World Backup Day is the time to secure your digital data.
The past couple of years have changed how the world works and now more than ever before, entire workforces are tied to their computers. This ends up poses a lot of challenges – especially for IT managers who look out for the safety and security of the data they manage. It’s World Backup Day once again and it’s a good time to rethink or start your backup strategy.
What is World Backup Day?
World Backup Day is a social movement designed to help people remember to create a backup strategy for themselves or their business. The day was started in 2011 by Ismail Jadun, a digital consultant, who saw a post on Reddit about a user who lost their hard drive. That user said that they wished someone had reminded them to make a backup. Jadun then thought having a global day for everyone to be reminded to make a backup of their data was a good idea. He chose March 31 because it’s the day before April Fool’s Day – and only a fool would forget to backup their data.
The concept spread quickly through social media and now WorldBackupDay.com is a place for people to learn the importance of backups as well as take the March 31st pledge to create a backup. The pledge reads, “I solemnly swear to backup my important documents and precious memories on World Backup Day, March 31st.”
Before you can create a backup, you must first define what that is. According to WorldBackupDay.com, a backup is defined as “…a copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents, and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer or smartphone), you keep a copy of everything somewhere safe.” World Backup Day urges people to create at least one backup on March 31st.
Types of Backups
While a backup is simply a copy of your data, it’s important to note that there are different types of backups. The most common types of backups are listed below. Many of these should be included within an overall backup strategy that you can start today on World Backup Day.
Full: This type of backup is a complete copy of an entire system from a specific point in time. A disk image of your computer’s hard drive would be an example of a Full backup.
Incremental: This is a more common type of backup method because it is simply a copy of data that has changed since a specific point in time. This is a step taken after a full backup is completed. Apple’s Time Machine goes through this process. It will first make a full backup of the data you request and then it will copy changes to that data over time. Several applications will complete this same type of backup process.
Differential: A differential backup saves data that has changed since the last full backup was made. This is different from an incremental backup because the incremental will save data that has been created or changed since the most recent backup of any type.
Mirror: A mirror backup is similar to a full backup in that you copy your source data. The difference here is that you don’t have specific file versions recorded. That means that data that was deleted since your previous mirror backup will also be included. This is not the most reliable backup type since deletions or modifications of the source data will also be present in the mirror backup.
There is one other type of backup that is referred to as unstructured**.** This method is unorganized and is typically just a repository of data dumps onto various media types. Unstructured backups may be made up of a stack of tapes, DVD-Rs, or external HDDs. I used to work for a company that managed data in this way because storing digital data was a new concept and we didn’t have any other options at the time.
What is the 3-2-1 Rule Method for backups?
As smart as having one backup of your system is, I feel it’s more important to have a backup strategy. That involves more than one backup method and a schedule to follow. World Backup Day is a good time to develop a strategy if you haven’t yet. One of the more popular backup strategy methods is referred to as the 3-2-1 Rule.
This method is defined as creating 3 copies of the data (primary and two backups), using 2 different storage media, and making 1 offsite copy. This is typically recognized as the safest possible option for securing digital data because it creates redundancy. It is more complicated than many people want to deal with, but businesses should adopt a strategy like this to ensure they can always access important files.
- 3 Copies of Data: This breaks down to be the original iteration of the data, which is usually what is on your computer’s hard drive, and then two additional backup copies that are kept separate from the original.
- 2 Different Storage Media Types: This is important because different media types store differently. For example, a mechanical HDD is going to wear out faster than a SSD is going to because it has moving parts.
- 1 Offsite Backup: This can be a couple of different options. One of the two backup copies on a physical media could be stored in a separate geographical location from your computer – a bank safety deposit box or a friend’s house, for example. The most modern method for an offsite backup is cloud-based storage, such as Backblaze, who is also a sponsor of World Backup Day.
Types of Backup Media
Backup media comes in many different forms these days and World Backup Day is a natural time to review them. The most popular media types are external hard drives – mechanical or solid-state. These are very easy and usually very affordable to provide to users along with their computer system. Solid State Drives (SSDs) are much more portable than Mechanical Hard Drives (HDD). HDDs have moving parts and data is being etched into the platters on the hard drive. Movements, while this process is ongoing, can damage the HDD and risk your data not being copied properly. There are many HDD options, but one of our favorites for backups is the MyBook Backup Hard Drive from Western Digital. It provides solid, stable data storage and it’s a very reliable device.
SSDs on the other hand are much more durable as they do not contain any moving parts. SSDs have a huge throughput and can transfer data up to 6Gbps. Higher-capacity SSDs can be more expensive than HDDs so they are better for smaller data volumes. Western Digital and SanDisk both offer great SSD options. SanDisk has more rugged SSDs while WD has the WD Discovery software as an option that helps users connect all their WD drives. It’s a nice ecosystem that WD has built and the SSD is a very reliable device.
Another type of backup media is cloud storage, which is most commonly used as an offsite backup method. There are many different cloud storage solutions out there and you want to consider how much you trust the provider to maintain privacy as well as data integrity. We recommend Backblaze as a cloud storage solution because they offer affordable, stable backup options for personal as well as business uses. The company also offers a 15-day free trial without any commitment.
Network Attached Storage devices, or NAS, are yet one more option for backup media. These devices are typically used for several systems on the same network as a server. This consists of a case that holds several HDDs or SSDs along with an operating system to control how data is organized. NAS devices are often arranged as a RAID (redundant array of inexpensive/independent disks) which provides data redundancy if a hard drive fails. One of the systems we recommend is from Synology. Their DiskStation series of NAS systems are set up to be customized per the users’ preferences.
When you determine what storage media you want to employ, make sure you consider the cost and security of your data.
Final Thoughts
Creating a backup strategy is not only important, but it’s an essential part of working with computers. On this World Backup Day, don’t just make a single backup – decide on how you want to organize your entire strategy. There are many options to go with, but if you start with the 3-2-1 concept and customize it to your specific needs, you will be on the right track. The website ready.gov also has some great information on IT Disaster Recover planning.
Visit WorldBackupDay.com to take the pledge and get information on the importance of data backups.