For fire and theft, you really have to move data off-site
www.ibackup.com offers a reasonable service that automatically copies all your new (edited) data to secure servers in San Diego. You can set it to back up every month, every week or every night. You can encrypt the data, of course. Don says he can locate an old file in San Diego faster than he can shuffle through his drawers, search through the discs and locate a file that is 14 inches from his knee.
Wireless card for your laptop computer
Even with all the iron in a typical shop, these things seem to really work! A local job shop installed 802.11b Wi-Fi cards in 7 new laptops recently, and the results were outstanding. Every machinist can work on his next G-ZERO source program while standing or sitting near the CNC.
Item: Wi-Fi card (802.11b or a or g)
Advantages: No wires to trip over. All source data stored on a central (easy to backup) disk drive.
Potential Problems: Could grow legs and walk away.
Parametric Programming for CNC Machine Tools and Touch Probes
"Learn how the simplicity of parametric programming can reduce errors, improve machine efficiency and streamline costly programming time!"
Publisher: Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Author: M. Lynch
Description: 450 pages - hardcover - 1997.