Hey, we can drive! (Pun absolutely intended.) Some days it’s hard to believe that what started as a “crazy” dream in a one-bedroom apartment has evolved into what we’re celebrating today—16 years of blazing on (pun, ahem, also intended).
To mark the occasion, we thought we’d share some of our highlights from past years. If you want to hear co-founder and CEO Gleb Budman talking about our evolution (plus where he thinks cloud storage is going in the future), check out his recent appearance on The Cloudcast podcast.
And, here are some other great moments for your reading and viewing pleasure:
View some of our technical content like our article on Reed-Solomon erasure coding, a history of the Python Gil, and load balancing while managing servers.
You already know there’s much, much more on the Backblaze blog, and we love chatting with folks in article comments and on socials. After all, we wouldn’t be here without all of you!
Thanks for supporting us over the years. If you feel like spreading the love, you can always refer a friend. (You’ll be prompted to log in so that you get credit for the referral.) Your friend will get a month free to try Backblaze, and when they sign up, you’ll get one too!
When you start thinking about backup strategies, it tends to get inside your head. Like Dustin Hoffman’s character in “Rain Man”, seeing equations float around him as he calculates his odds in Vegas, the mental exercise of ensuring your backups have backups of their own tends to manifest itself in the strangest places.
Take, for example, the finale of the Netflix show “Dead to Me” starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. The show wrapped up a few months back and should definitely be moving toward the top of your “I’ve been meaning to watch that” list. And if you have already seen it, I can’t stress enough how much more you pick up on a second time around.
Anyway, to a certain segment of the audience, the climax of the show served as a fitting conclusion to a whole host of storyline threads whose dense weave kept viewers enthralled from the first episode to the last. But to those of us who tend to worry about things like a proper 3-2-1- backup strategy, the final few episodes concealed a subtle message about the importance of proper data backup procedures.
Let’s dig into what “Dead to Me” can teach us about the importance of a good backup strategy.
One: On-site storage on your home device. Your phone, your laptop, your tablet, whatever. If you can physically touch it and your files are in there somewhere, that’s your first copy.
Two: On-site storage on a separate device. This can be an external hard drive, a thumb drive, or if you’re on a Mac, Time Machine. If it’s not physically in the device, but it’s still somewhere close by, that’s your second copy.
Three: Off-site backup. This should automatically scan the files on your device and upload copies to the cloud for safe-keeping. (Pssst, we’re partial to Backblaze’s astonishingly simple cloud back up here).
Okay, So What Does That Have to Do With “Dead to Me”?
There’s kind of a long road ahead, so buckle up.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, or who binged it so long ago you need a refresher, “Dead to Me” follows the story of two friends, Jen (Applegate) and Judy (Cardellini). Jen is a recently widowed mom whose husband Ted had been killed in a hit and run shortly before the show started. Judy is a woman she meets during a group therapy session, who claims to have lost her husband as well.
Only, as it turns out, Judy didn’t lose her husband. They just split up—after an argument that started when they accidentally struck and killed Jen’s husband.
Intrigued yet? We’re only on the first episode.
By the end of the first season, Jen has discovered the truth about Judy (but they’re still friends), Judy is dating a police officer who is investigating the crime she committed, and her ex-husband Steve (James Marsden, playing against his usual type as a jerk) is desperately trying to cover up the crime while avoiding the Greek mafia, who have a contract out on him.
We cannot stress enough that all of this craziness happens in the first season, which ends with Jen accidentally murdering Steve by—of course—cracking him in the head with a wooden bird, which winds up as a critical plot point.
You see tchotchke. I see danger.
From there the plot twists around on itself, throwing every curveball imaginable at you from secret twin brothers to money laundering schemes to torrid affairs (and hey, we already mentioned the Greek mafia). But critical to our point is one plot thread that could have been avoided with a proper backup strategy.
Karen and the… Let’s Call It 2-1 Strategy
A minor character in the first few seasons, Karen is a neighbor of Jen’s who… well, can be kind of a Karen. You know that person in your neighborhood that you suspect reports you to the Homeowner’s Association whenever your grass gets a little too long? That’s her.
As the neighborhood Karen, she has a natural inclination to keep an eye on things. As such, her house is ringed by security cameras. And as we learned in the season two premiere, one of those cameras just happened to spy Steve on his way to Jen’s house the night he was murdered.
Plot twist, right?
Since this is a huge piece of evidence implicating them in the murder they’re actively covering up, Jen and Judy have to ensure that the incriminating footage is destroyed forever. That means deleting the footage, which they discover has been safely stored in the cloud. They first try to convince Jeff, Karen’s ex, to log on and do it (side note: this happens after they discovered he was having an affair with one of Judy’s ex-boyfriends, because this show is bonkers) but unfortunately Karen has changed the password to her cloud storage.
So they have to sweet-talk their way into Karen’s house (greasing the wheels with her favorite dish—Mexican lasagna with extra raisins) and get her to delete the footage off the cloud. It’s a wonderful moment of female camaraderie as they convince Karen that the data on the cloud represents too many painful memories of her time with her ex. And when Karen finally drags the folder to the trash, we cheer her for finding the strength to move on.
Just a couple of friends, deleting files over coffee.
And then, the punchline.
“And if I ever want to see it again, I have it backed up on my hard drive,” she exclaims, holding up her external drive backup. Jen and Judy manage to steal that, and in doing so get away with their crime scot-free.
What Should Karen Have Done?
Look, we get that the show is trying to get us to root for Jen and Judy as our protagonists, but to be honest, murder is one of those things that is a little hard to look past.
Especially given that the FBI was looking into the crime at that point in the show, what Karen did could legally be considered obstruction of justice. Or at least unintended obstruction of justice, which we’re pretty sure is still a crime. (We on the blog team are definitely not lawyers, though.)
Had Karen utilized a proper 3-2-1 strategy, she should have had a third copy—the one on her local drive—even after she was tricked into deleting it from the cloud and handing over her external drive. And, if she was using Backblaze, she would have been able to access an earlier version of her backup with either our standard 30-day version history or Extended Version History. So, she could have pulled a copy even after she deleted it.
The Moral of the Story Is: 3-2-1 Backups Are Still the Best
Karen handed over all the incriminating evidence about the murder to the person who committed it. Which, true, made for a happy ending as far as the show is concerned. But for those of us who can’t seem to get 3-2-1 backup strategies out of our head, she committed a serious blunder. A 2-1 backup strategy just won’t cut it.
And that, folks, is how “Dead to Me” reminds us all once again that a 3-2-1 backup strategy is still the best way to keep your data safe and out of the hands of nefarious, if endearing, murderers.
Today, March 31, is World Backup Day. If you don’t know, now you know! Some years ago, we and other denizens of the internet got together because we felt that the joy of protecting your data was worthy of celebration. Each year on this day, we encourage folks to take the pledge to backup their data. This year, we wanted to share some fun facts we pulled about our Backblaze Personal Backup service, and throw in a few things we’ve learned from our yearly backup poll as well. Spoiler: We do that poll again every year in June for Backup Awareness Month, so come visit us again then and we’ll review the trends.
And, shout out to Simple Maps for providing us with geographic info that we mapped to our data.
The Winners: Which Cities Back Up the Most?
To be clear, we think anyone who’s backing up is a winner. But in this section, we decided to talk about both the cities with the most users per capita and the number of users in a city. Given that the second option rewards bigger cities, we thought it was a little unfair to just present that data.
2022 Top 5 Cities Where You’re Most Likely to Run Into a Backblaze User
Here, we take a look at the cities with the most Backblaze licenses per capita.
Pacific Palisades, CA: 136.6
Winnetka, IL: 129.1
Orinda, CA: 128.2
Beverly Hills, CA: 126.2
Mill Valley, CA: 117.1
Good job California and a very special shout out to Winnetka! Way to go!
2022 Top 5 Cities With the Most Backblaze Users
And, here, we look at cities with the highest number of users.
New York, NY: 8,401
Los Angeles, CA: 6,754
Brooklyn, NY: 5,587
San Francisco, CA: 5,117
Seattle, WA: 5,021
The Potential: The Places We Want to Give Some Back Up Love To
Hey, we get it: we’re passionate about a relatively nerdy thing. (Back up. It’s still back up.) That said, we’re always looking for ways to spread the love and peace of mind that comes from data protection.
2022 Top 5 Cities Least Likely to Run Into a Backblaze User
Here’s where we look at cities with the least Backblaze users per capita.
Lynwood, CA: .14
Arecibo, PR: .17
Trujillo Alto, PR: .17
Carolina, PR: .17
Vega Baja, PR: .18
Clearly, we haven’t been giving Puerto Rico enough love. We’re sorry, Puerto Rico! We’d love to chat about back up with you.
2022 Cities With the Fewest Users
You might be noticing a pattern. Here, we look at cities with the least number of users in our database—so, cities with one license, because there are also cities with zero users. But to figure out which cities those are, we’d have to find a list of ALL the cities in the U.S. and deduplicate it against our list of cities with at least one license. It would be a whole thing. Let it suffice to say, there are cities with zero users, and we hope someday they have more.
Arecibo, PR: 1
Canovanas, PR: 1
Carolina, PR: 1
Lynwood, CA: 1
Trujillo Alto, PR: 1
Vega Baja, PR: 1
Waianae, HI: 1
Given the amount of objectively beautiful places on this list, we’d love to assume you’re all busy outdoors and not stuck behind a computer.
State of Affairs
Okay, we’ve talked about cities, but things get even more interesting when you filter this by state instead. Buckle up, folks!
States With the Most Users Per Capita
Washington, D.C.: 26.04
Vermont: 21.67
Oregon: 21.60
Washington: 20.67
Colorado: 19.99
Finally, a list California didn’t make. (It’s number seven.) It’s super interesting when you compare this to the cities with the most users per capita, especially because our winner in that category has 136.6 compared to our winner here with 26.04.
Even if you take out Washington, D.C. (some folks might argue that it’s more fair to call it a city), Vermont comes in with 21.67 statewide. That’s less than a fifth of the concentration of users you’d find in Pacific Palisades, CA.
States With The Most Cities With Only One License Per Capita
Some nuance here: This doesn’t mean states with the least number users, but rather states with the most cities with only one license. So, in essence, this list favors states that have a lot of cities.
Pennsylvania—177
New York—172
Texas—166
Illinois—126
Ohio—126
Iowa—112
Minnesota—111
Michigan—111
California—106
Indiana—101
Look at that! Some of our standouts above become a little less impressive when you get here. And, we’d like to note that California has made all but one of the lists so far: proof that backup stories are no simple matter of “best” and “worst”.
The Even Bigger Picture
There are even more stories to tell when you compare this to our yearly backup poll. According to our data, only 12% of computer users use a cloud backup service like Backblaze. That means that the numbers we’re showing you here are a portion of the 12% of computer owners overall.
Still, the person most likely to be a backer upper—someone who owns a computer and backs it up at least once a day—likely lives in the Western United States. Even though we’re working with a smaller data set, it’s interesting to see that our data still reflects overall trends.
Celebrate With Us!
We hope you enjoyed our foray into data as much as we did. Feel free to take the World Backup Day pledge, reach out to us on socials, or comment below if you want to know more. And, check back in June to see the newest backup survey.
This article has been updated since it was originally published in 2023.
Solid state drives (SSDs) continue to grow in popularity, and no wonder. Compared to hard disk drives (HDDs), they are faster, smaller, more power efficient, and sturdier since they have no moving parts to jostle around. And, they are becoming available in larger and larger capacities while their cost comes down.
But are they really as dependable as they claim to be? SSDs still have vulnerabilities, and storage tech that lasts thousands of years isn’t commercially viable (yet!).
In this post we’re going to consider the issue of SSD reliability. We’ll take a closer look at:
SSD tech.
SSD storage memory.
Reliability factors.
Signs of SSD failure.
So, how reliable is an SSD? Let’s dig in.
But First, Back It Up
Of course, as a data storage and backup company, you know what we’re going to say right off: No matter how you store your data, you should always back it up. Even if your data is stored on a brand new SSD, it won’t do you any good if your computer is stolen, destroyed by a flood, or lost in a fire or other act of nature. We recommend using a 3-2-1 backup strategy to safeguard your data.
SSD Tech
Almost all types of today’s SSDs use NAND flash memory. NAND isn’t an acronym like a lot of computer terms. Instead, it’s a name that’s derived from its logic gate, the basic building block of its memory cells, called “NOT AND.” (For the curious, a NAND gate is a logic gate that produces an output that is false only if all its inputs are true.)
Flash (the term following NAND) refers to a non-volatile solid state memory that retains data even when the power source is removed.
NAND storage has specific properties that affect how long it will last. NAND flash memory works by storing data in individual memory cells organized in a grid-like array. When data (a 1 or a 0) is written to a NAND cell (also known as programming), the data must be erased before new data can be written to that same cell. When writing and erasing a NAND cell, electrons are sent through an insulator and back, and the insulator starts to wear. Eventually, the insulator wears to the point where it may have difficulty keeping the electrons in their correct (programmed) location, which makes it increasingly more difficult to determine if the electrons are where they should be and to indicate the correct value (1 or 0) of the cell.
This means that flash type memory cells can only be reliably programmed and erased a given number of times. This is measured in programmed/erase cycles, more commonly known as P/E cycles.
