A backup that lives inside the same computer is not a backup. Neither is a backup that has never been tested.
It is the dullest subject in home computing, and the only one that really decides whether an incident is an annoyance or a disaster. The good news : a simple method is more than enough for a household.
It comes down to three numbers : three copies of your data, on two different media, with one away from home or offline.
In practical terms, for a household : the files on the computer, a copy on an external drive plugged in from time to time, and an online space. That covers the three scenarios that lose data - hardware failure, human error, and fire or theft.
Twice a year, pick three or four files from your backup at random and actually open them : a document, an old photo, something important. Many people discover at the worst possible moment that their backup had been empty for months, or that it did not hold what they thought.
Not everything, and that is what makes it manageable. Software can be reinstalled, Windows can be reinstalled. What is irreplaceable :
The best backup is the one you will actually do. For most households it looks like this : an online space for everyday documents, with version history turned on ; an external drive plugged in once a month for a full copy, then put away somewhere other than the desk ; and a reminder in the calendar, because without a reminder nobody does it.
Scheduled automatic backups are better than manual ones, on one condition : checking now and then that they really are running.
For a business, the bar rises : a daily backup, at least one copy off the premises, and above all a real restore test. What matters is not owning a backup, but knowing how long it takes to get trading again.
We set up a backup that fits how you work, explain how to check it, and test the restore in front of you. It is probably the least spectacular thing we do, and the most useful. See also data recovery, for when people come to it too late.
It makes a good third copy, but depends on an account and a connection. A physical medium in your own hands is still useful, particularly for large volumes of photos and video.
It depends what you are willing to lose. A monthly backup means losing at most a month of work : it is for each person to judge whether that is acceptable.
Five to eight years for a lightly used mechanical drive. A backup medium is not eternal and has to be replaced, which almost everyone forgets.
Would you rather we took care of it ? See our automatic backup setup service, in Lyon and across the Rhone.
We set it up and test the restore in front of you.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
