How to Backup Your Data
By Distributel
Nobody thinks backing up their data is a big deal or all that important until they’re sitting at a computer repair shop listening to a technician explain that the past six months of data are gone forever. Unrecoverable. Too bad, so sad.
Except you, dear reader. If you’re reading this and you don’t back up your data, how about you do yourself a favour and don’t end up like the upset person in the example above. Just start backing up your data. Here’s how. Oh, and if you’re reading this and you already back up your data, how about you passive-aggressively send this to someone who doesn’t?
Cloud Backups
The easiest way to back up your device is on the cloud. With a cloud backup, basically an entire copy of your machine lives on a company’s server somewhere.
A cloud backup has a number of advantages. You can set it up such that your device backs up constantly or, in order to save data, only when it’s connected to Wi-Fi. Once set up, you don’t really have to think about it. Some services offer you the ability to look through old copies of your machine, so that if you delete a file off your computer you can look through your cloud backup and get the file back, even if it’s been gone for months. Also, the server storing your data is likely to be someplace far away from you, so if the thing that causes you to lose your data is local to you (say, you have a house fire), you don’t have to worry about your backed-up data.
There are some downsides to cloud backups. First, there is usually a monthly fee. Also, some people aren’t comfortable with the idea of their data living in someone else’s server. Also, it’s important to remember that cloud services are just like any other digital service provider and can therefore be targets of ransomware and hacking. With that said, the risk is low.
Some examples of cloud backups include iCloud, Backblaze, IDrive, Acronis, and Carbonite.
External Hard Drive Backups
Another solution is to back up your device to an external hard drive. You can buy a 1 TB external hard drive for between $100 and $200. From there, it’s a simple matter of installing software to manage your backups. On a Mac, this is done with Time Machine. On a Windows device, you can buy a program such as R-Drive Image, Retrospect Solo, or Fbackup. Once installed, your device will back up to your external hard drive and you’ll always have a copy of your machine just in case anything bad happens to your physical device.
Some advantages to an external hard drive backup are that you always control your data, your data won’t be vulnerable to something that might threaten a cloud backup such as a ransomware attack, and lower monthly costs (although the upfront cost is obviously more).
Which Is Right For You?
Both options are good. The real question is, what are you most comfortable with? Do you want to pay a monthly fee? Do you want another physical hard drive to care about? How much data lives on your device and how important is it to you? Keep in mind, if you really want, you can have both an external hard drive backup and a cloud backup. After all, it never hurts to be prepared.