Data is everywhere. Imagine for a moment you return from the family holiday. In your luggage you have camera, phones and laptop loaded with precious memories to share.
The fact is – all the important memories in our lives are being looked after by technology: videos and images of our families, wedding photos, love letters, business email and financial documents. Did you ever consider what you would lose if these were erased forever?
The doorbell rings, you jump up to answer and knock a glass of water over your laptop. Or your creative toddler decides to take photos of his ducky with your phone synchronised with your computer.
These things happen and, according to a survey of UK consumers, carried out by Acronis, we are not prepared for these eventualities with 1 in 5 admitting to never backing up any of their files.
Everyone at risk
Moreover, 20% of people have had their device lost, stolen or damaged.
And yet the majority of those surveyed would be more upset to lose their photos over any other files – which somewhat adds to the sense of complacency.
While you might think your hardware is reliable, in reality it is not. Everything (yes, everything) fails, and once it does, all the important information you've stored on that device can be lost. In fact, it is not a question of if a piece of technology will fail – it is when.
Acronis has five simple tips on how to backup all of your devices easily and avoid losing any of your data.
- Schedule regular backups: Back up regularly. After an initial full backup of the entire system, make sure you set up automatic incremental backups, which store only what has been changed or added, allowing you to save disk space.
- Invest in a good external drive: The backups should be stored on removable drive or removable media. This allows you to keep your backups separate from your system in case it suffers physical damage.
- Double protect your system: Provide double security for your most important data by backing it up to the cloud, as well as on your hard drive. With the right software, you can encrypt the data so it's safe and secure and also protect it against physical damage, such as a fire.
- Test your recovery plan: Try testing your backup, so if your system fails you can quickly recover it. There is nothing worse than discovering your backup does not work!
- Always make sure your system is safe before any installation: Before installing new programs, updates or drivers, complete a full backup to avoid losing data. Use the technology to be able to roll your system back.
Every one of us will have five devices by 2017 . This means that learning to protect your files on your devices has never been more important. A device can be replaced, but not your personal pictures. Automating your backup plan will save you time – and time is as precious as memories.
So before you drop the camera into the pond or leave your laptop in the taxi, give yourself peace of mind that your precious digital data is safely stored away.
- Nat Maple has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry and is currently the Senior Vice President & General Manager Global Consumer Business at Acronis.
