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#4
3 copies of anything important. 2 different kinds of storage. 1 copy somewhere else entirely (not your house).
That's the whole rule. Here's how a normal person actually does it this weekend:
Two traps to avoid:
Total cost: one external drive (about the price of two pizzas) and an hour of setup. The people who lose everything always say "I meant to get around to it."
That's the whole rule. Here's how a normal person actually does it this weekend:
- Copy 1: your computer, as-is. This is the one you already have.
- Copy 2: an external drive. Plug it in and turn on the built-in backup (Windows: Settings, then Backup, then File History — Mac: Time Machine). Let it run overnight once, then weekly.
- Copy 3: the cloud. The free tier of Google Drive, iCloud or OneDrive covers documents and photos for most people. Turn on auto-upload for your phone's camera roll — that's the thing people lose most.
Two traps to avoid:
- A backup you never test is a rumor. Once a month, restore one random file and open it.
- Ransomware and house fires don't care about your desk drawer. That's why copy 3 lives offsite.
Total cost: one external drive (about the price of two pizzas) and an hour of setup. The people who lose everything always say "I meant to get around to it."