Today is World Backup Day. As someone who deals with large amounts of data, mostly large photos that are incredibly meaningful to my clients and impossible to replicate, backup is critical. As any credible professional photographer should, I have multiple backup solutions that includes on- and off-site storage of critical data. Most people don’t have such intense data storage needs, but everyone should have a backup plan for anything you would be upset about losing.
World Backup Day is a great reminder to review your plans and check old data that is stored on external drives or discs. Technology changes rapidly, so it’s always a good idea to transfer old data to newer, more stable storage media. Remember floppy disks?
A rock-solid backup plan includes more than just a local copy of your files. If you have a backup drive sitting next to your main computer, you are still vulnerable to losing everything in the event of a theft, fire, disaster, etc. Storing backups off-site increases the likelihood that you can recover quickly from the unthinkable. The good news is that there are a number of easy, affordable services you can use.
Some popular cloud services:
Automated computer backup:
- Backblaze (affiliate link) – Backblaze is incredibly affordable for the peace of mind it gives. Unlimited, continuous backup to the cloud that you don’t have to think about for just $5/month.
- Crashplan
I hope this reminder spurs you to review your backup strategy. If you have anything to share regarding backup strategies, please leave a comment!
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