P/E cycles are an important measurement of SSD reliability, but there are other factors that are important to consider as well including TBW (terabytes written) and MTBF (mean time between failures). Here are a few definitions to help keep everything straight:
Programmed/Erase Cycles (P/E Cycles)
A P/E cycle in solid state storage involves writing data to a NAND flash memory cell then erasing that data, so it is ready to be rewritten. The endurance of an SSD, measured in P/E cycles, varies depending on the technology, but typically falls somewhere between 500 and 100,000 P/E cycles.
Terabytes Written (TBW)
Terabytes written is the total amount of data that can be written to an SSD before it is likely to fail. For example, here are the TBW warranties for the popular Samsung V-NAND SSD 870 EVO:
250GB model: 150TBW
500GB model: 300TBW
1TB model: 600TBW
2TB model: 1,200TBW
4TB model: 2,400TBW
All of these models are warrantied for five years or TBW, whichever comes first.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
MTBF is a metric used to gauge the reliability of a hardware component throughout its anticipated lifespan. For most components, the measure is typically in thousands or even tens of thousands of hours between failures. For example, an HDD may have a mean time between failures of 300,000 hours, while an SSD might have 1.5 million hours.
Manufacturers provide these specifications for their products. They can help you understand your drives’ expected lifespan as well as its suitability for specific applications.
Be careful when reviewing the specifications though, as they don’t guarantee your particular SSD will last for that specific duration. Rather, they indicate that, based on a sample set of the SSD model, errors are anticipated to occur at a certain rate. A 1.2 million hour MTBF means that, assuming the drive is used at an average of eight hours a day, a sample size of 1,000 SSDs would be expected to have one failure every 150 days, or about twice a year.
Today, many SSDs come with a utility which monitors the life expectancy of the drive. Their recommendations are based on monitoring the SMART attributes of the drive. As we discussed in a previous post, there is little consistency between the different SSD manufacturers in what attributes they monitor and how they calculate drive life expectancy. Therefore, it is important that you read the manual for your particular SSD if you are interested in using this information to decide when to replace your SSD.
SSD Storage Memory
There are currently five different NAND flash cell technologies based on the number of bits stored per cell, which we’ll discuss below. Generally, as the number of bits stored per cell increases, the cost per bit decreases, but endurance and performance may decrease as well.
SLC (Single Level Cell): One Bit Per Cell
SLC was the first type of NAND flash storage developed. It stores one bit per cell. SLC storage is fast and wear is minimal. On the downside, it’s not space-efficient; that is, the physical size of the SSD form factor used.
MLC (Multi-Level Cell): Two Bits Per Cell
MLC stores two bits per cell. This basically doubled the amount of storage and lowered the cost for a given form factor. But MLC is slower as it has to distinguish between the two bits in a given cell.
TLC (Triple Level Cell): Three Bits Per Cell
The trend continued with TLC where three bits are stored per cell. This advancement had two interesting consequences. First, the unit cost started to be appealing to most audiences. While still two to three times as expensive as a comparable hard drive, a TLC-based SSD was affordable. Second, the TLC technology hastened the introduction of caching within the SSD, as the unaided read/write speeds had dipped to near those of a hard drive.
QLC (Quad Level Cell): Four Bits Per Cell
QLC is the current “standard.” It stores four bits per cell. This increases storage density yet again, lowers the price even more, and, with caching improvements, continues to deliver superior speed. On the downside, the drive can wear out sooner, especially as it fills up.
3D NAND
In the previous technologies the cells are side by side in a single, two-dimensional layer—this design is described as planar. In 3D NAND, the cells are stacked three-dimensionally. This improves storage density and speed, but increases the manufacturing cost and lowers endurance over time.
In general SLC and MLC are faster and last longer, but are limited to the amount of space. TLC and QLC technologies can store data at a lower cost, but may be slower. However, the difference in speed is probably negligible for the average consumer, and is sometimes made up for by things like dynamic caching. The 3D NAND technology is a great choice, but be prepared to pay more.
SSD Reliability Factors to Consider
Compared to HDDs, SSDs are sturdier. Since they don’t have moving parts like actuator arms and spinning platters, they can withstand accidental drops and other shocks, vibration, extreme temperatures, and magnetic fields better than HDDs. Add to that their small size and lower power consumption, and the idea of replacing HDDs with SSDs could be worth the time and effort.
That’s not exactly the whole story though. There are different performance and reliability criteria you should use depending on whether the SSD will be used in a home desktop computer, a data center, or an exploration vehicle on Mars. And SSD manufacturers are increasingly marketing SSDs for specific workloads such as write-intensive, read-intensive, or mixed-use. What that means is that you can select the optimal level of SSD endurance and capacity for a particular use case.
For instance, an enterprise user with a high-transaction database might opt for a drive that can withstand a higher number of writes at the expense of capacity. Or, a user operating a database that doesn’t get frequent writes might choose a lower performance drive with a higher capacity. By doing this, the manufacturers are hiding the complexity embedded in the technology like storage NAND (SLC, MLC, etc), caching, and so on. That said, it does make it easier to match your requirements to the best type of SSD.
Signs of SSD Failure
You’ve likely encountered the dreaded clicking sound that emanates from a dying HDD. An SSD has no moving parts, so you won’t get an audible warning that an SSD is about to fail, but there are usually other signs of when that’s going to happen. If you start to notice any of them, take action by replacing that drive with a new one. Indicators that your SSD is nearing its end of life include:
1) Errors Involving Bad Blocks
Much like bad sectors on HDDs, there are bad blocks on SSDs. If you have a bad block, the computer will typically try to read or save a file, but it takes an unusually long time and ends in failure, so the system eventually gives up and sends an error message.
2) Files Cannot Be Read or Written
There are two ways in which a bad block can affect your files. First, the system detects the bad block while writing data to the drive, and thus refuses to write data, or second, the system detects the bad block after the data has been written, and thus refuses to read that data.
3) The File System Needs Repair
Getting an error message like this on your screen can happen simply because the computer was not shut down properly, but it also could be a sign of an SSD developing bad blocks or other problems.
4) Crashing During Boot
A crash during the computer boot is a sign that your drive could be developing a problem. You should make sure you have a current backup of all your data before it gets worse and the drive fails completely.
5) The Drive Becomes Read-Only
Your drive might refuse to write any more data to disk and can only read data. Fortunately, you can still get your data off the disk, and you should.
So, How Reliable Is an SSD?
Let’s break down the reliability of SSDs into three, more specific questions:
Question 1: How long can we reasonably expect an SSD to last?
Answer: An SSD should ideally last as long as its manufacturer expects it to last (generally five years), provided that the use of the drive is not excessive for the technology it employs (e.g. using a QLC in an application with a high number of writes). Consult the manufacturer’s recommendations to ensure that how you’re using the SSD matches its best use.
Here at Backblaze we use SSDs for many different applications. The one use case we have rigorous reliability data for is as boot drives in our storage servers. This cohort of drives does more than boot these servers; they also write, store, read, and delete log files of various types recorded by the storage servers on a daily basis. The latest Drive Stats SSD Edition illuminates the reliability of the drive models we use for this purpose.
Question 2: Do SSDs fail faster than HDDs?
Answer: There are many variables in comparing the reliability of HDDs and SSDs, the primary one being how they are used. In the SSD Drive Stats report noted above, we compared SSD and HDD boot drives as they performed the same function in the same types of systems, storage servers. While it seems in the first three years or so the different drives are similar in their failure curves, the curves separate after four years, with the HDDs failing at a higher rate. So far the SSDs have maintained a 1% or less Annualized Failure Rate (AFR) through the first four years.
SSD users are far more likely to replace their storage drive because they’re ready to upgrade to a newer technology, higher capacity, or faster drive, than having to replace the drive due to a short lifespan. Under normal use we can expect an SSD to last years. If you replace your computer every three years, as most users do, then you probably needn’t worry about whether your SSD will last as long as your computer. What’s important is whether the SSD will be sufficiently reliable that you won’t lose your data during its lifetime.
Question 3: Are SSDs good for long-term storage?
Answer: SSDs, like hard drives, are meant to be used. An external drive stuffed into a closet for a couple of years is never a good thing, and it doesn’t matter whether it is an SSD or HDD inside. The evidence of whether an SSD will fare better than a HDD in such a circumstance is anecdotal at best. Still, it is better to use an external drive as a backup of your computer as part of your backup plan—just don’t make it your only backup.
Summary
It’s good to understand how the different SSD technologies affect their reliability, and whether it’s worth it to spend extra money for SLC over MLC or QLC. However, unless you’re using an SSD in a specialized application with more writes than reads as we described above, just selecting a good quality SSD from a reputable manufacturer should be enough to make you feel confident that your SSD will have a useful life span.
Keep an eye out for any signs of failure or bad sectors, and, of course, be sure to have a solid backup plan no matter what type of drive you’re using.
FAQs
1. How do you measure SSD reliability?
There are a number of metrics that can help you understand SSD reliability, including programmed/erase (P/E) cycles, terabytes written (TBW), and mean time between failures (MBTF). These metrics alone won’t be able to tell you how long a given SSD will last, but they can help you understand roughly where your SSD is in its lifecycle. Check the manufacturer’s warranty and endurance rating in TBW. Higher values indicate better durability.
2. What are programmed/erase (P/E) cycles?
A solid-state storage programmed/erase (P/E) cycle is a sequence of events in which data is written to a solid-state NAND flash memory cell, then erased, and then rewritten. How many P/E cycles a SSD can endure varies with the technology used, somewhere between 500 to 100,000 P/E cycles.
3. What SSD should I buy?
The ideal SSD to buy depends on your specific needs. Consider factors like capacity, speed, and budget. For most users, a mid-range SSD from a reputable brand offers a good balance of performance and affordability. SSD manufacturers are increasingly marketing SSDs for specific workloads such as write-intensive, read-intensive, or mixed-use. What that means is that you can select the optimal level of SSD endurance and capacity for a particular use case. For instance, an enterprise user with a high-transaction database might opt for a drive that can withstand a higher number of writes at the expense of capacity. Or, a user operating a database that doesn’t get frequent writes might choose a lower performance drive with a higher capacity.
4. How do I know my SSD is going to fail?
SSDs will eventually fail, but there usually are advance warnings of when that’s going to happen. Some warning signs include errors involving bad blocks, being unable to read or write files, getting error messages that the file system needs repair, crashes during boot, or when your drive becomes read-only. When this happens, make sure you have a good backup.
5. How long can I expect an SSD to last?
An SSD should ideally last as long as its manufacturer expects it to last (generally five years), provided that the use of the drive is not excessive for the technology it employs. Consult the manufacturer’s recommendations to ensure that how you’re using the SSD matches its best use.
6. Do SSDs fail faster than HDDs?
There are many variables in comparing the reliability of HDDs and SSDs, the primary one being how they are used. SSD users are far more likely to replace their storage drive because they’re ready to upgrade to a newer technology, higher capacity, or faster drive, than having to replace the drive due to a short lifespan. Under normal use we can expect an SSD to last years. If you replace your computer every three years, as most users do, then you probably needn’t worry about whether your SSD will last as long as your computer. What’s important is whether the SSD will be sufficiently reliable that you won’t lose your data during its lifetime.
7. Are SSDs good for long-term storage?
SSDs, like hard drives, are meant to be used. An external drive stuffed into a closet for a couple of years is never a good thing, and it doesn’t matter whether it is an SSD or HDD inside. The evidence of whether an SSD will fare better than a HDD in such a circumstance is anecdotal at best. Still, it is better to use an external drive as a backup of your computer as part of your backup plan—just don’t make it your only backup.
Quick! You have 10 minutes to get your most important documents out of your house. What do you need?
Here’s another scenario: you’re away from home and you find out there was a fire. Are you confident that you have all your important information somewhere you can access?
It’s never fun to imagine disaster scenarios, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the necessary preparation. Building a good emergency kit checklist—and digitizing the things you can—is one of the easiest things you can do to give yourself peace of mind. Today, I’m covering all the things that can and should go into your digital go bag.
Editor’s Note
We’ve had this article on our calendar for a while now, and it’s part of our campaign to celebrate World Backup Day. But, we never want to be the ones shifting the focus from the victims of natural disasters. With the devastating storms that rolled through the U.S. South and beyond this weekend, we wanted to take a moment to say that our thoughts are with everyone affected, and if you have the ability to donate, this is a great boots-on-the-ground charity helping folks out right now.
Disaster Prep: Better Known as Recovery Planning
It may seem far-fetched that you’ll be in the position to get the essentials in only 10 minutes, but speaking from personal experience, that’s exactly what happened to me when the 2003 Cedar Fire struck in San Diego—there’s nothing like seeing your friends’ homes on the national news, let me tell you. And, having spent much of my adult life in hurricane-prone New Orleans, disaster readiness is just a way of life. It’s common to discuss the incoming storms with the old-timers in your neighborhood bar over a $2 afternoon High Life, and they are almost always right in predicting if a hurricane is going to turn and hit Florida.
And you always know it’s a serious weather event when Jim Cantore comes to town. Source.
