The 3-2-1 rule: a simple way to never lose your files
Phones get lost and drives fail. One easy habit keeps your photos and documents safe.
Losing years of photos or important documents usually happens the same way: everything lived in one place, and that place failed. The 3-2-1 rule is an easy habit that protects you from almost every kind of loss.
The rule
- 3 copies of anything important: the original and two backups.
- 2 different kinds of storage, for example your computer and an external drive.
- 1 copy somewhere else, outside your home, such as cloud storage.
Putting it into practice
- Choose what matters: photos, documents, work files.
- Keep a copy in the cloud. Atlandrak Vault gives every account 5 GB free, private to you.
- Once a month, copy the same folders to an external drive.
- Every few months, open a few backed-up files to make sure they still work.
Backups only help if they're up to date. Pick a day of the month and make it a habit.