Data security and safety

Good Day to All,
As an amateur computerist and never having the training I have become aware of the years of data I've accumulated that is invaluable to me. My current backup plan, which I think is adequate, is make system images of the os drive and the data drive, usually monthly with Paragon to an external drive. Consolidating and upgrading to an SSD has left me with 3 WD 500GB hard drives. I am looking for assistance in using a more resilient backup plan and possibly in the future a NAS. I have read about ReFS with a two way mirror, three-way mirror, Windows Storage Space with Parity are all options. Having unsuccessfully played with setting up Storage space I was hoping for opinions on a real procedure to accomplish my goals. I would still backup to an external drive.
So opinions requested.
Thanks in advance.
glennc

Don't use ReFS. It is still experimental and not recommended by MS at this time. NTFS is more reliable and full featured. Windows Apps don't work on ReFS for example. Whether they work if you restore them back from a backup stored there I don't know. I've not tested it and wouldn't risk it.

How much do you have to backup? Less than 500GB? If so you have 3 disks to use.

If that is the case I would do a full backup on the 1st of those 3 disks and give it to a friend or put it in the bank.

You could set up mirroring on the other two if you are really worried about hardware failure but this will not help if you house burns down or you get a ransomware virus. You could make better use of your disks.

If you get a ransomware virus it will affect all connected disks. I would therefore use the 2nd disk to make backups and then plug in the 3rd one , copy the backup disk onto it and then unplug it again.

For me monthly would be too slow for data. I would use File History to backup changed documents hourly (or daily if you prefer) to your backup drive. This is automated and you don't have to think about it.

I would then do a system image monthly or at whatever frequency you like (onto the same drive) or after installing some software.

This way you are protected from losing data due to hardware failure of your main PC at any time in the last hour (or whatever you chose in File History). You are protected against ransomware since the last time you copied to disk 3, against theft/disaster since the last time you updated Disk 1 you store in the bank or elsewhere.

This is exactly what I do except I make system images rather more rarely than I should (I re-install a lot anyway so I don't care about that really). I do have an intermittent backup at a friends, a (intermittently) connected backup for file history and a non connected backup though.

Whatever you do don't leave all your drives plugged in at all times.

Hello lx07,
Sorry for delay, but I am recovering from catastrophe. My own fault. Couldn't get Paragon to restore my vital data after losing it. No longer have paid support for my Paragon 12 and couldn't get a hold of anybody without a email support ticket, but disappointment rant off. Managed to get it back!
So now the concept of backing up is more than ever important. I am pondering your ideas. Still shaky and still restoring my setup. What a pain. I had been using a system image and just do a restore. I don't really know how to use the mirror system safely and adequately, but that seems to be a good on board solution. Have to get a backup to external drive program that I feel more confident about...................
Thanks
glennc

How much data do you have using Google drive or ms one drive is best for data between them you get 26gigs you simple have to the folder on your he and it's all backed up on its own you can get data anywhere in the world on any device. Store it local if you have a fire or are broken into it's all gone

TairikuOkami said:

Automatic backup is great, in theory, but never forget about simple copy/paste, at least time to time.
The basics are considered to have at least 2 backups, not on the same system: USB, external HDD, cloud.

Best backup & restore freeware for Windows 10, Windows 8.1/8 and Windows 7

RollBack Rx Home | PC Time Machine Windows System Restore Software

Hello TairikuOkami,
Thanks for the software and ideas. With the time it takes to transfer as little as 250 GB, the old USB 2 is painfully slow especially on system images and then doing a verification. I've copied the image to an internal drive and restored it with faster results. Then system imaged it back to the external. I don't cloud.
How secure and safe are the new SSD drives in terms of long life and storage compared to a good hard drive? Two separate copies is going to be my minimum, for sure. Keeping just the real data and photos is an easier chore I would think and will give that a go.
Best,
glennc

Samuria said:

How much data do you have using Google drive or ms one drive is best for data between them you get 26gigs you simple have to the folder on your he and it's all backed up on its own you can get data anywhere in the world on any device. Store it local if you have a fire or are broken into it's all gone

Howdy Samuria,
Thanks for your time and response. Could probably pare down the real necessary data, but I can't get into the idea of cloud storage. It just seems an extra opportunity for problems. Maybe my cup is half empty.
Cheers

Thanks for your personal answers and experience.

TairikuOkami said:

Automatic backup is great, in theory, but never forget about simple copy/paste, at least time to time.
The basics are considered to have at least 2 backups, not on the same system: USB, external HDD, cloud.

Best backup & restore freeware for Windows 10, Windows 8.1/8 and Windows 7

RollBack Rx Home | PC Time Machine Windows System Restore Software

I've found Macrium Reflect failed to auto backup a few times (maybe because I turned off the PC whilst backing up) and the next backup was not scheduled until the next scheduled backup. I now check the backup location to check backups are up to date and perform a manual backup if not.