🔑 Backups Done Right - How to Safe your Private Data

Backups are worth it.

A good backup strategy for the data on your home computer is crucial to prevent data loss due to hardware failure, cyberattacks or accidental deletion. The best strategy combines different backup methods to ensure maximum security and recoverability. Here are the most important aspects to consider:

The 3-2-1 backup rule

This rule is a best practice to ensure you always have access to your data:

• 3 copies of your data: One primary (active) copy on your computer and two backup copies.
• 2 different types of storage: Use two different types of storage media, such as a NAS(Network Attached Storage) and a cloud backup.
• Store 1 copy off-site: Keep a copy in a different physical location to protect against risks such as fire, theft or flooding.

Backup methods in detail

a) Local backups (on external storage media)

• External hard drives: Regular backups to an external hard drive are a simple and inexpensive solution. Make sure you keep at least one copy of the hard drive offline to protect against malware such as ransomware.

• USB sticks or SSDs: For smaller amounts of data or important documents, you can use USB sticks or external SSDs. However, these are only useful for additional backups as they are generally less reliable than hard drives.

• Network attached storage (NAS): A NAS system allows you to access your backups from different devices. It also offers automated backups on the home network and can be a good solution for larger amounts of data.

b) Cloud backups

• Advantages: Cloud backups protect against physical risks (such as fire, theft) and are accessible from anywhere. In addition, many services offer automated backup so you don’t have to worry about manual backups.
• Services: Popular cloud services are Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and special backup services such as Backblaze or iDrive. These offer storage space and automated backup functions.
• Security: Make sure that your data in the cloud is encrypted and only you have access to it. Many services offer additional encryption options.

c) System images

• Full system image: A system image is an exact copy of your entire computer, including the operating system, programs and settings. In the event of a serious problem (e.g. hard drive failure), you can use it to restore the entire system.
• Windows and macOS provide built-in system imaging tools:
• Windows Backup or System Image.
• macOS Time Machine.

  Create a backup plan

  a) Automation

• Automated backups prevent you from forgetting to backup. Most backup programs and cloud services offer schedules for automatic backups (daily, weekly, etc.).

b) Backup frequency

• Daily backups: Recommended for important or regularly updated data such as documents or personal files.
• Weekly backups: For larger files or data that doesn’t change that often (e.g. MIME-types).
• Monthly backups: System images or less critical data.

c) Rotate backups

• To avoid data corruption or accidental deletion, you can keep backup versions. This means keeping multiple versions of your backups so you can access an earlier version if needed.

Encryption and security

• Local encryption: When backing up sensitive data, you should encrypt local backups on hard drives or USB sticks. Tools like BitLocker (Windows) or FileVault (macOS) offer encryption.
• Cloud security: Make sure the cloud provider offers end-to-end encryption and that your data is protected in transit and at rest.

Regular checking

• Check regularly that your backups are working correctly. Sometimes errors can occur or files are not backed up correctly.
• Test the restore to make sure you can easily access your backups in an emergency.

Additional tips

• Offline backups: Keep a physical backup completely offline, i.e. not constantly connected to your computer. This protects you from Hackers and ransomware that could access connected devices.
• Backups in multiple locations: Store at least one backup copy outside of your home, such as with a family member or in a secure bank safe deposit box.

Summary:

The best backup strategy combines local and cloud backups to prevent data loss. The 3-2-1 rule (three copies, two different storage types, one copy offsite) is a reliable approach. Use automated backup solutions, regularly check your backups, and ensure encryption and security.

Snapshots

You may have heard of snapshots when talking about backups. What are snapshots, you ask?

Snapshots are snapshots of a system or disk at a specific point in time. They freeze the state of the data at that point in time without creating a complete copy of the data. Snapshots typically contain only the differences between the current state of the data and the original state (incremental backup), which makes them very space efficient. They are often used in file systems, virtual machines and cloud infrastructures.

How do snapshots work?

• Copy-on-Write method: When creating a snapshot, no data is copied. Only when the data changes are the changes written to a separate location, while the original state remains unchanged.

• Readable and restorable version: The snapshot remains available until it is deleted and allows the state of the system or data to be restored to an earlier point in time.

