Backup The Right Way

On August 10 I wrote an article about how relying exclusively on cloud drive services such as Dropbox and Skydrive for backing up your files can be dangerous. This is because if a file becomes corrupted it will replicate to all of your physical locations where the cloud drive service is installed as well as the cloud itself.

Good old fashion backups are still necessary and should be taken seriously. One of the best ways to remember how to back up your images safely is to use the 3-2-1 rule.

I recommend storing 3 copies of any important file (a primary and two backups).

I recommend having the files on 2 different media types (such as an external hard drive and USB media), to protect against different types of problems. You can accomplish this simply by backing your files up to 2 separate external drives.

1 copy should be stored offsite (or at least offline). There are many free services so there is no excuse. I have written articles and discussed many of these free services in our training classes.

In a future article I will discuss some examples of the reasons you need to back-up such as viruses, device failure, theft and disasters.