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image The Offline Data Backup Checklist

Prevent data loss by backing up your valuable data! Follow this checklist with backup scripts and documents to perform a professional, regular and comfortable local data backup.

📋 Planning & Preparation

  • 1. Read the documents to plan the best backup strategy.
  • 2. Get hard drives with enough capacity to hold all your data (different types recommended).
  • 3. Label the hard drives by writing the disk size and a unique name onto them (e.g. "4TB BACKUP DISK #1"), then connect them with the computer and rename the disks using the same name.
  • 4. Download this repository (5.8MB), then unzip and copy it as top folder 📁my-backups onto each backup harddisk.
  • 5. Set up a reminder in your digital calendar to back up your data every day/week/month/etc.

💾 How to back up your Data

  • 1. Connect your smartphone to the PC and copy photos into the Pictures folder, documents into the Documents folder, and so on.
  • 2. Connect the next hard drive to the PC and open the top folder 📁my-backups and then 📁backup_scripts.
  • 3. Execute the backup scripts one after another, e.g. 📄save_Pictures.bat which copies your 📁Pictures folder to the backup disk at 📁my-backups/my_data/Pictures
  • 4. Disconnect the hard drive and store it in a separate (!) and secure (!) location.

🪂 How to recover your Data

  • 1. Get the hard drive with the latest (!) backup.
  • 2. Check the hard drive: in case it's damaged read the documents.
  • 3. Connect the hard drive to the PC and open the top folder 📁my-backups and then 📁my_data.
  • 4. Manually copy (=overwrite files) or sync (=overwrite folder content) the missing or corrupted data back to the computer (but DON'T MOVE the data).
  • 5. Disconnect the hard drive and store it in the separate and secure location again.

⚠️ Notes

  • At first a full backup is made (slow for big data) - the next time only changes are copied which is extremely fast.
  • Follow the 3-2-1 rule: Keep 3 copies of any important file (1 primary and 2 backups). Keep the files on 2 different media types to protect against different types of hazards. Store 1 copy offsite (e.g., outside your home or business facility). One of these copies should be stored offline to protect against ransomware attacks.
  • A backup history is available at: 📁my-backups/Logbook.txt (written by the backup scripts automatically).
  • No encryption is performed to keep it simple and robust! Use an encryption program and a vault to protect your backups against unauthorized physical access.
  • Test your backups regularly to ensure that they are working properly. Restore your backups to a test environment and check that all of your data can be accessed as expected.
  • Feedback is welcome! Create a pull request or send your email feedback to: markus.fleschutz [at] gmail.com
  • DISCLAIMER: All informations are given according to my best knowledge, but without guarantee.

🤝 License & Copyright

This open source project is licensed under the CC0-1.0 license. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.