Simply put, the more important the data
the more often you should back up
the more back up copies you should have.
EXAMPLES:
Pictures of my daily Wordle results
Back up once a quarter
One copy on a thumb drive is enough.
QuickBooks back ups for my company
Back up every 2 times I close the program
Keep a copy on my external hard drive and a copy on Dropbox
Payroll records
Back up after each payroll period
Keep a copy on my external hard drive and a copy on Dropbox
Not only can your hard drive go bad, your external hard drive, thumb drive or DVD can also go bad. So important data needs to be backed up in multiple places. For years, when the standard back up method was to a DVD, I kept one copy in my office and another copy in the trunk of my car. I figured the office and the car wouldn’t be destroyed at the same time!!
Now with online options, it’s even easier.
Thumb Drive
Large thumb drives allow you to back up all of your files or a major project quickly. The process is manual which means you have to discipline yourself to do the back ups.
External Hard Drive
BBBS can assist you with purchasing and configuring an external hard drive that sits in your office and automatically backs up your entire hard drive. If the computer hard drive goes, you can download everything you need from the external hard drive.
Online Back Up Services
There are multiple options for you. BBBS can assist you in choosing the best service and help you configure the settings.
- One Drive is part of your Microsoft 365 account.
- Drive is part of your Google account.
- Dropbox is my favorite but there are many Software-As-A-Service (Saas) companies.