3-2-1 Rule of Data Backup

3-2-1 Rule of Data Backup

It is always a good idea to back up your data. It’s a great idea to have multiple backups. The best way to do this is to follow the 3-2-1 rule. Three copies of your data. Two of those copies are on different media. One copy stored off site, such as the Cloud.

Let’s assume the unfortunate happened, your computer got corrupted and messed up your data. The easy fix would be to grab your backup drive and restore your computer from the last save point. But what if that drive was damaged? Luckily you still got two other backup options.

With any luck you have a secondary external drive you can restore from, or you have yourself a home network such as a Nas to store your data. Either one of these options will work just fine as your two different media. Keep in mind that if you have a backup on a hard disk drive (HDD) it may take a bit to restore your computer as HDDs read and write slower than SSDs and NVMes.

If for some reason both your external media fail, you can resort to the backup that is saved offsite. Most people will have a backup to the Cloud, usually through Google or Apple, but depending on how much data you have you’ll have to pay for such features. Another option for storing data offsite is with a trusted family member, either using their home network with permission or physically storing a physical drive there.