Following the 3-2-1 rule of backups

Have you or someone you know lost data before? It can be troubling at best, and cost time, effort or precious memories which suddenly become lost forever.

So the question is:

When is the best time to implement a strong backup strategy?

• Now
• A week from now
• A month from now
• After you have lost data.

The correct answer is Now (or as soon as possible).

So what exactly is the 3-2-1 rule and what does it mean?

1. Have three total copies of your data
2. Have two local copies of your data on different media (not on the same drive, ideally not even in the same device)
3. Have at least one off-site copy, in case disaster strikes your home or office.

The truth is, there are probably over 100 different apps for WIndows that will help you with this, and several options on Mac, including TIme Machine, which is built into the operating system. These apps range from free to several thousands of dollars.

What’s the best backup solution on site?

Since most people in the home or office now have gigabit or better local area networks (LAN), it makes sense to setup a network file server and copy backups to it, using one of the many software solutions. Stan Technology can help you set this up in no time flat. If you want to establish a NAS (network attached storage) utilizing RAID (redundant array of independent disks), unRAID, or TrueNAS CORE, etc, we can supply the hardware and manage the setup for you. If you have a computer on your network you’re looking to replace, we can even repurpose that as a file server by adding drives and re-installing with a NAS-optimized system such as unRAID or TrueNAS (formerly FreeNAS).

As for off-site solutions, depending on the amount of data and devices being backed up, there are many solutions. Some start at about $10 a month and can go up quite a bit depending on the amount of data.

By choosing Stan Technology for offsite or cloud backups, we will work with you to ensure files are encrypted before leaving your network. This eliminates the possibility of data being intercepted after it leaves your network.