One of the things these experiences have taught me is that disasters and recovery happen in stages. There’s the inciting event—a house fire, a hurricane, etc.—and then there’s the displacement and recovery. You’re trying to call an insurance company when the lines are all tied up, and when you finally get through, you need to give them information that they need when you’re far from home and in crisis. You may have renter’s insurance, but when you’re trying to re-buy your book collection, really, which ones did you have? And, there are some things that can’t be replaced—photos are a great example. Finding a way to organize and digitize these things means that you don’t have to worry about stuff when you should be worrying about people.
All that to say, the more you can do to be prepared ahead of time, the better. That means not only having your documents in a place you can access, but also knowing what documents you need in the first place. While this type of file organization started out in response to natural disasters, it’s actually helped in many other ways—I always know where my files are to give to my tax guy, and I’ve implemented a good 3-2-1 backup strategy, which means I’m confident my data is protected and accessible.
As it happens, there’s a name for this type of intentional preparation when you’re building an emergency kit: folks call those kits go bags. It makes sense right? You have a bag that holds the things you need to go. These days, though, many of the things that you’d traditionally include in that physical bag can also be digitized. So, with all that in mind, let’s talk about how to build your (digital) go bag.
What Documents Do I Need in My Emergency Kit?
A little caveat here: just because you can digitize something, doesn’t mean that should be your only copy. There are some things that you just flat-out need to have in person, like your driver’s license, though some states have experimented with digital wallets that contain official, legal copies of those things. Nevertheless, having a digital backup of your important physical documents means that you’ll have the information to replace them should you need to.
After that, you can break your go bag checklist into a few different categories.
These are all the things you need to prove you are who you say you are, and to prove that your kids, pets, and spouse are, in fact, your kids, pets, and spouse. It may seem like this isn’t important, but there were whole organizations dedicated to reuniting pets with their rightful owners after Hurricane Katrina—and it wasn’t easy. And, imagine if you’ve divorced and don’t have custody papers in an emergency. Sure, courts have records of those agreements, but sometimes those papers take weeks or months to get copies of.
The List
Vital Records: Birth certificates, marriage agreements, divorce decrees, adoption or custody papers.
Identity Records: Passports, driver’s license, i.d. card, Social Security card, green card, visa, military service i.d.
Pet Records: Pet ownership papers, identification tags, microchip information.
Your dog, blissfully unaware that your legal relationship to each other is documented.
Financial and Legal Information
If your home or income is affected during a disaster, you’ll need documentation to request assistance from your insurance company or government disaster assistance programs. Remember that even after you get assistance, all that comes with tax implications down the road (for better or worse). Both of those processes take time, so in addition to having your information organized and ready to go, try to keep some emergency cash on hand during high-risk time periods.
The List
Housing Documents: Lease or rental agreements, mortgage agreement, home equity line of credit, house or property deed, lists of/receipts for repairs.
Note: Don’t forget to document your property! Make a list of items covered by insurance with their estimated values, and take pictures of all that stuff.
Sources of Income: Pay stubs, government benefits, alimony, child support, rent payments, 1099 income.
Tax Statements: Federal/state income tax returns, property tax, vehicle tax.
Estates Planning: Wills, trusts, powers of attorney.
Medical Information
Even more so than the other sections on this list, it’s important to make sure you have thorough documentation for each member of your household. Remember that there are some items on this list that you’ll need sooner rather than later—think prescription refills. And, make sure that allergy information is front and center, especially life-threatening allergies (like to seafood or nuts).
The List
Insurance Information: Health and dental insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration (VA) health benefits.
Medical Records: List of medications, illnesses/disabilities, immunizations, allergies, prescriptions, medical equipment and devices, pharmacy information.
Legal Documents: Living will, medical powers of attorney, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) documents, caregiver agency contracts, disabilities documentations, Social Security (SSI) benefits information.
Contact Information: A list of doctors, specialists, dentists, pediatricians.
(Emergency) Contact Info
Finally, you’ll want all of the contact information you may need in one place—it’ll save you time and headaches when you’re trying to make calls, plus you may be able to delegate some phone calls to others. The exercise itself is useful to help you remember any miscellaneous items you may have forgotten in your other documents. Bonus: you can keep a list of extensions or direct phone lines and skip the automated phone tree.
Press one for more options.
The List
Employers
Schools
Houses of worship
Homeowners’ associations
Home repair services
Relatives/emergency contacts
Utility companies
Insurance companies
Lawyers
Local non-emergency services
Government agencies
Valuables and Priceless Personal Items
Most of the things that fit in this section aren’t able to be digitized—your wedding dress, heirlooms, jewelry, and the like. Still, don’t forget that those things may have a paper trail you want to keep in your records, especially if you have additional insurance on things like the jewelry.
And, you can never forget to mention photos in this section. While most of us are now in the habit of using our smartphones as cameras, so most of our new photos are already stored in the cloud, don’t forget to digitize all of your photos, including the ones passed down by relatives, taken by professionals, and so on. And, even though it seems like our phones are safer than other formats, you’ll want to back up your mobile devices as well.
Go Bag: Go for Backups
Here’s the short answer to the question of what to digitize: anything you can. Even if the digital copies aren’t legally acceptable, like in our i.d. example above, you’ll at least have the information to fill out online forms or re-order the documents as necessary.
Once you have digital copies of all of these documents, it’s also easy to backup your information. We recommend that you follow a 3-2-1 backup strategy: having three copies of your files in two separate locations with one of those locations off-site. That way, you can grab your documents and go if you’re at home, or if the worst happens and you can’t access that on-site information, you can access all that information in the cloud.
The 3-2-1 backup strategy: always a great idea.
Is My Go Bag Safe Online?
Good question. This is the most important information in your life, and we’re asking you to store it all online, the playground of cybercriminals. There’s a lot you can do to protect yourself, though. You’ve already achieved one of those things: setting up a backup strategy. You should also store your data in a secure location. Watch out for clever phishing attempts. And, make sure you follow password best practices, including setting up multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Make It a Holiday to Update Your Information Regularly
Remember that a lot of the information on this list will change over time. Maybe you’re the type of person who remembers to update their files continuously or when something big changes, but it’s a good idea to set one day per year (Around tax day? Maybe going into hurricane season? Groundhog’s Day?) that you intentionally set as Update Important Information Day. (We’re big fans of holidays that combine the whimsical and the practical here at Backblaze.) Feel free to workshop the holiday title and celebrate judiciously. Then, use a backup service like Backblaze Personal Backup that continuously and automatically backs up your data, and you’ll be pretty well prepared for whatever life throws at you.
Ah, football. A beautiful 18 weeks from September to January when we cheer for our favorite teams, eat an uncomfortable amount of dippable appetizers and hand-held foodstuffs, and generally have more exciting Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays than the rest of the year. And of course, Super Bowl Sunday is the pinnacle of all that joy.
One of the things that we love about football is that it’s given us some incredible moments proving the importance of—you guessed it—backups. Sure, there are only 11 players on the field at any one time, but the team roster has 53 players total, and there’s a reason for that. At any time, the players toward the bottom of the roster could be called up to save the day. And we at Backblaze celebrate times when backups shine.
So, let’s talk about some of our favorite (football) backups of all time and relive those exciting moments.
The Highlight Reel
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers, 2022
We’re based in San Mateo which means we’ve got a lot of Niners fans here at Backblaze. So, you can imagine the joy (and heartbreak) in our office this year. Brock Purdy was the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, therefore this season’s Mr. Irrelevant. (We know. It’s kind of mean, but we didn’t make up the name.)
As a third string QB in his rookie season, Purdy likely imagined he’d have little to no play time. Then, first string QB Trey Lance went out with an injury in week two, and Jimmy Garoppolo followed in week 13. Purdy started his first game against the Buccaneers and became the only quarterback in his first career start to beat a team led by Tom Brady.
Backup Steward Yev Pusin rocking his Purdy shirt in the Backblaze offices.
Backblaze’s Ryan Hopkins repping his love for the Chiefs.
After winning the Wild Card game, he suffered an injury to his right elbow, and then his replacement Josh Johnson got a concussion. Sadly, that meant the 49ers were out for the season, but there’s no argument that Purdy outperformed everyone’s expectations. What a backup! (And we hope everyone recovers well.)
We’d like to note here that part of the reason the Niners’ backups got to shine is that the offensive line was so strong this year, so shout out to all the players who put in that work.
The Backup Bottom Line: In our minds, the ability to protect your backups is the hallmark of any good backup strategy.
Max McGee, Green Bay Packers, 1966
This one is truly the stuff of legends, and we need to set the historical stage a bit to truly squeeze the juice, as they say.
The Super Bowl we know and love today pits the two conferences of the NFL against each other. But, back in the day, the Super Bowl was created because oil heir Lamar Hunt created an upstart league called the American Football League (AFL). After a contentious draft, player poaching, and so on, the AFL was looking to prove its legitimacy by challenging the established NFL teams—and so, in 1966, the first Super Bowl was held.
Backblazer Crystal Matina at a game.
Her daughter Chiara (right) showing Niners love from a young age.
The Green Bay Packers, helmed by the great Vince Lombardi, won the NFL Championship versus the Cowboys and earned the right to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I. Lombardi was reportedly extremely invested in defending the honor of the NFL, and he raised the penalties for breaking curfew to record-high levels. However, that didn’t stop Max McGee.
McGee had gone pro in 1954, and, at that point in 1962, was seemingly close to retirement. That season, he’d only caught four passes total and did not expect to play in the Super Bowl. So, he made plans with two flight attendants and spent the night before the big game drinking, eventually returning to the hotel at 6:30 a.m. game day. (We won’t speculate on what else happened, though Sports Illustrated wrote a fantastic article about McGee.)
In what now only seems fateful, starting receiver Boyd Dowler suffered a shoulder injury in the second drive and was out of the game. A few plays later, hungover and sleep deprived, McGee made a one-handed catch and ran 37 yards to score the first touchdown of the game—the first touchdown in Super Bowl history. By the end of it all, he had 138 receiving yards and two touchdowns, contributing to the Packers’ victory.
McGee went on to retire the following season, but he will never be forgotten.
The Backup Bottom Line: Just like a computer backup, McGee was there when the team most needed him and least suspected it.
Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, 2012–2013
Nick Foles is a great example of someone who found himself bouncing between backup and starter. If you’re not familiar with the Eagles’ 2012 season, their overall record was a dismal four wins, 12 losses. Midseason, starting QB Michael Vick suffered a concussion and Foles got his chance. He started Week 14’s game against the Bucs, and delivered the Eagles’ first win since game four.
When the 2013 season rolled around, the Eagles weren’t quite ready to part ways with Vick. Vick won the starter spot with excellent preseason play, while Foles only gave an average performance. But, when Vick suffered a hamstring injury, Foles again stepped in. By weeks nine and 10, Foles was putting up extremely high passer ratings, and became the first quarterback in NFL history to post passer ratings above 149 in consecutive weeks. He led the team to the NFC East division title and the Wild Card playoffs, and then lost to the Saints who scored a last minute field goal to advance.
Ryan Ross bringing the Bills pride!
Backblaze Editor Molly Clancy showing up for the Steelers.
Still, the Eagles ended the 2013 season 10–6, a huge improvement from 2012. After an unsuccessful 2014 season, Foles was traded to the Rams. Since then, he’s repeated this same story with the Eagles in 2017 and 2018, but couldn’t seem to make the same magic with the Jaguars (due to injury), the Bears, or the Colts. Ultimately, Foles may be a backup, but he’s responsible for some insane stats—including the best touchdown-interception ratio in the season (2013) and putting up a perfect passer rating in a game (2013, Eagles vs. Raiders).
The Backup Bottom Line: You can never count out your backups. Just when you think they’re an artifact, they bring your best moments back to you.
Darren Sproles, San Diego Chargers, 2005–2011
Speaking of insane stats, let’s talk Darren Sproles. Calling out my bias here, I’m a huge Darren Sproles fan. Also, like Sproles, I spent my youth with the Chargers, then moved onwards and upwards to the Saints. (Yes, San Diego is still salty about the move to L.A. No, I didn’t randomly choose the Saints.)
If you’re unfamiliar with Darren Sproles, he has what is likely the least-probable body type for football, at just 5’6, 190 lbs. I can’t imagine how many times he was likely told to consider football an unrealistic dream by a well-meaning adult in his life. On the other hand, he’s incredibly fast, super powerful in the pocket, and can change directions on a dime. (Plus, it goes without saying he can take a hit.) When Sproles was on the Chargers, word on the street was that he benched more than any player on the O-line.
The author in her natural habitat, diligently writing this article for you.
Lily, a very gifted linebacker and roommate of Backblazer Nicole Gale.
At the time, first string running back LaDainian Tomlinson (LT) was—there’s no other word for it—crushing it. Widely regarded as one of the best receivers of all time, he has a career 624 receptions, with 100 of those in the Chargers’ 2001 season. He’s currently 7th place in overall rushing yards, with 13,684 career yards. When Sproles joined the team in 2005, he was third string behind LT and Michael Turner (also an incredible running back, and he almost made our list here).
As Sproles became a big part of the Chargers’ offensive strategy, things became more balanced. That’s not because Darren Sproles was in competition for the top spot; Sproles is a scat back and a specialist in conversions. When it’s third down and you need yards, you want Sproles to have the ball.
