Here's the most important lesson I learned in 20 years as a Systems Administrator:

You don't have enough backups

It's really that simple. Any one backup will fail eventually. Having multiple backups goes a long way toward mitigating that problem. Having multiple backups in multiple places is even better. Having at least one of those backups in the cloud is best.

You should follow the 3-2-1 Backup Plan:

• Three separate backups
• in two separate places
• at least one of which is off-site
• preferably in the cloud, so that you can retrieve it from anywhere

If you're looking for a cloud backup solution, may I recommend pCloud? It's the solution I use myself. It has a lot of great features, but the most important three are:

• Set-and-Forget - Once you set it up (which is pretty easy), you're done. Any time you save a file to one of the folders you've designated, pCloud will automatically back it up to the cloud. You don't even have to think about it. Convenient!
• Buy-and-Forget - They offer a lifetime subscription. Pay once and you're done. You can buy 500GB or 2TB of storage. Simple!
• Ubiquitous - It works on all three major platforms - Windows, Mac, Linux. Smart!

Fair Notice: That lifetime subscription up there (and here) takes you to my affiliate link. Each time someone buys pCloud through it, I get a bit of change, for which I am most appreciative. So please, feel free to send it to all your friends!

I should also mention Rclone. There are a lot of online document systems (Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, etc.) that give you storage space. Rclone manages all of them, and automates your backups. It's free, and available for pretty much every desktop operating system.

And let's not forget Amazon Photos. If you're already an Amazon Prime customer for their free shipping or the streaming video, you already have access to unlimited photo storage. You should definitely start taking advantage of it!

Jump to: Windows   Macintosh   Linux   Android   iOS

Windows

Product	Benefits	Cost
Acronis True Image 2020	full disc cloning easy efficient secure	$50 & up
Carbonite Safe	Cover for as many devices as you need Manage every aspect of your backups Good level of security	$6/mo Home $24/mo Business
Clonezilla	Bootable Live CD (works with any computer) Unattended mode Encryption Many, many other options	Free
Cobian Backup	Very customizable Encryption (optional) Unfortunately, no wizard for beginners	Free
EaseUS Todo Backup Free	Backup everything from one file to an entire system Scheduled backups Cloud storage	Free/Premium
FBackup	Automatic scheduling Wizard-based setup Unfortunately, no encryption or incremental backups	Free/Premium
GoodSync	Third-party cloud integration Fast	Free
Paragon Backup & Recovery	Wizard-based setup Very customizable Advanced data recovery	Free/Premium
Macrium Reflect	Fast Browse backup contents Differential images	Free/Premium

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Macintosh

Product	Benefits	Cost
Acronis True Image 2020	full disc cloning easy efficient secure	$50 & up
Backblaze	Off-site to Backblaze Scheduling Network limits/throttling	$5/mo/computer
Carbonite	Cover for as many devices as you need Manage every aspect of your backups Good level of security	$6/mo Home $24/mo Business
Clonezilla	Bootable Live CD (works with any computer) Unattended mode Encryption Many, many other options	Free
GoodSync	Third-party cloud integration Fast	Free
Time Machine	Built-in Simple only local backup	Free - built-in

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Linux

Product	Benefits	Cost
Amanda	Database and application protection Fault tolerance Many media options Scheduler Data retention & disposition policies	Free
Bacula	Automatable Wide range of backup devices Command line, GUI, or Web interface	Free
Clonezilla	Bootable Live CD (works with any computer) Unattended mode Encryption Many, many other options	Free
GoodSync	Third-party cloud integration Fast	Free
rsync	Requires little memory Incremental backups available Multiple targets - local & remote Preserves file permissions & ownerships	Free

NOTE: Most of these products are probably already available in your distribution. That's the best way to get them, as they will be automatically updated.

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Android

Product	Benefits	Cost
Let Google do it	Settings->Personal->Backup and reset, and select both Backup my data and Automatic restore Settings->Personal->Accounts & Sync, and select your Google account Select all of the option boxes listed, to ensure that all available data are synced. NOTE: Google doesn't back up text messages, alarms, or playlists (I know, not benefits but instructions)	15G Free 100G $20/yr 200G $30/yr
GoodSync	Third-party cloud integration Fast	Free
MyBackup Pro	Secure backups Backs up text messages, alarms, and playlists along with everything else Local and/or remote backups Automated scheduling	$5

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iOS

Product	Benefits	Cost
Let Apple do it	Settings->[your name]->iCloud Backup Make sure it's turned on optional: Tap Backup Now	5G Free 50G for $1/mo
GoodSync	Third-party cloud integration Fast	Free

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