Backing Up Your System - External Storage and the 3, 2, 1 Method

External storage, or data storage outside of a computer device, is an exceptional way to keep your data safe from disaster. This type of storage is a pre-emptive measure we take in order to protect ourselves from outside threats. External storage can include external hard drives, CDs, SSDs, USB sticks, SD cards and more.

Typically, external storage is great for moving software or data from one machine to another, but did you know it's also great for creating a copy of your computer? This external copy of your computer is called a backup. The 3, 2, 1 Method is when you create 3 backups, 2 that are different formats (like SSD vs USB stick or CD vs external hard drive), and at least 1 that you take off-site.

As an example, I have 3 backups; 2 on USBs, 1 in a cloud storage, and one of the two USBs come with me everywhere I go. In a disaster, like a fire or tornado, cloud storage is extremely beneficial - but not every cloud storage is reliable. It's generally recommended to make backups every three months. You could probably go longer, but the more current your backup is, the less you'll lose in the event of a hardware or software failure.

Mac Backup

MacOS and Apple are usually pretty simple. Unfortunately, this rule doesn’t apply to external drive backups. The big reason is that Apple wants you to backup your data to iCloud for a fee! By buying an external hard drive or USB stick, you only pay once for your backup instead of "subscription-based" services draining your bank.

Here are the steps to backup a MacOS desktop/laptop device:

Connect your new drive to your Mac via the USB port. Ensure the drive is EMPTY of important information the first time you create a backup.
Click the magnifying glass at the top-right of your desktop and type Disk Utility.
On the left, you’ll see a directory of connected drives. Be sure to select your new drive, and then select Erase from the top bar of the Disk Utility app.
Select Mac OS Extended format (Journaled) and then confirm the erase. If you wish, you can encrypt this drive as you format it, which locks your data behind a password. Your new drive will be wiped and formatted to be compatible with Time Machine backups.
Open up your Apple Menu at the top-left of your desktop.
Select System Preferences and hit Time Machine.
You’ll be asked to select your Time Machine Disk. Select the drive you just formatted. If you ticked the encrypt button during the formatting stage, you’ll be asked to re-enter your password at this point.
Mac will now manage data backups for you, periodically sending a mirror of your hard drive across to your external drive. Should you ever need to retrieve files (or restore your whole system in case of catastrophic hard drive failure) Time Machine will handle your data retrieval for you.

One thing to note: this is a perfectly fine solution for keeping your data safe, except that you need to keep this drive connected to your machine in order for the dynamic backup process to work. If you want to keep your data safe from theft, you might want to consider an additional external drive to which you periodically copy your most valuable files. This one you can store separately from your computer, effectively covering all your bases in the 3, 2, 1 Method.

Windows Backup

First up, be aware that Windows PC owners also have cloud backup solutions they may like to consider in parallel with an external backup option. Google Drive and SkyDrive are among the most widely used in the Windows PC world, and they’re an acceptable solution if you don’t mind cloud and if you don’t mind a subscription service.

Here are the steps to backup a WindowsOS desktop/laptop device:

Connect your new drive via the USB port.
Open your Control Panel. The easiest way to do this is by going into your system-wide search bar at the bottom-left and typing Control Panel.
Click on System and Security.
Select Save Backup Copies of Your Files with File History, then select System Image Backup.
You’ll then be prompted to create a system image.
Select your new drive from the drop-down box and hit Next.

Your computer will begin the backup. This includes all your system files, your OS settings, and of course, all your media files. Essentially, this backup is a mirror of your whole local hard drive.

This process could take several hours. While you can continue to use your computer during this, it’s best not to as it slows down or even corrupts the backup. For this reason, you might want to time your external backup to take place overnight or while you're doing something else with your time.

You should repeat the process of backing up your system onto three different drives. Once you have three copies, store them somewhere you can easily access them for future updates. For some of us, a full system backup may not seem necessary - there's nothing wrong with only saving the important documents, images, and other files from your device. However, a system backup can revive a compromised computer from an infecting malware, or recover files you may have deleted accidentally, so it's not a bad idea to keep a copy or two.

In the next lesson, let's discuss how to protect your system in the first place through virus protections and scanning your downloads.

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