Kind: ArticleLanguage: enLet's Start with a Little Story Time

I've covered a lot of NAS - or Network Attached Storage - content on my channel over the past couple of years, but given how much my channel has grown since then, many of you might not know why. Back in 2016, I had a major storage crash and lost a LOT of data. I had run out of space and was too caught up in the day-to-day of getting video projects done (I was really focused on efficiency in production that year) to bother setting up anything else, and was keeping all of my working data for projects I was working on stored on a RAID0 array of hard drives. That RAID0 was supposed to be for recording only, and then projects moved off of it, for this very reason.

Well, after watching like 4 videos from other tech YouTubers about their RAID0 arrays dying in the same year, mine kicked the bucket. I lost just about everything I was working on at the time, and then in a scrambling attempt to make sure I didn’t lose anything else, my other big archive drive managed to corrupt or die or something, too. I was left with a random assortment of loose hard drives and USB drives with no organization and lost all of my work from 2016 back. Sounds real doom and gloom, right? Yeah - don't be like me. This is why I've partnered with Synology all these years since, to make sure I keep this from happening to myself again, and to help showcase options that you can use to keep yourself safe, as well.

But I'm missing an important piece of the puzzle, and we're going to talk about that today - March 31st is "World Backup Day" and I wanted to take part in this year to help make sure you're safely backed up and won't end up like me with data I can never get back. You see, poor choices aren't the only reason data gets lost. On the computer side, 1 in 10 computers get infected each month with data-harming malware or (even worse) ransomware, and 113 phones are lost or stolen per minute. While we like to joke that today's society only ever carries around useless selfies with them, there's a lot more to it than just taking pictures.

While we can't control the amount of time our devices spend connected, we can take steps to protect ourselves from losing data in the future. One important piece of advice I learned is that having multiple copies of your data is crucial when it comes to backups. This means keeping at least two local copies on different mediums and one copy stored off-site for worst-case scenarios. The idea behind this is that if something happens to one copy, you still have another one to fall back on.

The Problem with Not Following Backup Strategies

When we assume those scenarios won't happen, they can cause the most problems for our data. This is because backup strategies and tricks are designed to protect us from loss of data due to hardware failure, theft, or other issues that may arise. By following proper backup strategies, you can rest assured that your data will be safe even in the worst-case scenarios.

In my case, I realized that having just one copy of my data was not enough and so I made it a point to have multiple backups. This is why I am now using Synology's DiskStation DS2419+ to backup my data. I've set up this powerful 12-bay storage server loaded with Seagate's IronWolf Pro drives, which are built for always-on NAS workloads, come with awesome monitoring software integrated into Synology's DSM software, and include a 2-year data recovery plan in case the worst happens.

The Importance of Off-Site Backups

An off-site backup is crucial when it comes to protecting your data. This means keeping your backups in a location where they will be safe from damage or loss due to fire, flood, theft, or other natural disasters. Ideally, this should be somewhere you'll have access to it but won't be easily disturbed or damaged.

I've decided to mirror my data to the NAS and keep it online at my parents' house for me to periodically update during the night. The DS2419+ is great for someone like me who has a lot of data, but if your needs are smaller - Synology has a wide variety of network storage solutions that you'll be able to find one that fits your needs perfectly.

Conclusion

The final word on backup strategies is that following proper strategies can protect your data from loss due to hardware failure, theft, or other issues. By keeping multiple copies of your data, having local backups on different mediums, and storing one copy off-site for worst-case scenarios you will be able to rest assured that your data will always be safe.