Sproles is also an incredible special teams player, so he was often doing double duty in games. When the Chargers played the Colts in 2007, Sproles made history by returning a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns. In 2008, he became the second player in NFL history with 50 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, and 100 return yards in one game. In 2010, he appeared in all 16 games, with 59 receptions, 50 carries, 51 kick returns, and 24 punt returns.
Sproles went to the Saints in 2011, and in that season, he broke the NFL record for single-season all purpose yardage—2,696 yards. At this point, he’s ranked 6th in career all-purpose yards in NFL history, with 19,696 yards. LaDanian Tomlinson is ranked 10th, with 18,456 yards.
The Backup Bottom Line: Your backups fulfill a totally different purpose than your active data, and often they’re working better (by some measures).
The 49ers fans are back with Backblaze’s Nico Azizian.
Earl Morrall started his career in 1956 as a quarterback and occasional punter. To summarize the first decade or so of his NFL career, he played capably and suffered a few major injuries at key times.
In 1968, he found himself playing for the Baltimore Colts as second string to Hall-of-Famer Johnny Unitas. When Unitas was injured during preseason, Morrall was left to lead the offense, and the team went 13–1 in the regular season. Morrall led the league with 26 touchdowns, and threw for 2,909 yards. After a shutout in the NFL Championship (remember: this is in the days where the American Football League existed), the Colts advanced to Super Bowl III. Widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history, the Colts lost the Super Bowl after Morrall threw three interceptions, and Unitas came in late in the game and scored the only touchdown of the game. The Colts later won Super Bowl V—which was also the first year after the NFL bought the AFL, and thus the Super Bowl was the ultimate championship in the NFL.
Despite his success, backing up was as far as Morrall would get with the Colts, and in 1972, Morrall went to the Miami Dolphins. Football fans probably already know: In 1972, the Miami Dolphins achieved the first and only perfect season in NFL history. And in game five of that perfect season, starting quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle—leaving Morrall to start the remaining nine games of the season. In the postseason, he started the Divisional playoff game and the AFC Championship, though Griese came back in the third quarter to finish that one out and then started in the Super Bowl. To make that math simple: That means that in the 1972 Dolphins perfect season, Morrall started 11 of the 17 total games.
Backblaze’s Juan Lopez-Nava shares another perfect thing in football: his pup and dedicated 49ers fan, Mila.
Morrall went on to retire from the Dolphins in 1977 with only sporadic playtime marking the time in between.
The Backup Bottom Line: It just goes to show: having a great backup means that you can rely on the system to work, even if key parts of your initial strategy go down.
Even Our Backup Stories Had Backups
When we first started talking about this article, we were sure there’d be great backup stories, but it’s incredible how many we found. We have a whole list of players whose moments didn’t get highlighted in this piece simply because we ran out of space, and, frankly, some of them are just as impressive (maybe even more so?) when compared to those above. If you want to do some further investigation, check out Geno Smith, Teddy Bridgewater, Michael Turner, Kurt Warner, Jeff Hofstetler, Trey McBride, Cordarrelle Patterson, Devin Hester—and then let us know who else you turn up in the comments section, because we’re sure we missed some good stories.
If you follow the Backblaze blog, you’ve likely come across some of our “How to Back Up Your Life” posts. We’re interested in helping you, our readers, design the best backup plan for your needs, regardless of what your setup is, what social networks you’re on, or if you’re on a Mac or a PC.
The guides in this series help you protect your content across many different platforms. We’re working on developing this list—please comment below if you’d like to see another platform covered.
Recently, we heard that Dropbox released a backup product and wrote an article comparing our two services. (We’re flattered that they consider Backblaze to be the gold standard to compare to!) We thought we’d take this opportunity to respond, mostly because we want our library of guides to include their new offering, and a little bit because, well, there were some interesting interpretations included in the article.
Without further ado, our thoughts on the differences between Backblaze and Dropbox backup.
Backup vs. Sync
Dropbox started out as a syncing service, which, as we’ve noted before, is not the same as a backup service. When you’re using a sync service, you can easily delete or change a file, save it, and then lose the one you actually wanted to keep. This is one of the big reasons you should back up, even if your files are synced.
Over the past several years, Dropbox has been expanding their offerings, including file transfer, document signing, and now backup. It makes a lot of sense if you want to be a leading file management system. But, does Dropbox Backup stack up as a functional, independent product—or is it more of an add-on they’re offering to their sync functionality?
A Quick Note on Citing Your Sources…
When I set out to write this article, I first wanted to see if the things Dropbox claims hold water—After all, innovation is about iteration, and you don’t change or get better if you believe your product is perfect. Maybe we could learn something.
I kept hearing about this product research they’d done:
You know we at Backblaze love data, so I was curious—How did they collect this data? Who were these users? I couldn’t find much more information about it in the article. But, after some digging, I found this on their product page:
It makes sense that people who already use Dropbox would like a product similar to the one they’re paying for. But, do the rest of the claims of the article hold true?
Let’s Talk Pricing
Hey, price is definitely a part of my decision when I purchase services, and I’m sure it’s part of yours too. So, let’s get the big argument out of the way first.
Backblaze Personal Backup is $7 per month. That license includes an automatic, set-it-and-forget-it backup service, unlimited data storage, 30-day version history, and you can add one-year version history for just $2 per month or forever version history for $2 per month plus $0.005 per GB for anything over 10GB.
For argument’s sake, let’s grant that Dropbox also built a backup product that runs smoothly in the background. I haven’t personally tried it, but I’ve used Dropbox for file management, and it’s a great service.
Dropbox Backup has several tiers of payment. It’s also included in many of their other paid plans—so, in other words, if you’re already paying $12–$90+ per month for Dropbox, you can take advantage of Dropbox Backup. But, if you’re trying to purchase just Dropbox Backup, there are several tiers of licensing, and (like most SaaS companies) there are discounts for paying monthly versus yearly.
So, let’s try to compare apples to apples here. Say you only have $10 per month budgeted for your backup plan. Here’s what you’d get with Dropbox:
Year-long commitment – so no flexibility to cancel
2,000GB data cap
30-day version history
For the same $10 per month, here’s what you’d get with Backblaze:
Monthly commitment – flexibility to cancel
No data cap
One-year version history
For reference, in 2020 most consumers were storing around 500GB of data in their personal storage clouds, but, unsurprisingly, we store more data every year. According to experts, data storage is doubling about every four years. So, you can certainly expect those “running out of space” notifications to be pushing you to upgrade your Dropbox service, and probably sooner than you’d expect.
Speaking of Flexibility
Once you check out Dropbox’s Help docs, there are a few other things to note. Essentially, if you want to use Dropbox Backup, you have to turn off other syncing and backup services (except for OneDrive).
In order for Dropbox Backup to work, you have to turn off iCloud and Google Backup/Sync services, both of which are super compatible with your mobile devices and which many many folks rely on (two billion Google customers can’t be wrong). And, what about business use cases? Say you’re an enterprise client who wants to work in G-Suite—Dropbox Backup is not your answer. To put it simply: Dropbox Backup works best if Dropbox is the product you also use to store your files in the cloud.
Backblaze, on the other hand, works with whatever other services you’re rocking. Many of the choices we’ve made are reflective of that, including our restoration process. Dropbox offers restoration in place—if you use Dropbox to manage your files already. Basically, when you restore in place, you’re making a change to the virtual environment of your files (their copy of your hard drive that lives in Dropbox), and then they send that back to your computer. If you use a different syncing service or are accessing a file from another device, well, you’re going through the same download/restore process as every other backup service.
Restores for All
Here’s another thing: It’s a main point in Dropbox’s article that we offer recovery via USB. They turn their noses up at delivering files via the mail—Why would you wait for that?
Well, if you’ve lived in areas with not-great internet, dealt with being the family IT hero, or have a ton of data that needs to be moved, you know that having many ways to restore is key. Sure, it’s easy to scoff at all things analog, “OMG a USB drive via the mail?!” But an external drive (in this example, a USB) comes in super handy when you’re not tech savvy or have a ton of data to move—anyone who’s had to migrate lots of files (at work or at home) knows that sometimes the internet is not as fast as moving data via external devices.
Sure, there are tech reasons rapid ingest devices matter. But these guys matter too.
And, of course, you can always restore files from the internet with your Backblaze Personal Backup account. That’s our front-line method in our Help docs, and we’ve built a Download Manager to make things more seamless for our customers. We’ve made updates to our mobile apps, and just as importantly, we offer Backblaze B2 Storage Cloud and Backblaze Business Backup products. That means that if you ever outgrow our Personal Backup services, we’ve got you covered.
To Sum Up
We’re always happy there are more backup options for consumers. A little Backblaze flame warms our hearts when we know peoples’ data is backed up. Of course, we’d love it if everyone used Backblaze, but we want people to back up their data, even if it’s with a competitor.
If you’re already a paying Dropbox user, this may be a great option for you. But, if you’re like the majority of people and need something that works, no matter where/how you store your files or what other services you use, Backblaze Personal Backup is still your easy, affordable, and proven option.
Mastodon: Have you heard of it? As a social media platform, it’s unique in that it’s free, open-source, and crowdfunded. It doesn’t have ads, and it’s not owned by a corporation. When you set up an account on Mastodon, you select a server (called an “instance”) where your account lives. All of that can sound confusing to your average computer user, though it also makes it a favorite amongst the more tech-savvy users in the world.
The truth of Mastodon’s distributed servers is that it doesn’t really matter which server you choose to set up on. Since each server talks to every other server (just like email), you’ll be able to use the social network just like you would Twitter or any other microblogging platform. You can publish text posts (adorably called “toots”) and attach media such as pictures, audio, video, or polls. Mastodon lets you follow friends and discover new ones, and also uses hashtags to find communities or topics you may be interested in.
Also just any other social media site, you’ll want to back up all your posts. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Stay tuned: We’re planning on writing about this in the future.
But, if you’re just using your account like you would on any other social media platform—that is, you’re posting, finding friends, sharing cute pictures of dogs, etc.—you’ll want to make sure that your posts and memories are protected. There’s the normal run of data loss dangers: natural disasters, computer crashes, and so on. But also, since anyone can bring up their own Mastodon server, they can just as easily take them down. In that case, having a backup means that you can easily move your account to another server on the Mastodon platform without losing your toots.
Like most services that prioritize open sourcing, Mastodon has a fantastic documentation center. If you ever have questions, start there first (that’s what we did). To get started with your Mastodon back up, you’ll want to download your account information. After you log into your account, navigate to Settings > Export. The screen should look like this:
As you can see, there are lots of lists you can download straight from this screen. These include your block lists and mute lists—an excellent feature which means you can maintain your privacy settings if you need to move your account, or open a new account on a different server.
To get your toots as well as any uploaded media, like photos or videos, you simply click the button to request your archive. You can request this archive once every seven days.
Once you have that file, you can either upload a copy of it to Backblaze B2 (which is free for your first 10GB of storage), or, Backblaze Personal Backup (we’ve got a free trial there too, of course). Backblaze Personal Backup is super easy—just save that file natively on your computer so that it’s included in your always-running backup service.
While You’re At It…
We’ve gathered a handful of guides to help you protect your content across many different platforms. We’re working on developing this list—please comment below if you’d like to see another platform covered.
It’s always smart to protect your data with a 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means that you’ll have three copies of your data stored in two different local destinations with one copy kept off-site.
Taking your Mastodon archive file as an example, let’s see where those files would live to make sure we satisfy the 3-2-1 backup strategy:
The downloaded copy of your Mastodon archive is saved to your personal computer.
You also back up that archive on your external hard drive.
You have a third copy of the file saved in your Backblaze account.
Especially if you’re using a sync service for the files on your computer, sometimes things get modified or deleted accidentally. When that happens, you can restore from the backup copy on your hard drive. If your hard drive crashes for some reason, then you also have another copy you can easily restore from your Backblaze account. Since it lives in the cloud, even if your computer and your hard drive are lost (say, in a natural disaster), you will still have another copy of your data you can use to get back online.
Even better: If you enable Extended Version History on your Backblaze Computer Backup account, you can see older versions of your file. That’s useful if you accidentally replace your Mastodon archive and there was something you needed, but got changed. They have the same name, right? It’d be an easy mistake to make and not notice until you need to restore. With Extended Version History, you’d just choose an earlier instance of the file, restore it, and then move that file back to your computer and hard drive.
Mastodon Users Are On Top of Back Up
Of course, you can always go above those minimum standards, as these folks were discussing in this Mastodon thread.
We’re not surprised that Mastodon users are talking about their intricate back up systems. Generally speaking, if you’re someone who is interested in or uses open-source tech, you know that it can be a double-edged sword. The community is constantly finding and fixing bugs, asking questions, and creating tech. It’s exciting and creative, but sometimes you have to do a bit more legwork to make things work well.
So, users on Mastodon know the risks when they choose to host their data on someone else’s server, and Mastodon gives you options for how to reconstitute your account if that happens. It’s one of the reasons we love Mastodon: they thought about how to back up when they built the platform.
And, because Mastodon is open source, “they” = users who are (often) also contributing to the code. Of course they’re having spirited debates about how to make their tech lives better and more secure—and we love to see it!
