Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
The 3-2-1 rule suggests keeping at least three copies of every photo, on at least two different media, with at least one somewhere else; that way a failure, a theft or a fire can't destroy all the copies at once. Sync alone isn't a backup, because it also carries deleted and corrupted files to the other side; a versioned backup and a disconnected external drive protect the old versions of files. Automating the backup and tying it to an event, also including alongside the photos the side files and catalogs that carry the edits in which you carefully set a face on every skin, and testing it with a regular restore test turn a backup from a hope into a guarantee.
Learning goal
You will be able to build a backup system that protects your photo archive against a single failure, theft or accident. You will explain which danger each of the three numbers of the 3-2-1 rule stands against; you will tell why sync alone isn't a backup and how a versioned backup brings back deleted or corrupted files; you will take backup out of being a matter of remembering and tie it to a regular habit; and you will test that your backup really works with a restore test; you will learn to include in the backup not only the photos but also the side files that carry the settings with which you carefully edited a face.
The question
A photographer friend of yours falls asleep on an intercity bus. When they wake up, their backpack is gone: inside it were their laptop and the external drive they backed up their archive to every weekend. Five years of photos, the frames of a wedding shoot not yet delivered to the client, the only portraits left from their grandmother's last birthday, all of it was in the same bag. "But I had a backup," they say on the phone; the backup was in the same bag too.
What if all your photos were gone one morning? If your computer were stolen, your drive failed, your home flooded, or you deleted the wrong folder with a click, what would you have left? In this lesson we will talk about a simple rule that protects your photos against all of these possibilities: 3-2-1 backup.
Context
Every hard drive and every memory fails one day; the only question is when. But failure isn't the only thing that threatens an archive. Theft, fire, flood, a power surge, ransomware that locks the computer and encrypts the files, and the most common of all, a person deleting the wrong thing with their own hand, lead to the same result.
Backup, instead of taking a separate measure against each of these possibilities, rests on a single principle: the same event must not be able to destroy all the copies at once. Your friend's backup was a backup, but it didn't follow this principle; the computer and the drive were in the same bag, inside the same event. The 3-2-1 rule turns this principle into three numbers that are easy to remember.
Simple explanation
What does the 3-2-1 rule protect?
The 3-2-1 rule suggests that every photo should have at least three copies, that these copies should sit on at least two different media, and that at least one of them should be kept somewhere else. Three copies means the original file plus two backups. With a single backup, if the backup itself fails too, you are left with nothing; with two backups, the chance of two drives failing at the same time becomes very small.
Two different media make sure the copies don't carry the same weakness of the same kind: the computer's internal drive and an external drive, or an external drive and a cloud service over the internet. Two drives plugged into the same outlet at the same time can go together in a power surge. The copy somewhere else, on the other hand, is against theft, fire and flood: a drive kept at a relative's home or at work, or a cloud service. In your friend's setup, all three numbers were missing: two copies, in the same bag, in the same place.
Why isn't sync a backup?
Sync is a system that keeps two folders, or a folder and a cloud space, identical to each other: a file added to one side is also added to the other. This is handy, but it has a dangerous side: a file deleted on one side is deleted from the other too. When you delete a folder by mistake, or ransomware encrypts your files, sync carries this damage to the other copy within a few seconds.
A versioned backup, on the other hand, also keeps the old versions of files. If you delete a folder today or a file gets corrupted, you can bring back yesterday's or last week's version from the versioned backup. Removing the external drive from the computer after the backup finishes does the same job: a drive that isn't connected isn't affected by a software attack that happens to the computer. A backup's strength isn't only in being a copy, but in staying away from what happens to the original.
How does backup become a habit, and how is it tested?
Backups usually fail not because of a rule, but because they are forgotten. The best remedy is to automate the backup and tie it to an event: after every import to the external drive, every night to the cloud. The settings of the photos you edited usually sit not inside the original file but in the editing program's catalog or in the side file next to the RAW. If you back up only the photos and forget these, the hours of work in which you carefully set a face for the light and the skin won't be in the backup.
A restore test is restoring a random folder from the backup to another place and checking that the files open, are complete, and that the edits came along. A backup that has never been tested is a hope whose usefulness is only learned when it is needed. This small trial, done every few months, shows that the backup is corrupted, incomplete or out of date before disaster comes.
Visual evidence
After your friend's call, you look at your own setup and see two copies: the computer's internal drive and an external drive on the desk that stays connected all the time. You set aside an evening for this. You install a program that takes a versioned backup to the external drive and set it to run after every import, and when the backup is done you remove the drive and put it in a drawer. You take the same backup to another external drive and leave it at your aunt's home, and you go and update it every month. Your files now live in three places: on the computer, in the drawer and at your aunt's home.
