Started backing up shop data with a 3-2-1 rule after a chat with an old classmate, now I'm second guessing my whole approach

I was at a LAN party last month and my buddy who does IT for a school district straight up told me that my single external drive setup is a disaster waiting to happen. He said he's seen three drives fail in the last year alone, and that got me thinking about how I justify routine backups to customers versus what I actually do with my own gear at home. On one hand, spending 60 bucks on a second drive and rotating them weekly feels like overkill for a small shop. But on the other, I've had to recover a few corrupt hard drives for people and the look on their faces when they lose family photos is brutal. So who here actually follows the 3-2-1 rule for their own bench, and who still wings it like I was? I'd like to know if I'm being paranoid or if my friend's warning was fair.

2 comments

2 Comments

mason_lopez1mo ago

Wait until you have to tell a customer their business invoices are gone because you thought one drive was plenty, then get back to me. I used to wing it too, but then I lost a whole month of my own work when a drive just clicked and died for no reason. Now I have three copies of everything, which is a pain but nowhere near the pain of rebuilding from scratch. Your buddy is right, but also, we've all been lazy at some point, so don't beat yourself up too hard. Just buy that second drive, rotate them like you said, and sleep better at night. It's sixty bucks, not a kidney.

william_garcia1mo ago

Agree completely, that clicking sound is the worst thing in the world. Three copies feels paranoid until the day it saves your whole business, then it feels like the smartest money you ever spent.