At some stage, we have dropped one of our SMART devices on either very hard surfaces, splashed them in water or in most cases theft. The problem is you can buy the hardware again, but often the personal data such as photos and messages are irreplaceable.
This is why creating backups are vitally important. A backup is a copy of important data that is used to prevent data loss.
Creating a backup is wise in case of theft or system failure and they’re also used when setting up a new device to have the same data as an old one.
The data is worth backing up are personal contacts and calendar information, emails, important documents as well as personal photos and videos. Credentials for internet services should also be backed up in a secure manner.
In the era of cheap USB sticks and terabyte hard drives, we can be generous when creating a backup. USB sticks or external hard drives are ideal for home users. We must be aware of the average life expectancy of backup media.
It’s recommended that backups should not only be stored locally but should be geographically distributed – for example in a safe-deposit box or at the home of friends. Otherwise, a house fire, for example, could destroy the PC, the smartphone and the tablet and the backup disc as well. Cloud storage also has its advantages.
The closest-to-hand cloud solutions are those of the equipment vendors themselves – iCloud for Apple devices, a Google account for Android and OneDrive for Windows phones.
Whoever doesn’t completely trust these firms can set up an account with an independent cloud platform like Dropbox. A solution where you can even operate your own server is My Cloud.
Smartphone and tablet manufacturers offer built-in options for local backups. For example, users of Android devices can use a Google account to back up their entire system in a process that runs in the background.
For Apple devices, backing up is done through iTunes, so backups can be carried out every time the iPhone or iPad is connected to the computer. In addition, the user can decide whether they want to back up locally or to iCloud and whether they want the backup to be encrypted.
Encrypted backups are always advantageous when confidential data such as messages or passwords are backed up. Especially when the backup is done in the cloud, encryption should be selected in every case.
But make sure you don’t forget the password if you use encryption. If you do forget, even an experienced service provider in data recovery won’t be able to recover the data for you.