Important: Snapshots are not a complete backup! Although they protect against data corruption or accidental changes, they do not offer protection if the hardware fails or a disaster such as fire or flood occurs. Therefore, they should be used in addition to a classic backup.

Advantages of snapshots

• Fast recovery: You can reset the state of the system or certain data in a flash.

• Space-saving: Since only changes are recorded, snapshots require significantly less storage space than full backups.

• Efficiency: Snapshots are efficient and often allow for non-disruptive creation, even with very large amounts of data.

In which situations are snapshots useful?

Snapshots are particularly useful in situations where data is frequently changed, or when you frequently need to access different versions of a system or file:

1. Before system or software updates: Snapshots are a good way to save the current state of a system on persistent storage such as a NAS before making updates or changes. If you encounter any problems, you can simply revert to the previous state.
2. Virtual machines (VMs): When working with VMs, snapshots are useful for saving the state of the VM and restoring it later. This is ideal for testing and development environments.
3. Database applications: Snapshots are invaluable in databases to save critical states before changes and be able to quickly revert if something goes wrong.
4. Cloud infrastructures: Cloud services use snapshots to save the state of servers or data volumes and quickly restore them.
5. File backup and versioning: Snapshots allow you to access previous versions of a file or file system without having to go through the entire backup process.

Vendors and systems that support snapshots

Many systems and vendors support snapshots. Here are some common options:

1. Operating system-based snapshots

• Windows: The **Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) enables snapshots for drives. This feature is often used in backup programs or in Windows itself to save older versions of files.
• macOS: Time Machine in macOS creates regular snapshots of the file system, providing an easy way to restore the system state to a specific point in time.
• Linux (ZFS, Btrfs): Linux file systems such as ZFS and Btrfs have built-in snapshot capabilities. These file systems allow for fast and space-efficient snapshots of file systems.

2. Virtualization platforms

• VMware: Provides comprehensive snapshot capabilities for virtual machines. You can quickly create and restore snapshots to back up the state of VMs.
• Hyper-V (Microsoft): Similar to VMware, Hyper-V offers snapshots (here called checkpoints) for VMs to save and reset their state.
• Proxmox: Proxmox, an open source virtualization platform, offers snapshots for containers and virtual machines.

  3. Cloud providers

• Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS offers snapshots of EBS volumes (Elastic Block Store) that can be used quickly and efficiently to back up hard drives in the cloud.
• Microsoft Azure: Azure Managed Disks also supports snapshots to back up storage states.
• Google Cloud: In the Google Cloud Platform you can create snapshots of persistent disks to back up and restore the state of drives.
• DigitalOcean: Also offers snapshot functionality for droplets (virtual machines).

4. NAS systems

• Synology NAS: Many Synology NAS models support snapshots for their file systems (e.g. Btrfs) to quickly back up and restore file versions and system states.
• QNAP: QNAP NAS devices also offer snapshot capabilities for their storage pools so you can easily restore data.

5. Backup software with snapshot support

• Veeam: One of the most popular backup solutions for businesses that also allows snapshots in combination with backups for VMs and servers.
• Acronis: Acronis True Image offers a snapshot feature to quickly capture the state of the system for backups.
• Rsync with ZFS/Btrfs: In the Linux world, you can use tools like Rsync with ZFS or Btrfs to create incremental backups and snapshots.

When to use snapshots?

• Test system or database changes: When you’re testing an update, a new software installation, or changes to your database, you can use a snapshot to ensure that you can always restore to the original state if something goes wrong.
• Back up cloud environments: In the cloud, snapshots provide quick recovery options in case of problems with virtual machines or data volumes.
• Version management for important files: Snapshots provide a convenient way to track changes to files or projects and restore old versions.
• Back up virtual machines: In virtualization environments, snapshots are especially useful for quickly rolling back machines.

Conclusion:

Snapshots are an efficient way to capture the state of data or systems at a specific point in time without creating a full copy. They are useful for frequent changes, updates, testing, or in cloud and virtualization environments. However, snapshots should always be used in addition to full backups, as they are not sufficient in cases such as hardware failures or disasters.