Backup Basics
Many years ago, I had a very bad habit: I didn’t backup my files. I learned the hard way that this was a recipe for disaster. One day, something went wrong with my antivirus software; it corrupted Windows to the point that the Start bar disappeared. I had to pay someone $300 to recover my data and reinstall Windows for me.
I did get all my personal documents back, but I still suffered a loss. There were other files that I forgot about: some software that I didn’t have physical copies of, all the updates to other programs and Windows itself. I had to download them all over again, and this was back in the days of dial-up Internet.
What happened to me doesn’t have to happen to you. Think about all the things you keep on your laptop, tablet, and smartphone. If you learn how to back them up and make a habit of it, then you can keep them from disappearing.
Terms to Learn
There are three main kinds of backups:
- Full – As the name implies, a full backup is a copy of everything on your computer. If you’ve never backed up your computer or mobile device before, this is the first thing you’ll need to do.
- Differential – This kind of backup is just a copy of any changes done since the last full backup.
- Incremental – This is a copy of all changes since the last backup of any kind, either full or differential. An incremental backup can take much longer to restore than a differential one.
Now you will need a separate place to keep copies of all your files. First, you’ll need a physical copy, like an external hard drive or flash drive. Then, you’ll need a copy stored in the cloud.
Physical Backups: External Drives and Flash Drives
The first place to keep all your backups is on a external device that’s physically connected to your computer. For your desktop or laptop, you’ll need an external hard drive that comes with its own power cord. A smartphone or tablet could be backed up with a large flash drive.
There’s three ways for an external drive to connect to your computer:
USB – the traditional A port, either 2.0 or 3.0. A USB 3.0 port will usually be blue on the inside. USB 2.0 ports can transfer files at the rate of 480 megabits per second, while USB 3.0 ports can transfer at 5 gigabits per second. If you’re backing up lots of videos, the difference in speed can make a big difference. There is also the more current C port.
(left) four-pin FireWire port; (right) six-pin IEEE 1394 port
Firewire – this is an older type of connection. Originally known as IEEE 1394, this was developed by Apple under the name Firewire. You won’t see this port often now, but it may be useful when transferring files from an older computer.
(left) USB-C port and cable; (right) Thunderbolt ports on a MacBook Pro
Thunderbolt – this type of port is found on Apple laptops and desktops. The original Thunderbolt port can be found on MacBook Pros from early 2011 to mid 2015 and iMacs from mid 2011 to late 2015. The newest MacBook Pros and iMacs combine Thunderbolt 3 with the USB C port. In its current form, Thunderbolt can transfer 40 gigabits per second.
How big should your external drive be? Obviously, you’ll want one that is bigger than your computer’s hard drive. You may need to make several copies of what’s on your hard drive. I recommend getting an external drive with storage space at least four times the size of your hard drive.
The average flash drive won’t have enough storage space to copy everything on your laptop, but it’s a good place to store special projects or security keys. Now you can buy flash drives made specifically for your smartphone. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can get a flash drive that will fit into a Lightning port. Newer Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Google Pixel 3 have USB-C ports, which can take flash drives with USB-C connectors.
A SanDisk OTG flash drive. It has both a USB-A and a micro USB connector.
But what if you need to transfer files from a regular flash drive to your smartphone or tablet? You won’t need to use a computer as a go-between. All you’ll need is an On The Go cable, also known as an OTG cable. On The Go is a function that lets an Android device serve as a host to a flash drive. Any Android device produced since 2011 is compatible.
An OTG cable: one end has a micro USB connector for a mobile device, the other end is a USB-A female connector for a flash drive.
Cloud Backups
Redundancy is a good thing when it comes to backing up files. You’ve got everything stored on your external drive, but that’s not always enough. What would you do if you need your external drive, but didn’t have access to it? That’s where cloud storage comes in handy.
There are many cloud storage services to choose from, and they all offer free accounts. But free accounts have a limited amount of space. New laptops have storage space measured in terabytes instead of gigabytes. If you’re going to back up your entire computer to the cloud, you’re going to need to pay for space.
iCloud is the default cloud service for Apple products. When you create an Apple ID, you are given 5GB of storage space for free. As of this writing, you can buy up to 2TB of space. Plans are billed monthly, and you can even pay for it with iTunes cards.
Microsoft’s OneDrive also offers 5GB of space for free. But if you want more than 50GB of space, you will need to buy an Office 365 subscription.
Everyone with a Google account gets 15GB of free space. For more storage, you can sign up for Google One. You can get up to as much as 30TB per month.
Now you know the basic terms and the equipment you’ll need to successfully back up your computer and your mobile devices. But there’s one more thing you’ll need: software to actually do the backup for you. I will write about that in my next post, “Backup Basics Part 2.”
