To Back Up, Or Not to Back Up, That is the Question

To backup or not really isn’t the question. Every-one should have at least two different forms of backup. It doesn’t matter whether it’s for personal usage or business usage. Failure to properly backup critical files could lead to catastrophe.

I remember typing a 15-page paper for a college assignment. I had already written the paper by hand but as I was typing, I started adding some great thoughts and insertions into it. The creative juices were flowing and I was literally in the zone! As I remember it, this paper was some of my best work and worthy of an award! Well, the power in my dormitory went out for 5 seconds. My desktop computer also lost power for 5 seconds. And in the blink of an eye, all of that work was lost. I was in panic mode. Surely some of that document was saved? I scrambled and tried to recover the document but to no avail. It was gone. Sure, I still had the hand written paper but all of those special insertions that changed my paper from “good to great” had been lost. I changed the settings in my Microsoft Word application to auto save my files every 5 minutes. I’ll never forget that feeling that I had so many years ago and it lingers in the back of my mind when I’m working on my equipment or my customers.

Let me share a few tips that might help you along your way.

I’ve been in the technology space for quite some time. I’ve heard countless stories about lost data. It’s equivalent to someone taking something from you. A stolen car, a home invasion, a break in. I don’t want to seem overly dramatic but imagine that you have 20 years of your children’s pictures in your computer. Imagine that you have all of your business financials, your business plan, employee records. Close your eyes and think of all of the PeeWee League games, the family reunions, the AAU Tournaments, the birthday celebrations and all of the other unforgettable Kodak moments that are tucked away on your cell phone, laptop or your desktop computer. Imagine that one day your hard drive decides that it’s tired and doesn’t want to work anymore. Imagine that your equipment has been compromised and your data is encrypted or locked due to Ransomware. If only you had a crystal ball and you knew some actions to take before the loss.

Well, if none of the aforementioned issues have occurred and you’ve been blessed to avoid such things, you’ve been extremely lucky. I still encourage you to create a backup plan. There are so many different backup solutions and strategies that we could discuss them for days, but let’s start with a few of the simplest and then I’ll discuss a few more complex solutions.

Imagine that your house was on fire. However, you had 30 minutes to safely retrieve a few items. Think about what you would retrieve in such a short amount of time. Ok, you would gather some family photos, important legal documents, possibly some jewelry, etc. Many of those items are irreplaceable or would be very difficult or time consuming to replace.

You wouldn’t waste your time moving a couch, a television or a stove. Those items can be easily replaced.

I mention these things so that while you’re working on a backup solution, you also create a prioritized list of items that need to be backed up. Such items may include digital photos, tax returns, legal documents, videos, etc. I’ve even emailed myself certain items to keep them accessible.

You probably wouldn’t have to backup your operating system (Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS). You could avoid backing up other software applications such as Adobe Reader, Internet Security, Microsoft Office, and the like. If you experience a hard drive mechanical failure or a computer equipment malfunction, those items can easily be re-installed.

Now that you’ve inventoried the items that you want to backup, we will need to determine how much storage space is required for those items. Once you determine storage requirements, you need to decide if you will use a cloud-based backup and/or a storage device.

Examples of a cloud based backup would be some such as Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive or Dropbox. There are several free and fee-based cloud solutions.

Examples of storage devices include a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, tape backup drives, CD and DVD recordable drives. Please keep in mind that there are pros and cons to using both cloud based and hardware based backup solutions. That’s why I always recommend using several different solutions. It gives you options and allows for multiple recovery plans.

The three most common types of backups are full, incremental, and differential. There are many more methods but remember that this is supposed to be an easy byte!

1. Full backup is the most utilized backup strategy. It allows for the entire drive or data set to get backed up.

2. Incremental backups initially copy the entire data set. On the next scheduled backup, it copies only the data that is new or has been changed since the previous backup event.

3. Differential backup also initially copies the entire data set, but on the next scheduled backup, it compares the original data set with the new data set and only copies the data that is different.

Keep in mind that your operating system usually has a pre-installed backup program. There are also many vendors that offer free and paid products. Backup software applications track and timestamp backup operations. This tracking process allows for a smart backup that saves time and valuable storage space.

Technology is here to help us preserve priceless moments and documents but only if we utilize those tools. Data recovery may be an option after a drive fails, but it is expensive and there’s no guarantee that your data can be recovered. Do yourself a favor and create a backup strategy for yourself, your family and/or your business. Trust me, it’ll be worth the investment!

Remember:

• Password protect personal/business sensitive files when backing up in the cloud.

• Store backup drives off-site if possible. (If you have water or fire damage at your home or place of business, do you want your back drives to suffer the same fate as your computers?)

• Create a backup calendar and set reminders using your phone as a notification alarm.

• Date all of your backup drives and cloud-based folders.