Detox & Back Up

Safeguard your invaluable files

- Carrie Marshall

Why do I need to do this? I use the cloud!

When it comes to storage, iCloud is great, but it isn’t a great backup solution. That’s not because you can’t trust Apple – although if you were one of the people whose iTunes library got messed up by Apple Music a while back, you might beg to disagree – but because there’s a golden rule when it comes to protecting your stuff. That rule is simple: never have a single point of failure.

If a file or photo gets damaged and you only have one backup of it, if that backup doesn’t work or isn’t available then you don’t have a fallback option. The more important something is, the more backups you should have – so if a particular file or photo is irreplaceable, it’s worth having backups of it in multiple locations.

Let’s explore the best ways to do that.

What makes a good backup?

There are lots of ways to back up important files, but they aren’t always the best ways possible.

Backing up to a USB stick is easy, but it’s even easier to lose the USB stick and subsequently your backup.

Backing up to DVD is relatively inexpensive if you have a Mac with a SuperDrive, but the process is slow, the discs are easily damaged and even the most expensive DVD-Rs can deteriorate if they aren’t looked after.