Different ways to backup data from your phone and laptop to keep your files safe and secure

It’s no secret that having a backup of your important data is a must in this digital age. Keeping data stored in physical storage is safe, but it’s never free of risk. Also, not everyone bothers to create backups unless their hard disk fails, the computer crashes or the laptop is stolen. Apart from these issues operating system glitches or virus attacks can wipe off your entire data.

These days you get plenty of options available to backup your data - ranging from cloud to military-grade hard disk drives and solid-state drives. We have listed some of the best ways to back up your data. With these, you can rest easy knowing your data is safe and secure.

External hard drives

One of the simplest and seamless ways to backup your data is to copy them to the external hard drive. To backup your data just connect the external hard drive to your laptop or computer, then drag the desired files or copy files and folders to the hard drive for backup.

Pros

• Plenty of storage space for larger files
• Competitive price

Cons

• Loss of file during a power surge or power loss

USB drive

USB drives are cheap and easy to use. They are pocket-sized making them too easy to carry around, but also pretty easy to lose. USB drives work on Windows and Mac. With a bit of effort, you can hook them up to Android or iOS devices too by using a compatible data cable.

Pros

• Can easily transfer data to other sources
• Very cheap
• Extremely portable

Cons

• Slow writing speed

Cloud backup

Cloud backup has been around for a while now, but only a few people use it. However, it is the best backup method available so far. Just imagine- your backups are created automatically and everything is synced across multiple devices. You don’t have to worry about hard disk failures and you can access your files and folders no matter where you are.

Pros

• Get access to free space
• Automatic data backup
• Can be synced with multiple devices

Cons

• Requires an internet connection

Disk image

Creating a disk image is old but a great way to back up files and folders, but also everything else on your laptop and computer. If you have a disk image, you don’t have to worry about any failures because you will be able to restore everything, including your files, operating system, and different software. Simply pop the DVD with the disk image into your DVD-ROM and restore the backup. And if you created a disk image on an external HDD, simply connect it to your computer.

The main two disadvantages of this backup method is that you need to create disk images every once in a while to keep things up to date and that you can’t restore individual files without having to restore everything.

Pros

• The entire system is stored in a single file

Cons

• Limited disk space

Use Time Machine

It is built-in backup software that comes with Apple devices running Mac OS X Leopard or higher. Along with this software, you will get a dedicated external hard drive, Time Capsules. Just connect your Mac to Time Capsules via Thunderbolt or USB. Once connected, the application will perform an automatic backup.

Pros

• File previews
• Long backup

Cons

• Can’t schedule backups
• Limited features

See also:
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