If you have ever lost data, you know how painful this is. I have been working with computers since decades now and learned the pains of data loss early on.

How you might lose your data

I have ranked my data loss by occurrences and how I think it's more likely that you will lose your files.

  1. Overwriting or deleting your files
  2. Hardware damage
  3. Virus and Ransomware
  4. Theft
By far the most times I made an own mistake which lead to loosing data

Every time you overwrite files or drives by mistake, there are usually ways to recover them. If you are lucky, you might even restore them. But you will have to invest a decent amount of time and stress until the job is done.

Have multiple Backup systems to prevent data loss

Managing and keeping your data got very easy in the times of cloud storage and built in backup solutions for Windows and Mac.

Versioning and backup tools got so easy to use that there is no excuse to ever lose data again

I am using following levels of backup solutions to tackle different kind of data loss risks. It works so great for me that I have not lost any data for the last decade.

1. External hard drive attached to your computer

I am using the built-in backup systems, such as the Time Machine from the Mac and File History from Windows.

Advantages:

  • Prevents data loss by automatic versioning of files (you can restore older versions of files easily)
  • Restore your machine in case of a hardware failure
  • Fast, ideal for video files

This does not protect you from:

  • Theft
  • A virus or ransomware might encrypt or damage your attached device as well and your data is lost

2. Swap a second external backup drive

I recommend you to have a second drive so that you can swap it with your attached backup drive. Place one of them at a secure location and do not have both of them with you. Rotate them every few weeks and do not connect them at the same time.

Advantages:

  • Prevents data loss by theft
  • Restore your machine in case of a hardware failure and Ransomware

This does not protect you from:

  • Losing data between the backups

3. Use a cloud storage

I love how easy it is to work with files these days. Almost any cloud storage provider provide apps and background sync tools to make working with data as smooth as possible.

Make sure that your files will be versioned when you change them. You can check this if you log in to the web interface, then select a file and look for previous versions in the menu. When you change a file in the future, a copy of the old version will be hold for you in the background, and you can restore them in case you made an own error.

Advantages:

Cons:

  • Might be slow for large files

These three stages of backup systems keep my data safe and easy to work with.

Happy data saving 💾