Every computer eventually fails. Hard drives wear out, laptops get dropped or left in a car, and ransomware can lock up files in minutes. A solid backup plan turns all of those from a crisis into an annoyance. Here’s the simple approach I recommend for small offices.
The 3-2-1 rule
- 3 copies of your important data: the original plus two backups
- 2 different types of storage, like an external drive and the cloud
- 1 copy offsite, so a fire, flood, or theft at the office doesn’t take everything
It sounds like a lot, but once it’s set up, it runs on its own.
What to back up
- Documents, spreadsheets, and shared files
- Accounting and customer data
- Photos and project files
- Email, if it’s stored on the computer rather than online
- Anything saved on the desktop, which people forget about constantly
A simple setup for most small offices
- Cloud sync for everyday files, so they’re available on any device.
- A cloud backup service that keeps versions of files over time, so you can recover from mistakes and ransomware.
- An external drive with automatic backups for fast local restores.
Sync is not the same as backup
This trips people up. Cloud sync tools copy changes instantly, including deletions and ransomware-scrambled files. A true backup keeps older versions, so you can go back to how things were yesterday or last week. Make sure at least one of your copies is a real, versioned backup.
Automate it
Manual backups get forgotten. Set everything to run on a schedule, and set up alerts if a backup fails.
Test a restore
A few times a year, try restoring a file or folder from each backup. If you can’t get files back, the backup isn’t doing its job. Better to find out on a quiet afternoon than during an emergency.
Don’t forget your website
Office computer backups don’t cover your website. That needs its own backup plan, which I cover in why website backups matter.
Questions I hear a lot
How often should backups run?
For most offices, continuously or at least daily for important files.
Is an external drive alone enough?
It’s a good start, but it can be lost or damaged along with the computer. Adding an offsite or cloud copy is what makes the plan safe.
If you want a second set of eyes
If you’d like help setting up backups for your office computers, I do this onsite around Stow and Summit County. Here’s more about tech help and installs.