Running out of Storage Space

No room on the hard drive? Turn to new technology. Just as you can't be too thin or too rich, computer hard disks where software applications and data are stored can't be too large or too fast. Many CPAs are discovering that although their hard disks may have seemed quite adequate when first bought, now those same disks are bulging at the seams--a condition that could lead to a computer crash. This article offers options on how to augment that limited storage space, create a convenient way to store more data--without resorting to the installation of a larger hard disk--and provide a more flexible medium for backups and for making the data more portable so they can be shared with colleagues and clients. This technology also can be used to augment local area network (LAN) servers. In the late 1970s, when personal computers were just catching on, the standard 10megabyte (Mb) hard disks were sufficient to store most major applications, with ample room for data. In the ensuing years, as space demands grew, mostly because of the Windows environment, the hard disk standard in most new computers grew apace and it currently is about 1 gigabyte (Gb). But with programs and files continuing to get fatter, even that is not large enough. For example, the new Windows 95 operating system itself needs nearly 25 Mb of space and a typical suite of applications takes up another 75 Mb or so. Not only are applications becoming more capacious but working files are getting fatter, too. Many today are loaded with graphics-heavy formatting, and some users even add sound and video clips to enhance their presentations. As a result, many users now demand hard disks of 2 or even 4 Gb. But for some, even hard disks with several gigabytes aren't enough. International Data Corp., market researchers, recognizing the strong demand for more storage space, forecasts that the market will grow 98% a year through the year 2000. So what's a CPA who is squeezed for space to do? ELBOW ROOM As it turns out, there are many options--so many, in fact, that they exceed the scope of this article. As a result, we cover only the mainstream technologies that accountants are most likely to use now or in the immediate future. All of the products mentioned are available at local software or hardware retailers. Aside from tips on solving the storage problem, the single most important insight to garner from this article is that lack of storage space should no longer be a problem, and your work should not be hampered by the size of your computer's hard disk. Some of the auxiliary storage devices can do more than just provide a convenient place to pack away data. Because some are random-access storage mediums, using the same technology as your hard disk, applications stored on them can be run directly on your computer--with no need to first download them onto your hard disk, as would be necessary with tape storage. So now, instead of working on a cramped hard disk and risking a disk crash, you can store infrequently used programs on portable storage mediums and, when you need to run a program, just plug in the auxiliary drive, load the appropriate cartridge and you're in business. Before considering the available hardware solutions, let's first examine how to solve the storage problem using software, which is less costly and more convenient in some applications. Data compression. There are a handful of programs on the market that can compress data files and application programs by as much as 50%. A 20-Mb file, for example, will take only about 10 Mb of space on your hard disk. These programs all work in essentially the same way: They look for redundant instructions in the software application, index that code and then replace a long programming code with a short index code. All this is done on the fly, which means the zipping (compressing) and unzipping (uncompressing) are done automatically and behind the scenes. …