What the 3-2-1 rule means
3 copies of your data. 2 different storage media (e.g., internal drive + external drive, or drive + cloud). 1 copy stored offsite (different physical location or cloud). This protects against hardware failure, theft, fire, and ransomware.
Copy 1: Your working data
This is the data on your computer or server — the live copy you work with daily. This is your primary copy but NOT your backup.
Copy 2: Local backup
An external hard drive connected to your PC, a NAS (Network Attached Storage), or a second internal drive. Use Windows File History or Mac Time Machine to automate this. Back up daily.
Copy 3: Offsite/cloud backup
Cloud storage: OneDrive, Google Drive, Backblaze ($9/month for unlimited), or iDrive. For businesses: Veeam, Acronis, or Azure Backup. This is your protection against fire, flood, or theft destroying your local copies.
Automate everything
Manual backups fail because people forget. Use Windows Task Scheduler, Mac Time Machine auto-backup, or a dedicated backup app to run backups automatically. Set it and verify it.
Test your restore
A backup you've never tested is not a real backup. Quarterly: restore a random file from your backup to confirm it works. Annually: attempt a full system restore test. Most backup failures are discovered during disaster recovery.
We design and implement backup strategies for Canadian businesses of all sizes — from simple OneDrive setups to enterprise Veeam deployments. If you've never tested your backups, contact us for a free backup audit.