The 3 - 2 - 1 Principle
The 3-2-1 Backup Principle is a rule to ensure you have backup redundancy, in case corruption, ransomware or stolen hardware occurs.
Essentially, you should keep a copy of 3 backups.
Backup 1: Production – This is the Source Data, such as the Data of a Computer.
Backup 2: On-Site Media – This is using a backup device such as an External Storage Drive up to a Network Attached Storage (NAS).
Backup 3: Off-site Media – This can be a Portable Storage Drive taken away, to a NAS in another Location or a Cloud Storage Service.
It is important to at least have a minimum of 3 to ensure you are protected as best as possible, HOWEVER, nothing is stopping you from having multiple avenues.
A basic setup can be your Computer has an External Hard Drive that you backup Data to, then you interchange them by having 1+ Drives to take off-site.
A more optimal solution, especially with more than 1 device is using a Network Attached Storage or NAS. NAS has some good advantages, like being on the Network, so access is much easier. NAS usually come with great backup options, so backing up your Devices can be made easy. Then NAS normally have a USB for your External Drive, so you can do a backup of the NAS and take it off-site. Lastly, NAS usually have an avenue for Cloud Storage Backup also.
The best solution is System Backups from all devices to a NAS, where an External Drive or 2 can be interchanged and backing up your NAS. Your NAS then also sends your backups to the Cloud or you can have the cloud run separate on each device, such as Microsoft OneDrive, where 1 device can keep the OneDrive sync to save locally, then the NAS Backup can back up the Cloud.
Of course, depending on the solution, depends on the short and long term costs.
However, remember to check what cost it will be if you lost data with sub-par backup… Will it cost you more? It is always important to understand the seriousness of Data Loss and what it can do to your business, so it is understandable to feel intimidated by overheard costs, so finding the best solution for your current business situation is a great idea and we can help you with that, but falling short because of cost might not be the best in the long run.