In Theory, It’s Easier to Lose Your Data on Mastodon
We said at the beginning of this article that it really doesn’t matter which server (“instance”) you choose to host your Mastodon account on—and it doesn’t, when you’re talking about interacting with the platform as a user.
The thing that is different about Mastodon is that because it runs on distributed servers, Mastodon is (in theory) more vulnerable than other networks to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. If your server gets overloaded, it may result in you losing data.
A DDoS attack is like all these people shouting different questions at you at the same time and expecting answers—you’d crash and burn too.
Another thing to take note of is that Mastodon doesn’t have automatic updates. As a user, the onus is on you to check GitHub and to update accordingly. Since platform updates are often released to close security vulnerabilities, if you aren’t on top of this, you’re at risk of losing your data from a cyberattack.
This doesn’t mean that Mastodon as a social media site is less safe. In fact, because they automatically set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) and store less of your personal identifiable information, in some ways it’s safer than other platforms.
As long as you’re regularly backing up your Mastodon archive, you should be totally (“toot-ally”?) covered. Start your free trial with Backblaze Computer Backup, follow the steps we’ve set out above, and you’ll be all set.
Every year we round up the best of the blog, and this year is no different. We like to look back on our posts that you, our readers, liked best and reflect on the content that resonated with the most folks.
How do we do that? Data! We gathered the analytics and sorted out the posts that got the most unique views over the course of the year. There are some mainstays that show up here year after year—our Drive Stats reports are a perennial hit. But there are always some surprises in there, too. Do you read all of our posts? Did your favorite one make the list? Read on to find out.
Coming in at the #10 spot is a companion piece to our ever-popular “How to Wipe a Mac” lest we neglect our PC-loving brethren. Check out this post if you need to securely erase your PC.
This post covers some of the pitfalls you might run into if you rely solely on iCloud to store your data as well as the method I, personally, use to back up my mobile devices.
This year, we introduced a new report as part of our Drive Stats franchise focusing on SSDs, and it earned the #8 spot in our top 10. Read this one to find out how the SSDs in our data centers performed.
Lots of you searched for ways to take that old computer you have lying around and upgrade it with an SSD instead of donating or recycling it. This post explains the practicalities you should consider before doing so.
Network attached storage (NAS). Storage area network (SAN). If the acronyms weren’t confusing enough, the actual names of these two technologies certainly do the job. We explain the difference in this popular post.
Still more of you are interested in how to safely and securely wipe your Macs. Especially as we come out of the gift giving season, many of you might be ready to dispose of or donate that old computer. Use this guide to make sure your data doesn’t make its way into the wrong hands.
Our Q1 Drive Stats post, released on May the Fourth (be with you), is always a fun one. This year, Andy took inspiration from the “Star Wars” cinematic universe, organizing the post around notable quotes and delighting us all.
Many of you were curious about the different kinds of SSD drives out there, putting this comparison post in the #3 spot. We spelled out the differences between SSDs, NVMe, and M.2 drives so you can figure out which is best for your use case.
Our marquee franchise was unseated as the top post this year. Andy Klein, our resident Drive Stats storyteller, took it in stride. While Drive Stats may not be our top post this year, the reports hold three of the top ten slots, which is nothing to scoff at. Consistency is key!
This little experimental post on a somewhat arcane feature of the Python programming language found a huge audience when we published it back in May. We reached out to Barry Warsaw, a Python core developer and contributor, and Pawel Polewicz, a backend software developer, to write a quick history of the Python global interpreter lock (GIL). Barry and Pawel blew us away with this deep dive on the GIL’s evolution that ended up becoming our top blog post of the year.
Thanks for Reading the Backblaze Blog in 2022
We’re glad you like reading about things like cloud storage, hard drives, and esoteric coding features like the Python GIL as much as we like writing about them. We want to thank you for tuning in here on the blog and sharing your thoughts with us in the comments and on social media. Did your favorite post make it into the list? Is there anything you wish we’d write about more? Let us know in the comments. We always love to hear from you.
Wouldn’t it be great if computers never crashed? If laptops never got lost? If that cup of coffee never spilled across your keyboard? As much as we’d like to believe that our computers will always work and the data on them will always be safe and accessible, accidents happen. Regardless of how you’re using your computer, you’re storing data that needs to be backed up.
Whether you’ve accidentally deleted a synced file, have a social media presence that’s just too valuable to lose, are going back to school, or you want to make sure you’re protected from cyberattacks, having your data backed up means that your important information isn’t lost forever. So, let’s talk about how to get the most out of your Backblaze account.
1. Set Yourself Up for Success
Backblaze backs up all the files on your computer, including documents, photos, music, movies, and more. When you’re creating your account for the first time, that can take some time—longer than you might think depending on how much data you have and how fast your internet connection is. (If you think it will take a really long time, you should probably be considering Backblaze B2 and our Universal Data Migration solutions). It’s important that your computer is on and awake during that time period, so we suggest that you turn off your computer’s sleep mode during your initial backup.
2. Keep Your Account Secure
We’ve talked before about how to keep your passwords safe, but we just want to make sure it’s clear how important that is for your backups. When backups are your last line of defense—your only option for recovery—then it’s imperative that you use unique passwords and practice a 3-2-1 backup strategy.
Like Librarians, We Work Quietly
Backblaze works quietly in the background while you go about your normal computer life. Note that we’ll only backup a document that’s not actively open. So, make sure to close out your projects when you’re done for the night (or day).
3. Bring Your Drive to the Table
If you have external drives, it’s essential that you connect them to your computer to be backed up to your Backblaze account. In order to give us enough time to scan the whole drive, make sure that it’s plugged into your primary computer for at least four hours in a row, once every two weeks. Here’s some more information on using external hard drives with Backblaze.
4. Check In
Once a week, it’s a great idea to check that your backups are working properly. If they’re not, make sure that you have the most recent version of Backblaze, or you can always contact our Support Team to make sure everything is running smoothly.
And, once a month, it’s a good idea to try to restore files from your online account. This is especially important if you have external devices. It’s always good practice to double check that things are running well, but it also gives you an opportunity to make sure you’ve backed up your external drive successfully.
5. On Restoration: The Sooner, The Better
When you’ve lost data, make sure you restore your data ASAP. If you’re ever worried you may need data continuity, remember that you can easily enable Extended Version History for $2/month. That will give you the ability to restore any version of a file for one year—or forever—depending on what you need.
Remember that Backblaze offers lots of file restoration options. Of course, you can use our website, but you can also restore from your mobile device or even order a USB. (We know; old school.)
Every so often, a family member or friend will ask me if an email they received is a phishing email. That’s part of my job as the unofficial family tech person. Email phishing and its cousins vishing (voice phishing) and smishing (text phishing), are still a serious problem for the average home computer user. While businesses are slowly implementing phishing detection tools—and, more importantly, user training—to help tackle the problem, home computer users are, for the most part, left to fend for themselves.
Our goal in this post is to provide a few tips and tricks for those oft-forgotten home computer users—your old-school neighbor, your unassuming grandma, or your friend who’s just not that tech savvy—in their effort to use their computer without losing their life savings by clicking on the wrong link.
You can scroll past the first few sections to the phishing tips we’ve prepared so that you can use to better understand and identify a phishing email. Or, continue reading to learn more about the phishing problem, why it matters, and then finish up with the phishing tips.
Why It Matters
Phishing is the use of social engineering techniques—tactics that use psychological manipulation like impersonating someone you know—to get you to take an action that can lead to your downloading a virus or malware, having your account credentials stolen, becoming an extortion victim, or some other malicious action.
While detection and blocking technology has advanced over the years, Dark Reading, a cyber security news site, estimates that up to one percent of all emails that make it to the end user’s mailbox are phishing emails. For home users, who typically have to rely on their internet service provider (referred to as an ISP) or their browser (like Chrome or Safari) to keep them safe, the number is probably higher. Still, 1% doesn’t sound like much—until you consider that to get to that point, these phishing emails are the best of the best. Suddenly, it starts to make sense as to why up to 70% of phishing emails are opened by the recipient.
Who Owns the Phishing Problem?
My friends and family are not creators or purveyors of technology; they are primarily users. Asking them to identify phishing emails by deciphering the email raw source or header is not in their wheelhouse, nor should it be. We take planes, trains, and automobiles without knowing much about how they work. It should be possible to safely receive and interact with an email without having to understand sender authentication or bone up on RFC 5322.
You as the family IT manager.
Back in 2005, when most of us first heard of phishing, we had a pretty good idea which businesses and people would contact us and how they would reach us. Today, nearly every company or organization we interact with has a website, an email subscription, an app, social media, and maybe a phone number or two. The daily number of messages we receive via email, phone, text, and so on has easily increased 10-fold (100-fold?) over that time. Do you really have any idea how many accounts you’ve created in your lifetime, and if so, how each of them reaches and interacts with you?
Making matters worse is the proliferation of data collection services—legitimate, shady, and illegal—which will sell personal information to nearly anyone with a purchase order, credit card, or better yet, the latest cryptocurrency. Personal data such as your name, address, last four digits of a credit card, and much more are readily available. As a result, a phishing email can use your name and provide additional personal details along the way in an effort to make you believe it is valid ← that’s social engineering at work.
What Can You Do?
For home computer users, the phishing problem may not be of your making, but you cannot rely on technology if you want to safely function in today’s highly connected world. Phishing uses some really crafty tactics (i.e. social engineering) to get you to believe that when you receive a message from the bad guys, it is okay to do what they are asking you to do. That means you have to be at your best when the incoming message chime rings.
To that end, below we’ve provided you with a little social engineering education in the form of some easy to remember tips you can use to ferret out a phish. We’ll use email in our examples, but the techniques can apply to most inbound communications you’ll receive. In addition, you don’t have to have any special technical superpowers, just some common sense and the ability to lower your FOMO (fear of missing out) threshold.
You can read the tips below, but we’ve also prepared a 20-minute Let’s Not Go Phishing Today webinar which provides a little more depth for each of these tips. You can read the tips below, watch the webinar, or both. The webinar is available on the Backblaze channel on BrightTALK. Keep in mind that you will need to register to watch.
Tip 1: No trust and not useful.
Situation
You receive an email from a business, organization, or person. You are certain you do not know or trust the sender and you were not expecting to receive the email.
Example
You receive an email to lower your mortgage interest rate from a bank you do not use. Oh, and you rent.
Considerations
There are zero reasons to open this email. There is no upside here at all for you. Even if this is not phishing, it is most likely spam.
Disposition
Delete the email while crooning, “But there ain’t no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box,” in the style of Meat Loaf (“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” Bat Out of Hell, 1977).
Your on-stage moment is at 2:27.
Tip 2: No trust, but you’re not sure.
Okay, tip one was pretty simple. They get a little harder now.
Situation
You receive an email from a business, organization, or person. You might know the sender, but you really weren’t expecting an email.
Example
You receive an email and the sender name sounds familiar, but that’s it. Maybe you stopped by a store and provided your email to the clerk, maybe you bought a shirt from them two years ago, or maybe it’s just some advertisement you saw, but nothing is ringing a bell.
Considerations
Don’t open the email right away, let it sit in your inbox for a day or two to see if there is a follow up message or perhaps you remember something.
Often phishers will use time to pressure you into acting. Surely you would have remembered something so important, so don’t let time pressure you into doing something you shouldn’t. Trust yourself.
If you do open the email do not click on any of the links and do not call any phone numbers you may find in the email. Just read the email to see if anything jogs your memory.
Disposition
After a day or two, if nothing rings a bell, delete the email. If it was important, they’ll resend. Click delete.
If you think the email could be legit—Okay, really, just lower your FOMO threshold and click delete. I am sure that a bank in Ireland is not waiting to give you a million dollars if you call them.
Fun fact: $1 million in $1 bills weighs 1.1 tons. Say that three times fast!
Tip 3: Trust, but verify.
Situation
You receive an email from a business, organization, or person. You know the sender, but you weren’t really expecting an email from them.
Example
You receive a promotional email from a business. You are a customer of this business and even have an online account with them. You were not expecting the email, but the email makes you an offer that is interesting to you.
Considerations
You can receive promotional emails anytime, but they are more prevalent around holidays and marketing events like Cyber Monday. Phishers know this and will use this to their advantage to avoid detection.
A phisher can send out millions of emails in an attack spoofing a given business. If you have a relationship with that business, you are prime pickings. Do not assume that just because you are a customer, the email is legitimate.
A phisher can also send out very targeted emails using personal information they have collected from data breaches and other sources, both public and private. Just because an email has your name and other personal details, it does not mean it is legitimate.
If you decide to open the email do not click on any of the links and do not call any phone numbers you may find in the email. Read the email and see what they are asking you to do.
Disposition
If you think the promotional offer is legitimate, then open a new browser window and type in the URL to go to the website, or open the app on your phone/tablet for that business. You may have to sign in to your account, but the promotion should be available in one of those places. If the promotion is only available via the email, contact customer service for the business and ask. Remember to use the website or app to contact customer service, not any of the contact information provided in the email.
Sometimes, an offer is only available by clicking on a link in the email. In my opinion this is lazy marketing and puts you at risk. Let the business know this is not acceptable.
Spam or Phish?
The email described above could be just a spam email. Whether an email is spam or phishing can be confusing, but in general spam messages are just trying to sell you something and phishing emails have some harmful intent. That said, the same tips we are using for identifying a phishing email can be used to identify spam messages as well.
