The 3-2-1 backup rule, in plain English
Hard drives fail, laptops get stolen and ransomware happens. Here is the simple rule that means you never lose what matters.
Every week someone asks me to rescue photos from a drive that has died. Sometimes I can. Sometimes nobody can. A good backup turns a disaster into a minor annoyance.
The rule
- 3 copies of anything important (the original plus two backups)
- 2 different kinds of storage (say, your computer and an external drive)
- 1 copy somewhere else (the cloud, or a drive at work or a family member's house)
What that looks like at home
- Your files live on your computer.
- An external drive backs them up automatically: File History on Windows or Time Machine on a Mac.
- A cloud service (OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive or Backblaze) keeps a copy off-site.
Test it
A backup you've never restored from is a guess. Once in a while, try opening a file from your backup. If it works, you're covered.
Not sure your backups are working? Get in touch and I'll check them for you.
Questions about this? I'm happy to help.
Ask Brad