It's always a good idea to backup your data. Whether your computer is just for personal use or even if you're the administrator of a large-scale network, you likely have some data on your system that is worth keeping. In some cases, you might even depend on this data – losing it would be nothing short of devastating. 

However, the amount of backup utilities on the market today is overwhelming. And in case that wasn't enough, the amount of different backup methods is downright confusing. 

The traditional system backup is probably one of the most straightforward and simplest methods available. In this scenario, you only backup the files that are critical to your system's functionality. In the Microsoft Windows operating system, for example, this generally includes the files in your "Windows" directory and nothing else. 

System backups are ideal for personal and home computer users. Since most of your third-party apps, utilities, and games can be re-installed from their original discs or re-downloaded from the Internet, they don't need to be included in your regular backups. It helps save time and money in the long run. 

However, most home users do have personal files – such as digital photos, videos, music, and documents – that they'd like to preserve. As such, the system backup isn't enough. You'll need to make sure you backup all of your personal files, too. 

While traditional system backups are great for home users, enterprise and business users need something a little more complete – like a disk image. Sometimes known as a bare metal backup or bare metal restore, a disk image provides an identical copy of an entire disk or partition. The backup data is stored either at a local or remote site. In some cases, a secured copy is uploaded to the cloud. 

As you might expect, a disk image comes in handy in the event of an unexpected system failure or disaster. While it might take some time to complete a restoration, and your company might experience some amount of downtime as a result, you will be able to continue business as usual at some point in the future. Conversely, if your system crashes and there isn't a disk image available, the entire enterprise could be in jeopardy. 

It's also important to note that disk imaging usually involves data compression, too. Since it takes a lot of space to store a complete copy of your hard drive, the image is compressed to reduce its overall footprint.

Disk cloning is similar to disk imaging in the fact that it copies – or clones – the entire contents of a hard drive. Unlike disk imaging, however, the data on a cloned disk isn't compressed. This is the best method of recovery in the event of a sudden data loss, as you don't have to spend the time decompressing and copying each file. Instead, you simply swap out the failed drive for your cloned drive and you can be up and running in a matter of minutes.