No matter if you are a professional photographer or a hobbyist, I’m sure your photos are important to you. Therefore, it’s essential to have a good backup system so you can avoid any situation that may result in losing them all. David Bergman suggests an effective 3-2-1 backup system. It will protect your images from any situation that may hinder them, and save you from losing years of work.

Losing digital files can come as a result of different circumstances, such as theft, natural disaster or data corruption. This is why you need to have all these situations in mind and create a 3-2-1 backup system: it includes 3 copies, 2 separate devices and 1 offsite backup.

3 copies – this means you need to have the original file and two separate backups.

2 devices – creating your two copies on a single device or the same hard disk simply don’t work. Imagine a situation where you have two copies on the same hard drive, and that drive dies. You can say goodbye to all the files. So, use two completely separate devices. If one dies, you can plug in the other and keep working like nothing happened. With hard drives it’s not the question if they’ll break, but when.

1 offsite backup – even if you have a backup on two separate devices, there are situation when this may not be enough. What if it comes to a theft, a fire or a flood? This is why you need to have one backup at a totally different place. David used to send the third hard copy to his mom’s place out of the state. But today, we have plenty of cloud options. You’ll agree this is much more convenient. You can set the cloud to automatic backup and always stay covered.

If you apply this backup strategy, I assume you can hardly be left without your photos, and it you can apply it to other files, too.

[3-2-1 Back Up : Two Minute Tips with David Bergman | Adorama TV]