Tip 4: Trust, but still verify.
Situation
You receive an email from a business, organization, or person. You know the sender and you were expecting the email.
Example
You receive an email on the 10th of the month from your credit card company saying your statement is ready. They always send you this email on the 10th of the month. The email says you can click on the link to sign in to your account and view the statement.
Considerations
It is highly likely this is a legitimate email, but given this email concerns your financial affairs, being extra careful is imperative. Opening up a web browser and typing in the URL to go to the bank’s website to sign in there is safer. This also enforces the good behavior of not clicking on links in emails.
Many financial companies and health care providers are starting to maintain a list of messages they send you via email and/or text. You can log into your account to view the list to make sure that any message you received was actually sent by the provider—before you interact with the message. This is an excellent best practice and such businesses should be commended for thinking about their customer’s online safety and security.
Disposition
Even if you think the email is legitimate, use a web browser to access your online account, or use their app to take the requested action.
Downloading Email Attachments?
Only download an attachment that you were expecting to receive, preferably after you were notified via another email—or better yet another method such as a text message. For example, you or whomever you’re interacting with may say, “Hey Monique, I’m going to email those pictures in a minute.” Downloading unsolicited or unexpected attachments is not recommended.
Think of email, text messaging, and voicemail as read-only services, especially when it comes to your financial and health information. This is sometimes really hard with text messages that encourage you to “click this link to…” and voicemail messages saying “call us back at a specific number.” Such messages offer convenience and help move things forward—and sometimes, they are the only way to get things done. At that point, you have to trust the vendor and your instincts.
What to Do When You’re Forced to Click
There are two common situations where you are forced to click a link in an email or message in order to move forward: email newsletters and two factor (2FA) or multifactor (MFA) authentication.
We’re this happy about 2FA security too.
Newsletters
Newsletters can deliver valuable information and often link to other content for additional details. The trouble is, those links are often obscured by tracking redirects used to count how many clicks the link gets—It’s a marketing thing. The average user has little hope of figuring out where the link is actually going, so they are faced with ignoring the information or clicking to the unknown. Let’s break down an example.
Situation
You receive a newsletter from a company you do business with and have received newsletters from them before.
Example
Backblaze sends you a customer newsletter. There’s an article on a new feature and you want to learn more. To do so you have to click on a link, but when you rollover the link (don’t click) it reads something like: “https://hub.backblaze.com/xxt/XXt/R+000/xx-h-99/V88XHdW7_bXrN4b0ml7W7xsyK94Tmm-9N2x86z13q3phV1-WJV7CgHCJW7swZm-8j6kXwW6cD…” plus 50-60 more characters that are not displayed.
Considerations
It may seem it goes to the Backblaze website (backblaze.com), but without seeing the entire URL you can’t be sure. It could end with “.../bad-guys-website.com“, which would not take you to Backblaze.
Were you expecting this newsletter or at least have you gotten a newsletter from Backblaze before? If it is the first time, did you just sign up?
What is the intent of the newsletter? Providing information or asking for something? If the newsletter is asking you to sign in to your account for example, it is easy enough to open a new web browser window and sign in from there.
Disposition
This one is all about trust, timing, and clicks. Let’s assume you trust Backblaze as a good sender, the newsletter looks very Backblaze-y, and this is something you would expect. If you do click on the newsletter links, there are two primary things to consider.
First, if the link takes you to a sign up or sign in page, stop. Always open a new browser window, enter the URL to go to the site, and sign in from there.
Second, make sure the click takes you where you expected to go. If you get pop-ups for downloading a toolbar or extension, land on an unexpected webpage, or other unusual browser behavior (e.g. an automatic download), close the browser window and everything else on your system. Then, run a full antivirus scan immediately.
If you are not inclined to click on any links in newsletters, we understand. In our case most of the links on a Backblaze newsletter will go to our blog or our website. You can open a new browser window and find the content on the Backblaze website. This works for the many different newsletters you may get daily. That is: You can usually find the content directly versus clicking on the link.
Tell Us More…
The problem with not clicking on the links in newsletters and other similar communications is that marketing folks lose information about what is important to the recipients, but your peace of mind is more important. So, a healthy alternative is that you could send an email or post something on social media about what you like and what you don’t. Even visiting the pages and interacting with the articles the newsletter highlighted will help. Marketers get feedback, you give your opinion on good content, and you’re a little safer from phishing attacks.
2FA or MFA
More and more websites are requiring the use of two factor or multifactor authentication. Here are a couple of scenarios to help you deal with the messages you might receive.
Scenario 1
Situation
Your bank’s website uses text message-based two factor authentication to confirm access to your accounts.
Example
Using a browser, you log in to your bank’s website. A couple of seconds later, you receive the text on your phone with a code that you need to enter on the website.
Disposition
By asking to log in to your bank, you expect to get the text which provides the authentication code. You’re good.
Scenario 2
Situation
Your bank’s website uses two factor authentication to confirm access to your accounts. You believe it is text message-based authentication.
Example
Using a browser, you log in to your bank’s website. A couple of seconds later, you receive an email asking to click a link to allow the log in to your account.
Considerations
This is one of those cases where you need to know how the bank will contact you for the second factor. It could be a text message with the code (like the first example above). It could also be by clicking the link in a test message, or through an authentication app on your phone, or by email message, or even by phone.
Given the timing of the events in this example, it is highly likely that you had set up email as your second factor. But, sometimes it is not that easy to tell, especially if there are several minutes before you get the authentication message—or worse, if you don’t get the message at all.
One way to make this easier on you is to try to use the same authentication method for each website. The trouble is that different companies support different methods and not others. In some cases, you may be able to find information on the bank’s website to determine the authentication method they use.
Disposition
If you’re not sure of the authentication method that was set up, you can abandon the sign-in, then open a new browser window and start again. If you get the same authentication method, you can be reasonably confident you’re doing the right thing.
Moving Forward
Over the past couple of years, vendors involved with providing email, text, and voicemail services have gotten better at detecting and eliminating phishing, spam, and malware before it reaches you. That’s great. But the bad guys haven’t given up, and many would say they’ve gotten better.
These tips are a good starting point for improving your ability to stay safe using the internet, email, and your phone. There are many websites and resources where you can learn more and stay informed about phishing and other forms of malware. We listed a few below. You can click on the links, but (if you are a little paranoid at this point), you can search for “consumer phishing resources” or just “phishing resources” using your favorite search engine. Good luck, and stay safe.
Select Phishing Resources
Knowbe4: The world’s first and largest new-school security awareness training and simulated phishing platform.
Phishing.org: A project from KnowBe4 that is a resource for IT professionals to keep you up to date on the latest phishing threats. The Resources page has some free tools to help improve your phishing knowledge.
Fact: Books are the best gifts to give friends and family this time of year. At least we think so here at Backblaze (second to the gift of Backblaze, of course). This post is your case in point—we got so many book recommendations when we put together our annual holiday gift guide that we thought they deserved their own post. So, we’re introducing the very first annual Bookblaze Book List.
For the readers in your lives, here’s a list of books that come highly recommended from the Backblaze team. (And it’s worth noting that we don’t get any affiliate or sponsorship income for these recommendations. They’re just the books our colleagues read and loved this year.) Let’s dive in.
“Inspired” presents a thoughtful deep dive and actionable steps for how anyone and everyone within an organization can operate to better serve customers with ever better products and services. The book was written in 2018 (I think) but remains a go-to for the customer-obsessed among us.
“Chaos” was printed back in 1987, but is still available on Amazon and some bookstores. Why is this my choice? I read the book hoping to understand the burgeoning field of chaos theory, the science of seeing patterns and order in the randomness of the everyday world we live in. The book was amazingly readable. The author takes a subject that could easily be three hundred pages of math, science, and history, swirling down a rabbit hole, and keeps the book approachable and within the grasp of the audience. It won’t change your world, but you’ll look at many things a little differently.
One of my favorite books of the last few years. This period piece murder mystery takes place in a Victorian house and from the perspectives of various house party guests. No spoilers!
I have not yet read a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I haven’t loved, but this one is top of the list for 2022. In “Seven Husbands,” Reid paints a picture of a complex and not immediately likable character living a fascinating life. Each chapter (read: husband) of Evelyn’s life marks a point in Evelyn’s evolution from ambitious starlet to mature grande dame who can (nearly) accept herself as she is. Modern themes of how we define family, love, and relationships intersect with this tale of old Hollywood.
For your friend patiently waiting for the TV adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Jones’ “Daisy Jones and the Six,” the book “The Final Revival of Opal & Nev” by Dawnie Walton is also based on faux music history and is, dare I say, even better. Follow Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, an Afropunk rock ’n’ roll duo who find fame and notoriety in the 1970’s after a tragic incident at a concert in 1973. The band splits, but a reunion concert is planned in 2026—which is when S. Sunny Shelton, a music editor at Aural Magazine, takes the chance to record interviews with the duo and those connected to them.
This book is perfect for anyone in your life that is looking for a book they will read and re-read again. This book is a historical fiction book about Elizabeth Zott who only ever wanted to be a scientist—but because she’s a woman in the 1960s, she has to go begging for beakers despite being the smartest researcher in the building. After reading 50 books this year, this one is by far my favorite, and I still quote Elizabeth Zott in my head. I love her (and her dog 6:30), and you will too.
Two time-traveling spies on opposite sides of a multiverse-spanning war make contact and begin to write letters to each other across time and space. Time travel, suspense, romance, and absolutely GORGEOUS writing—what more could you ask for?
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s graphic novel “Watchmen” was a phenomenon, from its publication in the late 80s to the 2009 movie and 2019 spin-off TV series. I’d like to direct your attention, though, to Moore’s earlier work, specifically on the DC title, “Saga of the Swamp Thing,” available as a series of six trade paperbacks collecting over 40 issues of the monthly comic, originally published between 1984 and 1987. Nearly 40 years on, the story of the Swamp Thing’s discovery of his true nature and role in DC’s supernatural universe has lost none of its power. Not at all a kid’s comic book, Moore’s “Swamp Thing” paved the way for later generations of visual storytelling aimed at a mature audience.
I’m not usually one for memoirs; oftentimes they seem self-serving, or not relevant to larger stories. “Cost of Living” is very much the opposite of that. This book ruminates on the cost of medical debt in America from the perspective of someone struggling with it—while simultaneously working as a medical assistant and medical biller. It also touches on the variability in quality of mental health treatment, overmedication, the opioid epidemic, crazy families, and much more. Bonus: It’s a collection of essays, so you can digest it in big or small doses (if you’ll pardon the pun).
It turns out, when you have kids, you don’t read less, you just read a lot of the same books over and over again by popular demand of your child. During some stretches, my two year old and I read the same books 40 or 50 times in a single week. I’ve learned, quickly, to guide her toward books with beautiful sentences, because if I don’t I’ll be forced to suffer through the bad ones again and again…. and again. I’ll never tire of the sentences in this little beauty, though—and the illustrations are endlessly engaging for young eyes. “All the World” is a must have for parents. But I’ll warn you, it’s going to make you cry fairly regularly.
Do you need some more gosh dang vegetables in your life? Ever thought about giving an ever lovin’ vegan diet a try? This is the cookbook for you. Even if you’re just doing Meatless Mondays, you could always use a couple of freakin’ tasty vegan recipes, and this cookbook delivers those in spades. I’m a big fan of the coconut lime rice with red beans and mango. Holy shish kebabs, that’s good.
Happy Reading from Backblaze
Hopefully this book list sparks some inspiration for your holiday shopping list or your own 2023 reading list. What are you planning to read next year? Let us know in the comments.
To all of our readers: Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Backblaze! We’re taking some time to be with our families and friends, and we hope you are, too.
If your people are anything like ours, we imagine you might be getting asked to fix grandma’s antique desktop computer or explain what the deal is with TikTok to that one bookish friend. Maybe you’re one of those blended families who are still trying to figure out how to share your iPhone pictures with the Android users or vice-versa.
Never fear—we’ve compiled a list of posts that might come in handy when you’re called upon to be an unofficial IT admin to family or friends. Consider this your guide to being your family’s IT superhero. (Caution: If you do too good a job, they may will definitely keep coming to you).
Fortunately, unofficial IT admin is not a thankless job—prepare to have thanks showered upon you for making the internet work and quite possibly saving Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to set yourself up well for the future by referring them all to Backblaze Personal Backup. (Or, just gift it to them and then set it up, since you’re already helping.) Just make sure you get an extra serving of pumpkin pie out of the deal.
The holidays: They start earlier every single year. Two weeks before Halloween, I started seeing gingerbread houses at the store. And you know someone really waited until the last minute to buy Halloween candy when they’re giving out candy canes. Gift giving is not my love language (I’m more of a quality time person), so finding the right things for my friends and family for the holidays fills me with a certain sense of angst. Luckily for me, I’m able to outsource some of the “what’s cool” contemplation to my coworkers, and you get to benefit! So without further ado, let’s get into the annual Backblaze Holiday Gift Guide for 2022 as proposed by a smorgasbord of Backblazers.
Data. You know it. You love it. You have it. If you want a local device to help with your 3-2-1 backup strategy, this entry-level Synology NAS device is a great bet.
