There’s an old, hackneyed adage which states that if you haven’t ever suffered data loss, you haven’t suffered data loss yet. Unlike so many similar sayings though, this one can’t be overstated. Anyone can lose a laptop, drop a phone or be a victim of crime, and whether your data consists of business-critical files, family photo archives, phone contacts (or anything in-between) it’s imperative that you back it up.
With World Backup Day landing on March 31st, it’s a great opportunity for you to finally address the issue or check that your existing backup arrangements are up to date. To this end, TechRadar has partnered with Western Digital to educate and inform readers about the importance of backing up and give advice on the best storage devices for your PC and mobile devices.
General backup and data-protection advice
Mobile devices can take a battering when out and about, so be sure to adequately preserve them with protective cases where possible. Transport them in suitable, padded bags and cases rather than just stuffing everything into whatever luggage, backpack, pocket or handbag you regularly use. Handle and treat them carefully as all have vulnerable points of weakness that can severely impact functionality, whether that’s a power switch, touchscreen, data interface or something else.
Make regular backups – automatically is best – as chances are, if you lose access to something important, it will often be recent and created after your last backup.
Use strong, unique passwords to protect everything. Whether it’s a device that goes missing or data stored in the cloud, you need to know that your data is inaccessible even when you don’t have direct contact with it.
Which products can help with backup?
Western Digital has a range of products designed to cater for your backup needs. They’ve become increasingly small, portable, robust, cavernous in terms of capacity and they look good too!
The My Passport range can store up to 5TB of photos, videos and documents and is suited for backing up laptops and PCs. It comes with software that enables automatic backups and offers hardware-based password encryption to ensure everything remains safe when you’re not in direct contact with it. There’s also a three-year warranty for peace of mind. The range has multiple products:
My Passport
These stylish, palm-sized drives are slim (just 11mm thick), secure (256-bit AES protection) and have a fast, convenient USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 connector that will work with most devices. They’re also available in a range of funky colours, including blue, red, white and black!
My Passport Ultra
A step up from the standard My Passport is the My Passport Ultra, which includes a high-speed USB-C port. This connectivity standard is now common across many new laptops, PCs and smartphones, and offers transfer rates up to 5Gbps on supported devices. The My Passport Ultra’s USB-C connectivity ensures it’s ready to take full advantage of new devices for the foreseeable next few years. For connecting to an older device, the My Passport Ultra includes a USB 3.1 adaptor, so it’s ready for anything.
My Passport Ultra sports an anodised metal chassis in modern colours that’s both stylish and robust.
Dual drives do it all
Of course, when you’re backing up your phone, you’ll likely want an even smaller and more portable device. This is where the SanDisk Mobile Storage Solutions’ innovative dual drive products enter the fray. These are thumb drives which have evolved to the point where they feature a USB-A connector at one end and a USB-C (or Apple-friendly Lightning connector) at the other. These can plug directly into your phone or tablet whereby the SanDisk Memory Zone app (Android) or iXpand Drive app (iOS) can take over and automatically back up your latest photos, videos, music, documents and contacts. They feature a stylish, swivel design which protects the connectors while on the move and a keyring hole to enhance portability. Here are three varieties of the 2-in-1 flash drives:
SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe
This flash drive sports a Lightning connector at one end and a USB-C connector at the other. It’s perfect for transferring files between an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Android phone and Windows laptop. It’s also perfect for Apple fans who get frustrated at their devices’ notorious ability to hit capacity limits without easily being able to free-up storage space. It comes in capacities of up to 256GB, along with a two-year limited warranty.
SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go
The SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go is a flash drive with a USB-C connector at one end and a USB-A connector at the other. It’s perfect for backing up and transferring data to and from almost any device and has a five-year warranty, in capacities ranging from 32GB to 512GB. It’s a stylish little number, too, available in black, blue and green.
SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Luxe
The SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Luxe ups the ante with its robust, all-metal chassis and a capacity that pushes all the way to 1TB! It too has both a USB-A connector and a USB-C connector and a five-year warranty.
Back it up!
As one of the most-trusted storage brands in the industry, Western Digital’s range of portable storage solutions are a perfect personal partner for your backup needs.
So take a closer look at these backup options from Western Digital, and beef up your backup security with a portable storage product to help protect your valuable data and ensure everything is secured as effortlessly as possible!
