient form of storage.

DVD

DVD is essentially a denser, faster compact disc (CD) that can hold video as well as audio and computer data. DVD-RAM drives can record 2.6 GB on a single-sided disk and 5.2 GB on double-sided media.

These drives can also read (but not write) most types of CDs and DVDs. Unfortunately, discs recorded on DVD-RAM drives don't read well on other types of DVD players. Major DVD RAM manufacturers have said, however, that upgrades will be made available in the near future. See Price Guide

Buying considerations

When deciding which type of storage device would best fit your needs, realize first that there is no perfect solution.

In fact, chances are you're going to need more than one type of storage device to satisfy your business. For example, you may prefer a tape drive for archiving, but in addition, you'll probably need a device using media that other systems can easily read, like CD-ROMs or Zip disks.

And while you shop, keep a few points in mind:

Capacity
You're always going to be limited by the size of your media. So before you buy, make sure it can handle the amount of data you'll be storing efficiently and economically. A good rule of thumb: Buy a drive that can back up your entire hard disk on one piece of media, with room to spare.

Or, consider how much data you have to back up in one sitting at the end of each week. For example, if you only have 1 GB of data to copy over the course of a week, you might consider a writable CD drive (650 MB per disc) or a Jaz drive (2 GB per disk).

For more than that, you'll want something like a tape drive (at least 4 GB per cartridge) or DVD-RAM drive (5.2 GB per double side disc). Having to constantly change the media when you are copying data would be incredibly time consuming - or impossible, even, if you do backups overnight and run out of space in the wee hours.

Speed
Speed can be looked at in two ways: speed of the actual backup, and the time it takes to retrieve files. If speed is important to you, cost may not matter so much.

For example, while tape drives may be the most economical solution for backing up huge amounts of data on a regular basis, they are not the fastest, or the most convenient solution. Often, retrieving lost data can take more time than you have to spend, rewinding to isolate the data you want to recover.

On the other hand, recordable CD or DVD drives, or other disk-based systems, allow you to zero in on any part of the data in just moments.

To make the right decision, you'll have to weigh how important the speed of copying or finding files is versus the cost of storing them. (In some cases, a software solution coupled with a storage device can make data recovery that much easier.)

Device and media costs
How many times will you need to stock up on new media? While it might be tempting to base your decision on the cost of the drive, pay attention to the cost of the media as well. It may be that you'll end up opting for a far more expensive drive to take advantage of the lower media cost.

Price guide

Media capacity	Approximate drive cost	Media cost per megabyte
FLOPPY DRIVES
Hi Val 3.5IN 1.44MB	$16	less than one cent
SUPERFLOPPY DRIVES
Iomega zip Drive 100 100MB	$100	One cent
Iomega zip Drive 250 250MB	$170	Less than one cent
Imation SuperDisk 120 MB	$130	8 cents
Sony HiFD 200 MB	$200	Less than one cent
HARD DISK COMPLEMENTS
Castlewood ORB 2.2GB	$200	9 cents
Iomega Jaz Drive 1 GB 1 GB	$275-$300	25 cents
Iomega Jaz Drive 2 GB	$350	15-20 cents
OPTICAL DRIVES
CD-R 650MB	$200-$400	Less than one cent
CD-RW 650MB	$300-$500	Less than one cent
DVD-RAM 5.2GB	$500-$800	8 cents
Tape Drives	$400-several thousands	1-5 cents