Do you Backup your Data Regularly?

POMMIER45 said:

...Hundreds of thousands website is being affected by cyber attacks daily. I think these third party tools are mostly responsible for this.

News to me. I've been using non-Windows Acronis True Image, Image for Windows and Macrium Reflect for some time now -- and I've never had a failure with restoring backups except when a platter-driven external usb HD developed a logical failure, forcing its re-format. Each of my computers has two dedicated usb 1TB ext HDs containing full image backups of respective OS and Data partitions. Ok, onto your assertion: how does Acronis True Image, Image for Windows, Macrium Reflect contribute to web site and to computer cyber attacks?

samuria said:

Saving data to Google drive or one drive on the PC means it's backed up to the cloud instantly if you use another PC it will sync on that as well. People and companies often backup using software and loose the software to restore or makers change system so old backups don't work. I started work at ici and they proudly showed me their backup to tape and had years of backups in a big safe I pointed out to them this was in an old building with no heat so as temps had fallen well below zero they were all useless

I trust Google as far as I can spit upwind in a stiff breeze; that includes Google Drive. Google is notorious for collecting data and for discontinuing services with little or no warning.

The best way to ensure one's data is safe is to make sure it exists in at least three places, such as on one's computer, on an onsite backup that is not connected to the computer except when updating the backup and is stored away from the computer, and on an offsite backup. Having a backup that is connected to a computer at all times is also a bad idea since that backup would be subject to the same malware and/or user error that could corrupt or destroy data on the computer.

An example of an onsite backup is an external drive that is stored away from the computer, such as in a drawer on the other side of the room the computer is in or, better still, in another room.

An offsite backup can be an external drive that is store off the property, such as in a locked drawer or locker at work, at a trusted friend's or relative's house, on in a safe deposit box at a financial institution. A reputable paid cloud backup service (not cloud storage and especially nothing that is free) can also be used for an offsite backup.

I always run my antimalware scans before updating a backup. I use a paid version of Macrium Reflect Free to image the boot drive/partitions of my computers. I store recent images on an internal data drive/partition (for convenience), which in turn gets backed up to external backup drives. I keep two copies of recovery media for each computer as well as having it installed on each computer (again, for convenience. I keep the software and recovery media updated as necessary. I make an image before making any changes to System Files, such as updates to the OS or programs, changing settings, or installing new hardware and software.

I use FreeFileSync to backup my data drives/partitions on my computers. It is a folder/file syncing program that compares a data drive/partition in the computer with the corresponding backup drive. After comparing drives/partitions, it will copy new and changed programs on the data drive/partition to the backup drive and delete files on the backup drive that were deleted on the data drive/partition, essentially making an exact copy of the data drive/partition. Deleted files on the backup get sent to a large versioning folder on another data drive (which also gets backed up) to protect against accidental deletions. I update my onsite backup drives at least once a week or whenever I add critical data or a large amount of data.

Since even backup drives can fail without warning, I have a set of four backup drives for each data drive in my desktop computer: two of each set onsite and two offsite (all of the data on my notebooks is also on my desktop computer so I don't worry about extra backups with them). I keep my onsite backup drives in a drawer away from my computer. The offsite backup drives are kept in my safe deposit box in the vault at my credit union.

I swap my onsite backup drives with my offsite backup drives at least once a month to keep the offsite drive as up to date as practical. Since any data added or changed after I put my offsite backup drives in my computer will be lost if I manage to lose both the computer and the onsite backups, I also keep a Carbonite.com cloud account (Carbonite also has 30 day versioning so if any infected files get uploaded, one can always revert to the earlier version). I have enough data that it would take weeks to months to download all of it from the cloud if I loose all my onsite backups but, since I can recover the vast majority of my data from my offsite drives within a couple of days once I retrieve them from my credit union, I can download the remainder from Carbonite within a handful of days, if that long. Carbonite also provides a temporary backup for new or changed data until I get around to running my onsite backups.

My backup scheme may seem like overkill (heck, for most people it is and a single onsite and offsite backup per data drive would be plenty) however, most of my data would either be expensive and time consuming to replace or could not be replaced at all if I were to lose it.

Folks, it all depends on the value one puts on their data.
One complete backup/Clone in my opinion is minimum required. The more backups you do, and store in different places the better. I personally only do Clones because I have so little to save.

My procedure is simple.
Macrium Reflect
Clone from one ssd to another ssd. Takes about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove backup ssd and store in safe place in my home.
If the house burns down, I got more to worry about than a Clone of my system and data. I do it about once a week. If I can't remember what I have done in the last week and redo it, then I would not remember I was missing it.

If by chance you have things that you value more, then a backup stored off site and one in your home or business would be best in my opinion. I personally don't trust Cloud backup so I would recommend backing up to a external drives and storing on site (unhooked) from computer and off site in a place you trust.

Trusted backup's and or Clones is a great way to get out from under Ransomware.

Jack

P/S:
All backups and or Clones must be made when the system is known to be clean from problems and or infections.