If you found this video helpful - what backup strategies or tricks do you use? Share them in the comments below. Hit the like button if you enjoyed, and checkout Synology's storage options via the links in the video description. Shoutout to them for always supporting educational content here on the channel. I'm EposVox, here to make tech easier and more fun, and I'll see you next time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enLet’s start with a little story time!I’ve covered a lot of NAS - or Network AttachedStorage - content on my channel over the pastcouple years, but given how much my channelhas grown since then, many of you might notknow why.Back in 2016, I had a major storage crashand lost a LOT of data.I had run out of space and was too caughtup in the day to day of getting video projectsdone (I was really focused on efficiency inproduction that year) to bother setting upanything else, and was keeping all of my workingdata for projects I was working on storedon a RAID0 array of hard drives.That RAID0 was supposed to be for recordingonly, and then projects moved off of it, forthis very reason.Wellp, after watching like 4 videos from othertech YouTubers about their RAID0 arrays dyingin the same year, mine kicked the bucket.I lost just about everything I was workingon at the time, and then in a scrambling attemptto make sure I didn’t lose anything else,my other big archive drive managed to corruptor die or something, too.I was left with a random assortment of loosehard drives and USB drives with no organizationand lost all of my work from 2016 back.Sounds real doom and gloom, right?Yeah - don’t be like me.This is why I’ve partnered with Synologyall these years since, to make sure I keepthis from happening to myself again, and tohelp showcase options that you can use tokeep yourself safe, as well.But I’m missing an important piece of thepuzzle, and we’re going to talk about thattoday - March 31st is “World Backup Day”and I wanted to take part this year to helpmake sure you’re safely backed up and won’tend up like me with data I can never get back.You see, poor choices aren’t the only reasondata gets lost.On the computer side, 1 in 10 computers getinfected each month with data-harming malwareor (even worse) ransomware, and 113 phonesare lost or stolen per minute.While we like to joke that today’s societyonly ever carries around useless selfies withthem, there’s still likely precious memoriesin photo or video form - or more importantdata that you need to have backed up.There’s a very important Rule for backupsthat most people honestly don’t follow.This is called the “3-2-1 Backup Rule”or Backup Strategy.It’s fairly straightforward, but even Ihaven’t managed to establish the “1”in that, until today.The 3-2-1 Backup Rule means having at least3 total copies of your data, all in differentplaces and on different forms of media ordevices.Two of these should be local, but on differentmedia, and one kept off-site, or not in thesame physical location.So for example, let’s talk about the projectfiles for this video.In a typical editing setup, there’s an activecopy of everything kept on a local hard driveor SSD in my computer itself while I editit.That’s one copy.The next copy would be my initial backup orarchive of the footage I have recorded.Some people choose to leave the footage onthe original media they were shot on - SDmemory cards, for example - or in my casethe footage is transferred to my editing storageNAS, the Synology DS1817+.That’s a second copy, on a different device.If something happens to one of my copies,I quickly have another copy in my home thatI can work from.This is a great start, but missing an importantbackup.We only have the “2” out of our “3”point strategy.What happens if someone steals all of yourcomputer hardware?Or you have a flood, tornado, fire, etc. thatmakes any data in your home inaccessible?It’s easy to just assume that kind of thingcan happen - but if you have mission-criticaldata or irreplaceable sentimental data suchas long-term family photos or home movies,you want to be absolutely certain you’llalways have a backup you can retrieve yourdata from.This is why the 1 offsite copy rule is soimportant.Some people use cloud-based solutions forthis - though choose carefully, MySpace (yesit still exists) just announced that it lostevery music file stored on it since 2003 duringa botched server migration.A great, more user-controlled and privacy-guaranteedoption is a secure, raid-based storage solutionsuch as a Synology NAS!Synology even provides tools to make it easierto keep your files mirrored between servers.Also, by using Synology’s RAID builder,your data has another layer of protectionby providing redundancy so that if one ofthe drives in your NAS goes out (or more,depending on setup) your data is still safe.For this, I’m setting up their new DiskStationDS2419+.This is a powerful, 12-bay storage serverthat I was super stoked to see get updatedthis year.I have it loaded up with Seagate’s IronWolfPro drives, which are built for always-onNAS workloads, come with awesome monitoringsoftware integrated into Synology’s DSMsoftware, and include a 2 year data recoveryplan in case the worst happens.The DS2419+ starts with 12 bays, though canbe expanded to 24 with a DX1215 expansionunit for a total of 336TB capacity, if desired.The NAS starts with a quad-core CPU, 4GB ofRAM - though it’s upgradeable up to 32GBif desired, and has a PCIe slot for eithera dual M.2 NVMe expansion card, or a 10 gigabitnetwork card for high-bandwidth environments.Synology offers Desktop backup via their CloudStation Backup software to keep your datastored to your NAS, and Hyper Backup to backup your whole NAS to another NAS, if desired.I’ll be using this.Again, this final backup copy needs kept off-site- which means not in your home.Ideally this is somewhere you’ll have accessto it but it won’t be easily disturbed ordamaged, such as at a family member’s home.I’ll be mirroring my data to this NAS andkeeping it online at my parents’ house forme to periodically update during the night.The DS2419+ is great for someone like me,as I just have… so much data.But if your needs are smaller - Synology hasa wide variety of network storage solutions,so you’ll be able to find one that fitsyour needs perfectly.But remember - the important part is to followthe rule for having safe backups of your data!Two local copies on different mediums, andone copy stored off-site for worst-case scenarios.It’s when we assume those scenarios won’thappen that they can cause the most problemsfor our data.I hope you found this video helpful - whatbackup strategies or tricks do you use?Share them in the comments below.Hit the like button if you enjoyed, and checkout Synology’s storage options via the linksin the video description.Shoutout to them for always supporting educationalcontent here on the channel.I’m EposVox, here to make tech easier andmore fun, and I’ll see you next time.\n"