backup-strategy

Backup Strategy

Everyone means to back up until the drive dies or the phone is lost. This builds a real system on the 3-2-1 rule — three copies, two media, one off-site — sized to your actual data and devices, automated so it happens on its own, and (the step everyone skips) tested by doing a restore, because an untested backup is just a hope.

What This Skill Produces

• A 3-2-1 plan — three copies, on two types of media, with one off-site/cloud, mapped to your devices
• Priorities — what to back up first (irreplaceable photos/documents) vs. what's re-downloadable
• Automation — how to make backups run automatically so they don't depend on remembering
• A restore test — actually recovering a file to prove the backup works
• Resilience — protecting backups from ransomware/accidental-deletion and sync tools propagating a deletion to every copy (versioning, offline copy)

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• Devices & OS — computers, phones, and what platform each is
• What matters most — photos, documents, work files, and roughly how much data
• Current backups — what (if anything) exists now, and whether it's tested
• Budget & comfort — external drives, cloud services, willingness to pay/automate
• Threats of concern — device loss/theft, hardware failure, ransomware, accidental deletion

Framework: 3-2-1, Automated, Tested

1. Apply 3-2-1. Three copies, two different media (e.g. local drive + cloud), one off-site — so no single event (fire, theft, ransomware) takes everything.
2. Prioritize the irreplaceable. Photos, personal documents, and unique work first; apps and media you can re-download come later.
3. Automate it. Scheduled/continuous backup beats manual — the ones you have to remember are the ones that lapse.
4. Protect the backups themselves. Keep at least one copy offline or versioned, so ransomware or a bad sync-delete can't wipe every copy at once.
5. Test the restore. Recover a real file (and ideally a full-system test once). An untested backup fails exactly when it matters.

Output Format

Backup plan: [devices] · [key data] · [budget]

3-2-1 for you

• Copy 1 (primary): [device].
• Copy 2 (local): [external drive / NAS] — automated [how].
• Copy 3 (off-site): [cloud/off-site] — automated [how].

Back up first: [photos, documents, unique work]. Later: [re-downloadable].

Automate: [schedule/tool per device].

Protect backups: [versioning + one offline copy] against ransomware/sync-deletes.

Test: restore [a file] now; full-restore test [once].

Quality Checks

• [ ] Plan follows 3-2-1 (three copies, two media, one off-site)
• [ ] Prioritizes irreplaceable data first
• [ ] Backups are automated, not manual/remembered
• [ ] Includes a restore test, not just a backup
• [ ] Protects backups from ransomware/sync-delete (offline/versioned copy)
• [ ] Tailored to the person's devices and budget

Anti-Patterns

• A single copy on one drive — no redundancy.
• Manual backups that quietly lapse.
• Never testing a restore — discovering it's broken during a crisis.
• All copies online/connected so ransomware or a sync-delete hits them all.
• Backing up everything equally and burying the irreplaceable stuff.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "How should I back up my photos and files properly?"
• "Set me up a backup system for my laptop and phone."
• "I don't want to lose my photos if my phone dies — what do I do?"
• "Is my current backup actually safe from ransomware?"
• "What's the 3-2-1 backup rule and how do I set it up?"