Wide-angle and 360-degree videos are all the rage right now. If you have a shutterbug in your life, this is a great gift so they have something in their pocket, ready to capture the next viral video. After all, the best camera is the one you have with you.
For the audiophile in your life that wants to throw a houseparty without having to set up a bunch of speaker wires, this speaker will fill the room and keep you groovin’. Or, for quieter types, it delivers your favorite murder podcast with sharp clarity.
This app for the macOS helps you take control of your Mac and boosts your efficiency by allowing you to set up custom actions, text expansion, and hotkeys.
For the gamer who has everything, this is a mini computer you can travel with. It plays all of your Steam games, and it’s a great portable way to get through your backlog of games you’ve bought on sale and never had a chance to play. Although we know you’ll (or they’ll) just play Vampire Survivors the whole time.
Note taking. Has it been solved? The Remarkable 2 takes a run at making your notes and meetings easier to remember. This digital notepad is an easy way to take notes and sync them across devices.
Another solution for note taking: The Rocketbook (we recommend red) allows you to use a washable pen on special paper, so you can take notes, scan them, send them to the location of your choosing, and then erase the page to start over.
Everyone’s favorite, an Ember mug. This keeps your drinks warm, and most importantly, if you get the red one, (we recommend red, of course) you’ll be helping global pandemic relief!
In case you don’t get enough of the office while at the office, you can make an office in your home office, and this one will have all your favorite pals from The Office! My home office is my kitchen table, but turning it into a Lego workshop is a much better use of space.
What better gift to give than the gift of knowledge…of crocheting? I have purchased this and am in the middle of learning to crochet. It’s fun and more importantly, adorable.
We believe in believe too, Ted! The Ted Lasso party game is a fun gift in that you can open it right up and start playing. This game is full of positive vibes, just like the show. Help your players be their best selves, and maybe learn a bit about your friends and family along the way.
Do you have or know someone that has a little DJ brewing at their house? This Blipblox is a music exploration tool for kids as young as three years old. Help them learn all about music and get some more synth into your life!
What do you get the person who has everything? Another pair of Birkenstocks. With winter approaching, sandals may not be top of mind, but these are part of the standard spring and summer kit that we see around our San Mateo office.
Sandals not your thing? How about shoes that you can snuggle and hug? These Allbirds are part of the fluff collection, made with fluffy wool. You’ll love ’em!
A patch for every occasion, and location. You probably live somewhere, and that place probably has a patch made by Bart Bridge. Show some local pride, or gift your friends a hat with a patch of that one place where that one thing happened which you will never forget, but will also never discuss.
Some say that the way to a person’s heart is through their tummy. The Panettone comes highly recommended by tummies everywhere, and just look at all those seeds! The best part about this gift is that when you hand it over, you can make a strong case about opening it and sharing.
If you have not heard of Goldbelly, it’s a great way to order food from your favorite restaurants, no matter where they are. Want to impress your holiday guests? Get this whitefish and salmon salad platter from Zucker’s in New York.
Everyone loves a good stocking stuffer, and one that we don’t think gets enough credit is getting a nice bag of coffee beans. This coffee comes highly recommended and, best of all, it’s available on Amazon for your grinding, brewing, and sipping pleasure.
For the nerdy folks in your life, a pewter drinking mug. If you’re sitting around a Dungeons & Dragons table, you want to make sure that you’re drinking the part.
Give the Gift of Backblaze
And of course, help your friends and family back up their data with Backblaze Computer Backup. They’ll thank you for helping make sure they never lose a file again.
Happy Gift-Giving From Backblaze
I hope this gift guide helped spark some creative ideas for the upcoming gift-giving season. Comment below and tell me what gifts you’ll be looking to pick up for your friends and loved ones this year (we won’t tell them). And stay tuned for a forthcoming Backblaze Book Guide—we had so many book submissions this year, we decided to start the first annual Bookblaze Roundup.
If you’ve been following the news lately, you might be thinking now is a good time to start downloading and backing up your Twitter history.
It’s officially the Elon Age of Twitter, and subsequently, there have been a few people rumbling about leaving the platform following Musk’s firing of top executives and an alarming rise in hate speech. Needless to say, we’re sticking around—you might have stumbled upon this article from Twitter itself. We just can’t quit the little blue bird quite yet. But there is one thing we can do, and that’s help you download and back up your Twitter archive—most likely for free.
Whether you’re anti-Elon or you’re just worried that the folks who are good at building electric cars or spaceships might not know how to manage a social media algorithm, you can take a few easy steps to protect your treasured Twitter memories. Here’s how.
Downloading Your Twitter Data
The first step is to log in to your Twitter account on a web browser. Once logged in, click on the “More” section in the navigation bar. From there, a new navigation bar will appear. You should select the “Settings and Support” dropdown, followed by the “Settings and Privacy” tab to progress.
Under the “Your Account” section, you will find an area labeled “Download an archive of your data.” The function of this is pretty self-explanatory, but does lead to a further menu that allows you to request an archive of your Twitter data or Periscope data.
After requesting your archive you will receive a notification with a link when your archive is ready for download. This archive will consist of a ZIP file with data that Twitter has deemed most relevant or useful to you, including DMs, moments, profile media and any media you may have used in your Tweets such as gifs, photos, and videos.
Archive Your Twitter Data for Free
Once you download your Twitter data, you can then save a full archive copy in the cloud on Backblaze B2—for free if it’s under 10GB.
Click here to get started with Backblaze B2 Storage Cloud today.
Back Up Your Twitter Data (Not Free, But Super Easy)
In addition to an archive copy, it’s important to use a secure backup strategy so all of those Tweets and memories will be preserved and kept safe from accidental deletion, equipment failure, or disasters (whether they’re natural or Musk-made). This is where a 3-2-1 backup strategy comes in handy. Using a 3-2-1 approach means keeping one copy of your data locally, one copy on a different type of media like an external hard drive, and one off-site (the cloud is a great place to keep it!).
You’ll need to manually download your Twitter data periodically, but once you have it on your machine, you can ensure it’s backed up with Backblaze Computer Backup—it automatically backs up all of your files, including documents, photos, music, movies, and, yes, all of that Twitter data you downloaded.
Click here to sign up for a 15-day trial of Backblaze Computer Backup, and save those Tweets.
While You’re At It…
We’ve gathered a handful of guides to help you protect social content across many different platforms. We’re working on developing this list—please comment below if you’d like to see another platform covered.
If you’ve ever told an IT professional that you’re using Dropbox to back up files and were greeted with a side eye and a stifled “well, actually…” it’s because Dropbox isn’t actually a backup. It’s for syncing data. The distinction is subtle, but critical.
If you’re reading this post, you probably already know that data is always at risk of loss to accidental deletion, system updates, or even if you forget your password and get locked out of your account. The difference between backing up and syncing is that syncing your data will not protect it from these risks.
It’s easy to accidentally lose access to a sync service where you might be keeping files or images that no longer live on your computer. Many colleges and universities now even offer file hosting service subscriptions to students for free—until they graduate. After students earn their diplomas and leave the dorms, these services graduate, too, and students either get locked out of their accounts or have to choose between switching to a free tier and compromising on storage space or paying the fees to keep their existing subscription tier.
To make sure your data stays safe and secure, you’ll want to make sure you have a copy of it on your local device as well as a copy backed up to the cloud. A 3-2-1 backup strategy is always your best bet for securely storing your data. In this post, we’ll walk you through downloading your data from Dropbox and some strategies for backing up your downloaded files.
To help you save your synced computer data, we’re developing a series of guides to downloading and backing up your data across different sync services, like OneDrive. Comment below to let us know what other sync services you’d like to see us cover.
How to Download Files From Dropbox
Note: If you are using the Dropbox client to sync the files that are on your computer, the option to download your files may be replaced by an option to open them, instead. Clicking on “Open” will open up the files directly from the file on your computer where they are saved.
To download a file or folder from Dropbox, follow these steps:
Sign in to your Dropbox account. (We know, this is pretty self-evident. We’re just trying to be thorough here).
Find the file or folder you’d like to download and hover your cursor over it.
Click on the three dots.
Select Download. Your files will appear in the Downloads folder on your computer, and folders will be downloaded as .zip files.
It’s also important to note that Dropbox only supports downloads of folders that are less than 20GB and contain fewer than 10,000 total files.
How to Back Up Your Dropbox Data
Now that you have all of your Dropbox files downloaded to your computer, you’ll want to follow through with the next steps of the 3-2-1 backup strategy. By saving a copy of your data on an external or secondary device (like a hard drive), and a third copy in an off-site location (like the cloud) your data will be protected from any number of possible risks. Backblaze Personal Backup automatically and continuously backs up a copy of all of the data on your computer to the cloud, making it that much easier to fulfill the 3-2-1 backup strategy.
Bonus: How to Export a File From Dropbox to an App on Your Phone or Mobile Device
If you want to send a portion of your files elsewhere for safekeeping, or to share with another app, you can follow the set of instructions below. Just remember that downloading your files to your phone or emailing them to yourself isn’t the same as keeping a full copy of your data on an external device—your data is still susceptible to damage or loss.
First, you’ll need to download the Dropbox mobile app to access your synced files on your mobile device.
Open the app and select the three dots next to the file or folder you’d like to export. On an iPhone or iPad, the dots will appear horizontal, and on an Android device they’ll be vertical.
Select Share.
Select Export file, which will show a list of apps that can open the file. Choose the app you’d like to open the file. Note: once you export the file, if you make any changes to that file in the other app, those changes may not be saved back to your Dropbox account unless the app integrates with Dropbox.
Back Up Your Dropbox Before It’s Too Late
Have a lot of Dropbox data you don’t want to take up space on your computer? Upload and store your data in Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage as a part of your 3-2-1 approach. Also, let us know in the comments if you’d like to see more guides to downloading and backing up the data saved to other sync services.
Backblaze is happy to announce that Robert Fitt has joined our team as our first Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Robert will lead the company’s strategic advancement for all aspects of human resources (HR), including hiring, people management and development, engagement, health and wellness initiatives, and outreach to the community.
We’re Growing—But We’re Still The Same Backblaze
Backblaze is recognized for talent retention and company culture—in the past few years we’ve received numerous awards for culture, diversity, and leadership from places like Comparably, Inc., Great Place to Work, and others. The addition of a seasoned CHRO will help us to continue this excellent trend as well as enabling our next phase of growth initiatives following our recent IPO in November 2021.
“Culture is critical in times of rapid growth and we want to continue scaling our world-class organization and great team alongside our growth as the leading independent storage cloud.” Gleb Budman, our CEO and Chairperson commented. “Robert is an experienced leader with the skills to help us do that. We are excited to welcome him to Backblaze.”
The Skills Robert Brings to Backblaze
Robert has a long track record of success in helping organizations scale rapidly while also championing healthy company culture. His executive experience includes leading HR functions at Turntide Technologies, 360 Behavioral Health, Mobilite, Broadcom Corporation and others. Additionally, Robert founded and managed Green Talent Co, an independent talent and HR advisory firm. Robert has scaled and led HR teams across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe in software, hardware, telecomms, and healthcare industries. He brings a people first philosophy to everything he does, and is fiercely passionate about the employee and candidate experience.
“I’m proud to be joining a company that is committed to developing talent at all levels of the organization,” Robert said in reference to joining Backblaze. “I’m looking forward to working with leaders who have been recognized for promoting diversity, culture, and inclusion as we continue to focus on people and culture as a strategic priority.”
Robert earned his bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from Staffordshire University, and his Master’s degree in employment law from the University of East Anglia. He also volunteers as a pro bono HR consultant for Catchafire, a social good platform that matches professionals with nonprofits to volunteer their services.
Originally from the UK, Robert and his family hit the road 14 years ago and he is now based in Los Angeles, where he resides with wife, three boys, (ages 8, 17, 20) and two dogs. Taking advantage of the wonderful Southern California weather, Robert enjoys keeping fit, cycling, and sharing his eclectic music taste.
Backblaze Is Hiring
From day one, Backblaze has worked hard to bring our values to life, creating a transparent, sustainable, innovative (and dare we say flat-out good) place to work. Want to join the team? Check out our open opportunities.
It has been over six years since we released Storage Pod 6.0. Yes, we have improved that system since then, several times. We’ve added more memory, upgraded the CPU, and of course deployed larger disks. I suppose we could have written blog posts about those improvements, a Storage Pod 6.X post or two or three, but somehow that felt a bit hollow.
About 18 months ago, we talked about The Next Backblaze Storage Pod. We had started using Dell servers in our Amsterdam data center, although we were still building and deploying the version 6.X storage pods in our U.S. data centers. That changed about six months ago and we haven’t built or deployed a Backblaze Storage Pod since that time. Here’s what we’ve done instead.
A Backblaze-Worthy Storage Server
In September of 2019, we wrote a blog post to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of open sourcing our Storage Pod design. In that post we mused about the build/buy decision and stated the criteria we needed to consider if we were going to buy storage servers from someone else: cost, ease of maintenance, the use of commodity parts, ability to scale production, and so on. Also in that post, we compiled a list of storage servers on the market at the time which were similar to our Storage Pod design.
