Don't be an April Fool... Backup today

Don’t be an April Fool… Backup today

In today’s digital age, where our lives are increasingly intertwined with technology, protecting our valuable information has become more crucial than ever. Many valuable memories, documents, photos, videos, projects, and personal files can be lost due to accidents, hardware failures, viruses, or cyberattacks. This is why having regular backups is so important.

Don’t be an April Fool. Backup your data on World Backup Day on the 31st March.

What is a backup?

A backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data – for example family photos, videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place, leaving it open to loss, theft or corruption, a copy is taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original following data loss.

Losing your files is way more common than you’d think

One small incident or malfunction could wipe all your precious memories in one swipe. When was the last time you printed photos? Last month? Last year? Maybe just a couple of selected ones but the rest are left on the phone they were taken on. Imagine the phone gets lost and there was no cloud backup? Imagine how easy it is to lose a single tiny memory card containing thousands of photos. Keep these precious moments safe by backing them all up, in particular following the 3-2-1 backup rule. It could be what keeps your memories safe for years to come.

What’s the best practice for backing up?

The gold standard for backing up is to follow the 3-2-1 backup rule:

HAVE AT LEAST THREE COPIES OF YOUR DATA: In addition to your primary data, you should also have at least two more backups, which will help significantly reduce the risk
of losing data. These could be physical and / or cloud solutions.
STORE THE COPIES ON AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEDIA: It is best practice to keep copies of your data on at least two different storage types, such as internal hard disk drives AND removable storage media (tapes, external hard drives, USB
drives, Memory cards, CDs, DVDs.)
KEEP AT LEAST ONE OFFSITE BACKUP COPY: It’s obvious really, but it’s not a good idea to keep your external storage device in the same room as your production storage.
If there is a fire, flood or burglary – you would lose all of your data.

Select the right type of storage for the job

Every day we create important documents, take pictures, videos, music and much more – some of these you may need for a business presentation next day, or they can be memories that you have created with your family and friends which you want to keep forever. The key when backing up your files is to select the right type of storage for the right job. We have put together an overview of different storage types to help you backup your data in the most effective and efficient way.

USB Drives & Memory Cards: Due to their small physical size and ease of use, USB Drives and Memory Cards are the best devices for moving data from one location to another and also for temporary storage. However with their limited capacities and data lifetime expectations of only 5-10 years, they are not recommended for backup or archiving.
Blank Disks & Disk Writers: Optical Media is the ideal choice for long term Disc Writers archiving of important documents, pictures or videos – in fact any files that you need to store safely and cannot afford to lose. Combined with one of Verbatim’s slim and compact External Disc Drives, you can easily plug in and create long-term backups of all your essential files.
Solid State Drives (SSDs): SSDs, like USBs, utilise flash storage making them fast, durable, compact and energy efficient and available at higher capacities. SSDs are also better at handling drops, shocks and everyday wear and tear, making them less prone to experience data loss and suitable for larger, day-to-day, moveable backups.