Do you know 31th March is the World Backup Day?
I do noticed many of my friends DO NOT BACKUP!
And, i did backup most of my important files.
Since last time i get robbed, Im so greatful that day i didnt bring my laptop along with me, if i did that, all my assignments will be gone.
Today, different stories. I backed up all my important work, and even if my laptop bricked (which i do think there is a possibilities that happening in near future), or stolen, i still can get my data when im at another computer, in fact, any computer.
Since its World Backup Day, lets talk about some backup.
I learnt a good rules of thumb of backing up your data
The 3-2-1 rule!
So what is 3-2-1 rule?
3 backup copies of anything.
2 different storage media.
1 offsite storage site.
Why 3 copies
The reason for that is because, sometimes in the process of backing up, weird things do happened. Sometimes the backup failed and you didnt noticed that, sometimes your backup data corrupted, or sometimes you just lost one of your backup copies!
Anything can happened even if you backed up you data. One isnt enough, 3 is the sweet number.
Why 2 different storage media
Because, storage media do changes over time. Like CD is no longer as popular, many people uses DVD or soon BluRay media to store their files. And you must understand, media like CD or DVD do degrade or have a lifespan. If you keep all your backup only on CD, when you want your data back, only you discover, there is no more CD reader anywhere in your house! So how? Different storage media.
Online is a good media in my opinion. Since someone will always take care of your data, but still, the 3-2-1 rule applies. Because there is possibilities that one company where you store your online backup is going to close down one day.
Why do offsite backup?
Lets say you make 10 copies of your backup, store it in your house. When fire or tsunami come, gone lah! So store one copy of your backup somewhere, again, Online backup is a good solution for that, since most of the backup service do store redundant data on their side.
So after talking about the 3-2-1 idea, lets see How to backup?
Or i will talk about
How do i do my backup?
This is the service that i uses mainly to backup and sync my folders and files across my computer. And (secret), i uses dropbox to add torrents that i wanted to download to my home pc.
When you sign up dropbox, you will get 2GB. Then if you get your friends to sign up using your referal links, you will get quite a lot of space. My account now has 19GB of spaces, and im on my way to filling them up.
If you need more, there is a 50GB upgrade or 100GB upgrade, which is quite cheap IMO.
Best part of dropbox is, its all automatic, I dont need to care about is my file backed up ah?
I just save my file into the folders that connected to dropbox, dropbox will upload it automatically when there is internet access available.
BUT IMPORTANT: Always make sure your file is backed up before you delete the original version. Apply the 3-2-1 rule. Because i had experience once that the pngs that i put in dropbox ended up getting corrupted, but thats only once, not often. So just be caution.
(NOTE: at the portion above contains my dropbox referral link, but i dont think its still space for my account to grow. If you want me to put YOUR dropbox referral links in the post, send me a twitter DM.
If you dont like using a referral link, just click here or go to dropbox.com)
DVD Media
DVD media is still the way to go if you want to backup your files. I dont uses DVD to do backup so much but instead i uses it to do archiving. And if you do plan to it on DVD, and the backup are meant to keep for a long time, make sure you dont uses those 20 cents one piece DVD. Uses 1st class media while possible. The best and easiest to get in market is Mitsubishi DVDR.Its all over lowyat. But beware of fake media too. You can learn a lot by searching Google, Forums, or Lowyat etc.
External HDD/Pendrive/Flash Drive
This is the best way to move your files around, and also a good way to backing it up! Keep one copy of your files on a external HDD, when your PC died, or your internal hard drive died, you still have a copy of everything.
External HDD is best used to act as a backup or mirror of your internal HDD. So you wont lose everything. HDD is getting cheaper and cheaper, so its the best way to backup big chuck of data.
Remember HDD life span is around 3 – 5 years. Do check your HDD and make sure its healthy.
More online backup solution
Here i listed down some of the good services that you can use to backup your files online.
Conclusion
Use any method you want, but DO BACKUP!
Happy World Backup Day and Happy Doing your Backup!
joshuatly2011