We then proceeded to test several different storage servers from the list and elsewhere. The testing was done over a period of about a year using the criteria noted earlier. The process progressed and one server, a 60-drive Supermicro server, was selected to move on to the next stage, production performance testing.
Here we would observe the server’s performance and test its compatibility with our operational architecture. We built a vault of 20 Supermicro servers and placed it into production, and at the same time we placed a standard Storage Pod vault into production. The two vaults ran the same software and we would track each vault’s performance throughout.
When a Backblaze Vault enters production, 60 tomes of storage come online at the same time joining thousands of other tomes ready to receive data. Each vault has the same opportunity to load data, but this will vary depending on the performance of the vault to process the requests received. In general, the more performant the vault, the more data it can upload each day.
The comparison of how much data each vault uploaded each day is shown below. Vault 1084 is composed of 20 Supermicro servers and Vault 1085 is composed of 20 Backblaze Storage Pods.
The Supermicro vault (1084) started with a limit of 2,500 simultaneous connections allowed for the first seven days. Once that limit was lifted and both vaults were set to 5,000 simultaneous connections, the Supermicro vault generally outperformed the Backblaze vault over the remainder of the observation period.
What happened to the data once the test was over? It stayed in the Supermicro vault and that vault became a permanent part of our production environment. It is still in operation today, joined by over 1,100 additional Supermicro servers. Safe to say, we moved ahead with using the Supermicro servers in our environment in place of building new Storage Pods.
The Server Model We Use
The Supermicro model we order from Supermicro is the PIO-5049P-E1CR60L (PIO-5049). That model is not sold via the Supermicro website. That said, model SSG-6049P-E1CR60L (SSG-6049) is similar and is widely available. Both models have 60 drives, but the chassis is slightly different, and the motherboards are different with the PIO-5049 model having a single CPU slot, and the SSG-6049 model having two CPU slots. Let’s compare the basics of the two models below.
In practice, the Supermicro SSG-6049 model supports newer components such as the latest CPUs and allows more memory versus the Supermicro PIO-5049 model, but the latter is more than capable of supporting our needs.
Can You Build It?
A little over 13 years ago, we wrote the Petabytes on a Budget blog post introducing Backblaze Storage Pods to the world and open sourcing the design. Since then, many individuals, organizations, and businesses have taken the various storage pod designs we published over the years and built their own storage servers. That’s awesome.
We know building a Storage Pod was not easy. Oh, the assembly was simple enough, but getting all the parts you needed was a challenge: searching endlessly for 5-port backplanes (minimum order quantity 1,000-ouch, sorry) or having to build your own power supply cables. While many of you enjoyed the challenge; many didn’t.
For the Supermicro system, let’s work with the Supermicro SSG-6049 model as it is available to everyone and see what it would take for you to acquire/assemble/build a single Supermicro storage server.
Option One: Go Standard
The easiest thing to do is to order a pre-configured SSG-6049 model from Supermicro or you can try one of their online reseller sites such as Canada Computers & Electronics or ComputerLink, which offer the same “complete system”. In these cases, the ability to customize the server is minimal and requires direct contact with the vendor for most changes. If that works for you, then you’re all set.
Option Two: Configure
If you want to design your own system you can try Supermicro resellers such as IT Creations (US) and Server Simply (EU) which have configurators that allow you to select your CPU, motherboard, network cards, memory, and various other components. This is a great option but given the number of different options and the possibility of incompatibilities between components, you need to be careful here. Don’t rely on the configurator to catch a component mismatch.
Option Three: Create
Here you might buy the most stripped-down server you can find and replace nearly everything inside—motherboard, CPU, fans, switches, cables and so on. You’ll probably void any warranty you had on the system, but we suspect you knew that already. Regardless, you can take the base system and stuff it full of smoking-fast everything so that your copy of “Ferris Buellers Day Off” downloads in picoseconds. That’s the fun part of building your own storage server, when you are done it is uniquely yours.
Which option you choose is, of course, your choice, and while ordering a standard system from Supermicro may not be as satisfying as soldering heat sinks to the motherboard or neatly tying off your SATA cable runs, it will give you more time to watch Ferris, so there’s that.
FYI, Supermicro has an extensive network of resellers around the world. While the options above fall neatly into three categories, each reseller has their own way of working with their clients. If you are going to buy or build your own Supermicro storage server or have already done so, share your experience with your colleagues in the comments below or on your favorite forum or community site.
What About Pricing
Supermicro does not publish prices and we are not going to out them here, but we wanted to see if we could determine the street price for the Supermicro SSG-6049 system by surveying reseller websites. It was not pretty. In our research, we saw prices for the Supermicro SSG-6049 model range from $6K to 40K on different reseller sites. On the website with the $6K price they started with a fictitious base system that you could not order, and then listed the various components you were required to add, such as CPU, memory, hard drives, etc. At the $40K website the reseller didn’t bother to list any of the components; it just had the model and the price—no specs or technical information. Classic buyer beware scenarios in both cases.
The other variable that made the street price hard to determine was that resellers often bundled other services into the price of the system such as installation, annual maintenance, and even shipping. All are reasonable services for a reseller to offer, but they cloud the picture when trying to determine the actual cost of the product you are trying to buy. At best, we can say that the street price is somewhere between $20K and $30K, but we are not very confident with that range.
Storage Server Pricing Over Time
Since 2009 we have tracked the cost per GB of each Storage Pod version we have produced. We’ve updated the chart below to add both Storage Pod version 6.X, our most current Storage Pod configuration, and the Supermicro storage server we are buying, model PIO-5049.
The cost per GB is computed by taking the total hardware cost of a storage server, including the hard drives, and dividing by the total storage in the server at the time. When Storage Pod 1.0 was released in September 2009, the system cost was about $0.12/GB, and as you can see that has decreased over time to $0.02/GB in the Supermicro systems.
One point to note is that both the Storage Pod 6.X ($0.028/GB) and Supermicro ($0.020/GB) servers use the same 16TB hard drive models. We believe the difference between the cost per GB of the two cohorts ($0.008) is primarily based on the operational efficiency obtained by Supermicro in making and selling tens of thousands of units a month versus Backblaze assembling a hundred 6.X Storage Pods on our own. In other words, Supermicro’s scale of production has enabled us to get performant systems for less than if we continued to build them ourselves.
What’s Next for Storage Pods
No one here at Backblaze is ready to write the obituary for our beloved red Backblaze Storage Pods. Afterall, the innovation that was the Storage Pod created the opportunity for Backblaze to change the dynamics of the storage market. Now that the Storage Pod hardware has been commoditized, our cloud storage software platform is what enables us to continue to deliver value to businesses and individuals alike.
All that means is that our next Storage Pod probably won’t be an incremental change, but instead something completely new, at least for us. It may not even be a Storage Pod—who knows? That said, we will continue to upgrade our existing Storage Pods with new CPUs, memory, and such, and they’ll be around for years to come. At which point we may give them away or crush them (again). In the meantime, we’ll probably do another blog post or two so we can post a few pictures and tell a few stories. Or maybe we’ll just move on. Hard to say right now.
Thanks to all our Storage Pod readers for your comments and suggestions over the years. You’ve made us better along the way and we look forward to continuing to hear from you as our journey continues.
On the Backblaze blog, we’ve been sharing tips for backing up and doing more with your data, especially when it comes to data digitally scattered across social media platforms. We asked what you, our readers, wanted to know about protecting your data online and you responded with this question: How do you download and back up data on Microsoft OneDrive?
OneDrive is an online file hosting service that many users take advantage of to sync the data on their computer. Although it offers 5GB of storage space for free, users pay a fee to store data that exceeds tiers of 100GB, 1TB, and 6TB. OneDrive even notes on their website that to free up space on your OneDrive account, you should download that file or folder to a location outside of your OneDrive folders, and then delete the OneDrive copy of the file or folder to reduce your storage amount. Of course, this means that the document is no longer syncing. And by doing so, you’re forced to constantly juggle the amount of data saved in OneDrive to stay under the free limit. Worse yet, the data you remove from OneDrive is no longer protected using the 3-2-1 backup method.
This guide walks you through ensuring your data on OneDrive is safely backed up and how to keep your data safe using the 3-2-1 backup strategy. So, read on to learn how to save your OneDrive data, including:
A step-by-step guide to accessing and downloading your data.
What to do with your downloaded OneDrive data to ensure it stays protected.
Back Up Everything But the Kitchen Sync
If you’re reading this blog post, you probably already know that saving your data to a sync service is not the same as backing it up. Sync and backup services are complimentary, but only a backup will save a copy of your data and keep it safe against accidental deletion, updates, a ransomware attack, and more.
To help you save your synced computer data, we’re developing a series of guides to downloading and backing up your data across different sync services. Below is a list of our other guides, and comment below to let us know what other sync services you’d like to see us cover.
Open your OneDrive account and select the files or folders you want to download. You can select individual items by clicking the circle check box next to each item. You can also select several files at once by clicking on one file, scrolling down the list, then left-clicking while holding down the Shift key on the last item in the list you want to select. To select all of the files in a folder, click the circle to the left of the top row, or simply press CTRL + A (or COMMAND + A on a Mac).
In the top menu, select Download. You can also right-click an individual file and select Download. If you choose multiple files or folders and then select Download, your browser will download a ZIP file containing all the data you selected. If you’re in a folder and you select Download without selecting any files or folders, your browser will download everything saved in that folder.
Save your OneDrive data on your computer. Your browser will download your files to the Downloads folder of your computer. Select the files and save them to a permanent location. For some users, your browser may prompt you to choose the location where you want to save the download.
Now that you’ve downloaded your OneDrive data, keep reading to find out how to ensure that data is safely backed up.
The 3-2-1 Method in a Nutshell
Back up your data based on these principles:
Redundancy. Have several copies of your data.
Geographic Distance. Have those copies in different locations.
Access. Have different types of access to your backup data. A good example here: you don’t want all of your data to be connected to the internet to reduce the risk of cyberattacks. You also don’t want all copies of your data stored in your home in case of disaster or theft.
How to Back Up OneDrive Data
Once you have all of your OneDrive data downloaded on your computer, you’ve fulfilled the first step of the 3-2-1 backup strategy by storing your data on your local device. Next, you should make sure to follow the next steps and save your data on a secondary, external device and in a third, off-site location. Cloud storage is the one of the best options for easily securing your data off-site.
If you’re using Backblaze Personal Backup to protect all of the data on your computer and external drives, you’re all set! Backblaze automatically and continuously backs up a copy of all of your data to the cloud.
Another option to consider when you want to securely store your data and offload some of it from your local device is to upload your data to Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage directly. As long as you are still keeping a copy of that data on other local drives or devices, you’re still fulfilling the 3-2-1 backup method. You can learn more about the difference between using Personal Backup and B2 Cloud Storage and how to save and organize your data in cloud storage by reading this blog post.
Read On to Get the Most Out of Backblaze and OneDrive
Our help section is filled with useful guides on maximizing the integration of Backblaze and OneDrive. Check out our guides for Windows or Mac to learn more.
Don’t Rely on Sync Services to Secure Your Data
Chances are, the data you have saved in your OneDrive folders is data you want to keep. Don’t wait until you accidentally get locked out of your account or a software update wreaks havoc on your synced data. Back up your data today, and comment below to let us know what else you’d like to know about to help you keep your data safe.
Announcing Backblaze Computer Backup 8.5! Our latest release builds on version 8.0’s speed boosts and brings with it not only a redesigned application for Mac and PC, but an improvement to our Safety Freeze feature, which prevents your backups from becoming corrupted. Here’s a brief overview of what’s new for this release:
macOS and Windows:
Safety Freeze enhancements: improved efficiency and reduced false-positives.
Visual refresh: We’ve completely refreshed both of our client apps.
Minor text, bug, and performance improvements: We’ve cleaned up some of the language to make things easier to understand and have tightened up some of the code.
macOS:
SwiftUI redesign: the macOS app has been completely redesigned from the ground up using SwiftUI.
Our Safety Freeze feature is designed to protect your backups and prevent them from being corrupted if something goes wrong on your computer. Over the years we’ve updated the feature based on feedback and tried to make it more transparent to the end user. With the updates in version 8.5, we’ve added a self-healing component which attempts to fix some of the false positives that caused an erroneous Safety Freeze to occur, especially when a user is moving from one computer to another.
Visual Refresh
With the Swift redesign on macOS, we felt now would be the perfect time to also change some of the visuals in our apps. We’ve updated both of our client apps to make them better looking, simpler to use, less cluttered, and easier to understand.
SwiftUI Redesign
In preparation for macOS Ventura, we’ve rewritten the macOS app in SwiftUI. There’s nothing but good news here. This refresh helps future-proof our macOS app and also keeps the same system efficiency you know and love from Backblaze-built applications.
General Performance Improvements
Everyone’s favorite: “general bug fixes and performance improvements.” We’ve also updated and simplified a lot of our client text to go along with the visual refresh and deliver a better, easier-to-understand overall app.
Backblaze v8.5 Is Available Today: September 15, 2022
We hope you love this new release! We will be slowly auto-updating all users in the coming weeks, but if you can’t wait and want to update now on your Mac or PC:
Right click on the Backblaze icon in your menu or taskbar.
Also, this version is now the default download on www.backblaze.com. Please reach out to support if you have any questions or if you want to give feedback—we always like to know how things are going.
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