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The Galaxy’s gorgeous aluminum body and hi-res, 4K display are paired with a speedy 10th-generation Intel processor that offers more power and agility than your undergrad will likely need, though they’ll be thankful for the extra juice in after-hours gaming sessions.
Making backups is boring, but the alternative—losing your data—is a kind of exciting no one wants. I once lost 80 pages of a novel to a bad hard drive. I had no backups. While most of the world is thankful to have been spared my sophomoric tripe, who knows, if that hard drive had lived I might be sipping a Mai Tai on a Maine beach with Stephen King right now. Socially distanced, of course.
Nowadays I back up my data at least three times, in three physically separate places. I know what you're thinking, wow, he is really bummed about missing out on that Mai Tai. I know it sounds excessive, but it costs next to nothing and happens without me lifting a finger, so why not?
There's no such thing as the perfect backup. Things go wrong with backups too. It becomes an infinite loop, backups of backups. Backups all the way down. Three is actually a conservative number, but it's the one I recommend for most people because it strikes the best balance between safety, cost, and effort.
###Hard Drives
The first backup is simplest—buy an external hard drive and regularly copy your data to it.
The hardest thing here is figuring out which drive to buy. The sheer number of choices can be overwhelming. Backblaze, a data backup company I'll be using below, has some [hard drive guides](https://www.backblaze.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-external-hard-drives/) that are [worth reading](https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html) to get an idea of how long various drives will last, as well as what you can do to keep them healthy.
One of the problems you'll notice in the [Backblaze drive stats](https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html) is that longevity really varies by model more than manufacturer. That said, I suggest sticking with known names like Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital and like. But some drives are better than others even within those well-known brands.
I've had good luck with Western digital portable drives, like this 4-terabyte model ([$99 Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VTW2LPX/){: rel=nofollow}, [$120 Best Buy](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-passport-4tb-external-usb-3-0-portable-hard-drive-with-hardware-encryption-latest-model-black/6356879.p?skuId=6356879){: rel=nofollow}), which is backing up this very article. If you don't mind a larger form factor, there's a 6-terabyte desktop version ([$122 Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Desktop-Hard-Drive-WDBWLG0060HBK-NESN/dp/B076MPMZDV/){: rel=nofollow}, [$125 NewEgg](https://fave.co/3j9waqs){: rel=nofollow}) that's only $20 more.
For backup drives you don't need to worry too much about speed. Even otherwise slow 5400 rpm drives are fine. They're cheaper, and since the backup software runs overnight anyway, you won't notice the slower speeds. Get the largest drive you can afford. Incremental backups—which all good backup software uses—save disk space by backing up only the files that have changed since the last backup. But even so, you need a larger drive for backups than whatever is in your PC. A good rule of thumb is to get a backup drive that's about two, or even three times the size of the drive in your computer.
####Set It and Forget It
A good backup system runs without you needing to do a thing. If you have to make a backup, your system needs work. These days there is software that can automate all of you backup tasks.
Mac users should use Time Machine. Apple has [good instructions](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250) on how to set up time machine backups. Plug in your new USB drive and set up your Mac to make daily backups. Time Machine is smart, it will only backup files that have changed so it won't eat up all your disk space.
Windows 10 ships with what Microsoft calls "Backup," but it lacks the interface polish of Time Machine and it really doesn't seem intended for daily backups. While many of the features of Time Machine are in Backup, it lacks the UI polish and ease of use Time Machine offers. To get that level of polish on Windows you'll need to turn to third-party software. I've had good luck with Macrium Reflect 7, which has a free option that does most of what you need.
###Offsite Backups
You're probably heard the term "the cloud." The cloud is just a handy phrase for saying, "someone else's computer," in this case we mean a server in a data center far from your home. This is backup that covers what data loss experts call "the fire". God forbid your house burns down, but if it does, your cloud backup will be what saves your data.
It's important to note here that we don't mean syncing services like Dropbox, GDrive, or tk.
###Caveats, Suggestions and Special Cases
The first caveat is that no backup system can be trusted until you actually restore from it. This is particularly true of online systems, where downloading all your files can take days, if not weeks and, depending on the service, end up costing a fortune. This is one reason I prefer backblaze to Amazon S3. I can, and have, had Blackblaze mail me a drive with my data. It sounds old-fashioned, but for me it's way easier than trying to download everything over the slow internet I am stuck with at home (rural living has its drawbacks).
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