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General Questions — Dennis J Yancey
Edited November 23, 2020 at 2:31 PM
BACKING UP YOUR GENEALOGICAL DATA
Few things in genealogy are as important as "backing up your data"
see some of the top cloud backup solutions
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-online-backup-services
the nice thing about "Cloud backup" is that it is often executed "in the background" on a schedule and you dont have to consciously initiate it on demand. Also the fact that even if your house burns down - you would still have your data.
Also realize that a single computer - or a single backup device normally has a single point of failure.
if your external hard drive crashes - chances are that data is probably irretrievable from that device.
Because of the way it is stored - online cloud storage usually allows for multiple points of failure without you actually losing your data. It is not usually dependent on one single hard drive or even one single server.
BUT by any means - NEVER rely on any one single backup service.
you should at least have three
such as
1) your computer itself
2) some sort of external device to your computer
3) some sort of remote device - especially one in the cloud.
everyone has their own feelings and ideas about backup - and thats fine
do what works for YOU!
but if in the end if you've lost your data - it wont much matter what you "thought"
your computer will CRASH - sooner or later - that is a certainty
its not a matter of IF - its a matter of WHEN
it could even be TODAY - data loss of YEARS of research is a clear possibility if you dont back up.