Growing up, I use to burn a CD back-up of my computer files every few months. I still have the giant stack of discs labeled in sharpie with the year and details. Little did I know how much more space computers would hold and how many more photo files I would have! All this is to say that I have always been a stickler for backing up my data.

Last December my computer wouldn’t turn on and that’s when I realized my last back-up was months old! Panic set in and I was thinking… I have a business now, how could I have been so careless? It took an entire month to get my files back and organized and I want to share what I learned with you. You don’t have to be a designer, everyone with computer files should consider these tips.

Top 4 Computer Back-Up Tips

AUTOMATIC

• Your back-up should automatically happen
• You should be able to forget and still have a back-up take place
• You shouldn’t have to click a button or plug something in
• You shouldn’t have to login to an account
• We are humans and WILL forget

REDUNDANT

• Back-up in more than one location or drive
• You should have an on-site (ie: external hard drive) and off-site back-up (ie: cloud)
• Drives can fail or be damaged, so it is important to double your back-up

RELIABLE

• There are tons of services available, but that isn’t enough. It needs to not fail.
• Consider the speed of the back-up. Creatives typically have large files that take forever to back-up.
• Choose a system that has an alert in place if the back-up failed. Without this, you could go months thinking everything is functioning properly (which is what happened to me!)

MAINTAINABILITY

• We never expect to actually need out back-up, but consider the process for when you need to restore
• Consider the ease of repairing your computer and how the back-up system will function in a restore situation

BONUS: SUSTAINABILITY

• Remove files that you don’t need. Are you saving edited photos and originals? Are their duplicate files?
• By removing files, you are not only freeing up space on your machine and external backup, but you are taking up less space on the rabidly growing data servers and server farms.