The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy
The necessity of backups is well known. Yet, they are often neglected in everyday life. The good news: Data backup can be fully automated. The 3-2-1 backup strategy offers a simple, yet effective way to prevent data loss. This brief introduction shows how digital information can be protected with minimal effort. Once automatic backups are active, you only need to regularly ensure that no errors occurred during the backup process.
The Rule
3
You always have three copies of your important data. This includes the original data plus two backup copies. This approach minimizes the risk of data loss, as it is unlikely that all three copies will be damaged or lost at the same time.
2
The second component of the rule states that you should store your data on two different types of media. This could be an internal and an external hard drive, a USB stick, or even a cloud storage solution. The reason for this diversification is that different storage media are subject to different risks. For instance, physical damage such as a fire or flood can destroy local devices, while cloud storage may be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
1
The number 1 refers to keeping one of the backup copies at a different location. This could be another physical location, like an office or a relative's house, or even online storage. The aim here is to protect against local disasters that could simultaneously destroy all local copies of your data. By geographically separating your data, you safeguard against regional disasters such as earthquakes, floods, or fires.
Classic Version
Original data locally
This is the working copy with which you work. The two backup copies are made from these data.
Backup copy locally
For the first copy of the original data, you can activate Time Machine on macOS. It backs up the data hourly on an external hard drive of your choice. For a desktop Mac, the backup can be stored on an external hard drive.
For mobile MacBooks, a solution over Wi-Fi is highly recommended. It is more reliable than having to always remember connecting a hard drive to make your backup copies.
Backup copy Cloud
Strato HiDrive or Dropbox Backup offer GDPR compliant, automated solutions to create a backup in their cloud.
iCloud Drive is not a backup. Once you delete or modify a file, the old data cannot be restored.
Backup for the MacBook
Mobile means exposed
A notebook is subject to entirely different risks than a desktop that sits protected in a fixed spot. It travels along and lies out in the open on changing tables: the coffee that spills into the keyboard, the fall off the table, the unwatched grab at the café. Such mishaps can strike the device at any time and usually suddenly – and often they hit the device and the data at once.
Where does the backup happen?
A local backup only runs where a backup target is set up and the Mac is connected to it – usually at a fixed workplace. But a MacBook works in several locations (the office, on the go, at home); as soon as it leaves the spot with the backup target, the backup pauses. And whoever sets up a target in two places ends up with two incomplete, diverging states instead of one complete backup. A drive you have to plug in is also easily forgotten – only what runs automatically and converges in one place is reliable.
The copy that travels with you
That is why, for notebooks, the "1" of the rule – the off-site copy – is the decisive part: an offsite or cloud backup that runs automatically as soon as there is an internet connection – no matter where you are. No cable, no remembering, and a single, always up-to-date state instead of several partial copies. Important working data such as invoices is best kept in a cloud folder with a version history – this way the off-site copy is created on its own.
Version with Two or More Computers
Original data in the cloud
Here, the working copies are directly in a cloud folder on your computer. Thus, every time you save, they are also uploaded to the server of your cloud provider and to all other computers that are connected to the cloud.
Tip: Choose a cloud provider that offers a version history, so you can restore older versions of a file. e.g., Dropbox - iCloud does not offer this feature. A detailed comparison of retention windows across all major cloud sync services is in our cloud sync version history comparison.
Backup copy locally
Here, too, Time Machine is used for local backup. Ideally, this is done by a desktop Mac that is never fully turned off, and that synchronizes the shared cloud folder on all connected devices.
Advantage
If you primarily work mobile and on the go, you always have a copy in the company and in the cloud – assuming an internet connection is available. This is practical even for longer stays away from the company location.
Disadvantage
Less suitable for working with very large files.