I have continously talked about my drive to never lose a file again, after I lost my first file to a failed floppy disk drive in 1996. The fanatical backup approach has been used to work as follows:

1. Create a new version of whatever I am working on everyday – for files add the date, for web application development (create a new folder)
2. For development create a separate folder for staging and production files adding to them as needed
3. For files whenever I am to make a significant change I create a version too, even if it is for the same day so that I can track when I made made major pivots
4. Backup to a shared magnetic backup drive (before 2010)
5. Move backups to a cold storage hard drive which is only used for that purpose

Overall I used to end up with 3 different copies of any file over time, and storage is cheap so duplication was not an issue.

The cloud came and all I had to do was adapt my workflow as the primary, secondary and cold storage are all cloud based

1. Primary work
   • Dropbox and Google for personal use, these are fast syncing for regular use. I have 13GB in Dropbox gained from various offers at the time of launch, and have a 200GB Google One subscription (the 2TB next package does not add value due to being higher for unused space)
   • Box – for ofice use
2. Primary Backup – this is Google Drive, with a 200GB Google One subscription where I place archived projects, home photos and miscellaneous files that I need to maintain
3. Cold Storage – Apple iCloud 50GB where I zip files that I do not expect to use for a long time

What I have learnt:

1. I work directly in the cloud service folders, therefore do not need to remember to backup or synchronize the files
2. All cloud services are set to automatically startup on machine reboot so are always active
3. The primary cloud service you use depends on what you are comfortable with
4. Most cloud service providers charge about $20 per year for 200GB then $99 per year for 2TB, I found the price jump not justifiable hence the move to iCloud for my cold storage
5. The power and Internet services in Uganda are not very stable and consistent so the option for a NAS

What’s your approach to backups, what tips and tricks have you learnt along your journey?