TexasCHLforum.com

There are three ways to backup data. Choose one, two or all three. Each have their upsides and downsides.

1. Local backup. It's best if it's a cold backup, where the backup disk is unplugged after backup. This way, if there's a power surge that knocks out your computer, it won't knock out your backup as well. I am lazy and never unplug my backup. I do a weekly simple disk image backup for Windows and a file backup of my data drives whenever I get a chance (OK, the latter is cold storage). I use Easeus Todo Backup Free for the image backup because it gives me a bit more control over backups than the built in Windows backup application, although for >90% of people, the Windows one will do just fine. Acronis is the best backup software I've used, but the cost doesn't justify the benefits for me. YMMV, of course. For the data drive backup, I use something called FreeFileSync. I have over a million files and 9TB of data. Doing image backups on that isn't terribly efficient, to say the least. Local backups is the easiest solution but also the least reliable, especially if the backup device is always hot.

2. Off-site backup. I haven't done this in ages, but I'm not too concerned since most of my data is either pretty static or easily recoverable by other means. What I do is fill up a hard drive of my data, then send it to someone outside the area for storage (for me out of state). If an EF5 hits and obliterates my humble abode, I can be rest assured all my photos, videos, etc are all safe somewhere... Assuming I'm still alive... Rotating backups can be a pain, though.

3. Cloud backup. I don't use it, although most people I know use Mozy. It's super simple to do recoveries with it. Carbonite annoyed me the one time I had to do a recovery for someone. I've heard good things about Backblaze, but I've never used their services before. Cloud backup is not feasible for me due to the size of my data. That and I don't like the idea of my most sensitive documents and info out on the cloud. But for most people, it's the simplest thing and works just fine. Just know the risks.