Why You Should Always Have More Than One Backup

Your data really isn't safe unless you're backing up properly and with lots of redundancy. The computer backup rule of three, also known as the Backup 3-2-1 rule, can help ensure that your data will last.

As Scott Hanselman points out on his blog, using just one kind of backup (e.g., an external hard drive or SD card backup) is really not a backup. You need both off-site backup storage (e.g., an automated cloud solution like CrashPlan), plus backups to different media types, and multiple copies of everything you want to protect. Here's the old IT rule-of-thumb for backing up:


We've mentioned this before in our college prep guide, but the backup rule of three applies to everyone who wants to hold onto their data for as long as possible.

The Computer Backup Rule of Three | Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen

Photo by Jaymis Loveday