Being prepared in case of an emergency is essential. With natural disasters like hurricanes or floods, preparation (or lack thereof) can mean the difference between safety and harm. The same goes for your data and files.
The best way to prevent data loss is to back up all of your files and routinely update the backup. There are two ways to do this: locally on a hard drive, or remotely on a cloud-based server. If you’re backing up your business’s data, like a customer database, you should make sure you’ve backed up all the information you’d need to carry on day-to-day operations.
A local backup involves using an external hard drive to copy all of your files. This option can be a convenient solution, but if you lose or damage the external hard disk, it defeats the purpose of backing up your files in the first place because you need the physical drive to access them.
Remote backups, on the other hand, put your data in a safe, remote place. You can access your data or files any time over the cloud, and you can even back up entire servers if necessary. With a remote backup, you can access your data from any device, no matter where you are, as long as you can access the service’s website or platform.
One important thing to note is that a remote backup isn’t the same as services like Dropbox. While Dropbox is a cloud storage application, it’s best suited for storing files, documents and other media. A remote backup service can back up your entire system and its settings and many offer a terabyte or more for your backups.
No matter how you back up your data, always remember the 3-2-1 Method:
- Three: Different copies or versions of your data need to be backed up.
- Two: Types of media should be in use for any backups and not of the same type.
- One: Off-site backup has to be in play, so your data is in a separate location than what you’re backing up.
This method ensures there are multiple copies of your data in existence, should the worst happen and you need your data back right away. Having multiple different copies of your data in existence will help protect your files. Always be prepared and back up your files. You’ll be glad you did in the long run!