Then you do a restore test. From the backup you restore last summer's seaside holiday folder to the desktop. The file count matches; the RAWs and side files have come together. When you open the portrait you took on the beach in the midday sun, the edit you made months ago is in place too: your friend's dark skin stands with the water drops on their shoulder without shining hot, the shadow under their eyes has been opened, and the sunburned nose of the light-skinned younger sister beside them has been kept without being exaggerated. If you had backed up only the photos, you would have had to redo these settings from scratch.
Common mistakes
Common mistakeKeeping the backup in the same place as the original, in the same bag or on the same desk.
Theft, fire or flood takes both together. The fix: keep at least one copy somewhere else, at a relative's, at work or in a cloud service.
Common mistakeThinking sync is a backup.
A deleted or encrypted file is lost on the other side too. The fix: use a versioned backup that also keeps the old versions of files, and remove the external drive after the backup.
Common mistakeNever testing the backup.
A corrupted or incomplete backup is only noticed at the moment of need. The fix: every few months, restore a random folder and check that the files and edits came along.
Summary
The 3-2-1 rule suggests keeping at least three copies of every photo, on at least two different media, with at least one somewhere else; that way a failure, a theft or a fire can't destroy all the copies at once. Sync alone isn't a backup, because it also carries deleted and corrupted files to the other side; a versioned backup and a disconnected external drive protect the old versions of files. Automating the backup and tying it to an event, also including alongside the photos the side files and catalogs that carry the edits in which you carefully set a face on every skin, and testing it with a regular restore test turn a backup from a hope into a guarantee.
Mini assignment
In this assignment you will map out your own backup system according to the 3-2-1 rule and test it.
- Write on a sheet of paper how many copies of your photos there are right now, on which media and in which places they sit.
- Find the number missing according to the 3-2-1 rule: copies, media or somewhere else?
- Tie backup to an event: after every import, or on the same day every week; also include the editing program's catalog and the side files in the backup.
- Restore a random folder from the backup; check the file count, a few frames, and whether the edits came along.
Check yourself
- Is there still a single event that could destroy all your copies at once?
- Can your backup bring back yesterday's version of a file deleted by mistake?
- In a portrait you restored, did the edit you made come from the backup too, regardless of skin tone?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| 3-2-1 rule | The 3-2-1 backup principle, which suggests keeping every file as at least three copies, on two different types of media, with one far away. |
| External drive | A portable drive that connects to the computer with a cable and can be removed after the backup. |
| Sync | A system that keeps two locations identical to each other; a deleted file is carried to the other side too. |
| Versioned backup | A backup that also keeps the old versions of files and can bring back a deleted or corrupted file. |
| Restore test | Restoring a folder from the backup and testing that the files and edits came through complete. |
Mini quiz
1. What does the "1" in the 3-2-1 rule protect against?
- A) Theft, fire and flood
- B) Slow transfer
- C) Wrong white balance
- D) A full memory card
2. You deleted a folder on your computer by mistake, and the folder was syncing to the cloud. What happens?
- A) The copy in the cloud is protected by itself
- B) The deletion is carried to the cloud too, and the folder is lost there as well
- C) The folder is stored compressed
- D) The cloud locks the folder
3. How does a versioned backup differ from sync?
- A) It is faster
- B) It stores only JPEGs
- C) It also keeps the old versions of files
- D) It changes file names
4. You notice that the edits, for example the settings you made for the tone of a face, didn't come along in the RAWs you restored from the backup. What did you most likely forget to back up?
- A) The memory card
- B) The camera's battery
- C) The file names
- D) The editing program's catalog or the RAWs' side files
Answers
- A — A copy somewhere else stays away from the events that affect the place where the original is.
- B — Sync carries the deletion to the other side too.
- C — A versioned backup can bring back the earlier version of a deleted or corrupted file.
- D — Edits usually sit in the catalog or in the side file; if these aren't backed up, the settings are lost.
Summary card
- 3 copies: the original + 2 backups.
- 2 media: internal drive + external drive or cloud.
- 1 somewhere else: against theft, fire, flood.
- Sync isn't a backup; a versioned backup and a removed drive.
- Back up the catalog and side files too; test with a restore test.
Bridge to the next lesson
In your backup system, one copy sits in the drawer and one copy at your aunt's home, and you set off every month to update it. If you moved this copy to a cloud service over the internet, the journey would end; but then new questions come up, like the internet's speed, a monthly fee, and your files sitting on someone else's server. Where should you keep your photos: on a drive at home, or in the cloud? The next lesson compares the two options for speed, security and cost, and closes the module with you building your own archive system.