“I solemnly swear to back up my important documents and precious memories on March 31.” That is the pledge for World Backup Day, an organization whose goal is to make sure your personal data is safe. It is a noble mission, and B&H would like to do our part to spread the message and help provide some resources so you can start backing up.
This page is neither officially supported nor endorsed by World Backup Day.
What Would You Do If You Lost Everything?
It’s a chilling question, and hopefully something most of you haven’t had to deal with, but it is important to think about. If you lost your phone, or your laptop, or a hard drive, would you be able to get back all your family photos, important schoolwork, or once-in-a-lifetime videos? If you perform proper backups, then you should feel a lot better in your day-to-day life. A laptop that won’t boot up will be a headache, but it won’t cost you anything more than time and, potentially, money.
We’re big proponents of the World Backup Day initiative, especially when you consider some of the distressing stats in the world. For example, did you know that 21% of people have never backed up their files? This means that at least one in five people could potentially lose all of their important digital files and data if something bad were to happen to their storage. Couple that statistic with the fact that 30% of all computers are already infected with data-corrupting malware and you can start to see the impending data disaster.
We support the initiative of World Backup Day, especially once you consider some of its stats. Reportedly, 30% of you have never backed up anything, one in every ten computers is infected with a virus each month, and 113 phones are lost or stolen every minute. Also, consider that 29% of disasters are caused by accident, so you might not have any control over whether you lose data.
Follow the 3-2-1 Rule
Luckily, there is an easy-to-understand method for keeping everything properly backed up and safe. It’s called the “3-2-1 rule.” You should have three copies of your data with the backups on two different forms of media and with one of these kept off-site. You can have a master, which is the data you are working from or constantly reading from, a local backup to an external hard drive, and then a third backup kept in a different location or via a cloud service.
The Tools of the Trade
Now that you’re familiar with 3-2-1 rule, it’s time to put that knowledge into practice and start backing up your data. To do that, you’re going to need the proper tools. Start with an external hard drive or SSD. Generally, these are the easiest storage devices to set up and use. There are multiple factors to consider when searching for the right storage device but, at the very least, you’re looking for a drive that is compatible with your current workflow (i.e., it can connect to your various devices) and offers enough storage to accommodate all of your data.
If you’re having trouble deciding which drive is right for you, be sure to check out our article on the best external hard drives and SSDs available today.
External hard drives and SSDs are great solutions for everyday use, but what if you’re looking for something a bit more robust than a conventional drive? In that case, you might want to consider RAID or NAS storage.
Both storage solutions offer their own set of advantages. RAID storage can be configured in multiple ways, allowing users to tailor its performance to fit their particular workflows. NAS, or Network Attached Storage, connects directly to your network, giving you direct access to all of your data. This is useful if you want to access files remotely, or from multiple devices in your network.
Despite its many benefits, NAS systems can be a little tricky to set up and use. If you’re thinking about NAS storage to back up your data, check out our guide on uprgrading your hard drive to a NAS system for some helpful pointers.
Finally, you should also consider using cloud storage to back up your data. Benefits of cloud storage include remote, anytime access and—because all of your data is stored off-site on a secured server—a greater degree of protection. Cloud services are widely available from companies like Apple and Google (and countless others). Finding the one that best suits your needs will take a little bit of research, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
Take the Pledge!
Now that you know how important it is to back up data, we hope you’ll join us on March 31 as we take the pledge to protect and preserve all of our important data and documents.
We want to know about your backup systems, so please drop by the Comments section, below, to share insights (or horror stories) on how and why you protect your data. And, if you need help getting set up yourself, be sure to ask questions below, contact our Sales Department via phone at 800.606.6969, or online chat.
3 Comments
All great points, but I would caution against purchasing the Gnarbox until the company gets their act together. I backed it as a Kickstarter (and received the unit plus two additional batteries), but now support is basically defunct. If you are willing to experiment with it or wish to pick up a used one for cheap, that's not an issue. However, considering it a professional tool without any support is irresponsible at best. With that said, I only use it to back up my cards in the field and don't use its mobile editing features. For this, it's an amazing solution.
Two things ! Who in their right mind would turn their "data" over to any of the four sites recommended, especially Google and Amazon??? Then know this, no data backup products actually back up you entire hard drive. For some unknown reason, even though any commercial software on your system was purchased by you or offered free,none of your software is put on the backup. This is true if you have your own external hatd drive such as My Book. I even had a computer store backup my PC and they lost software that I no longer had on a CD. In the case of Office which I purchased and still had the "key" Microsoft would not accept the key. They of Bill Gates now wanted me to rent Office for a hundred bucks a year. When they originally sold me Office it became my property because they provided a license and an access key to use it as long as I wanted without paying ransom. Of course I have no Microsoft products in my inventory.
Strange, I am using Office 2010 on my machine(s) loaded from the DVD's - that I still have - and they have been installed over the years on multiple physical devices. (I build my own PC's) I also have another copy that has been on two laptops. I do have a password safe where I store the keys, but without the DVD's I would have a difficult time "reloading" the software.
If you get rid of the CD/DVD that is your own fault not Microsoft's. And no you do not "own" your copy of Office, you have a license to load the software on the number of devices per the EUA. None of the software on your device was "purchased", you bought a license to use the software.