No computer cannot fail. The hard drive, a corrupted operating system, virus, or ransom ware that does not allow access to certain files. For this reason, it is extremely important to make backup copies of the files that you want to save.

What are backup or backup copies?

Making copies of the files that are most important is what can be called making backup copies, backup, or also, backup.

This seeks to recover those files that are of vital importance in the event of some type of accident, loss, or damage.

These copies are made on external storage units that are independent of the computer and not on different hard drives that it may have inside because they would be useless in the event of loss or theft of the computer if it is a laptop or a hard drive hijacking by ransom ware.

The process of recovering those files is known as restoration. 

Which files to copy?

Backups are performed on especially critical databases and related line-of-business applications.

For this, predefined policies are established, the frequency with which they must be carried out, the amount, and the service level agreements (SLAs) with which the information must be restored.

Companies try to make backup copies once a week of what is done outside of working hours (preferably on weekends).

Complementing these actions, incremental or differential copies are also established of those data on which changes have been made since the last full backup. 

Where to back up

For backups, it is preferable to use an external storage device, such as a hard drive or server.

Another way to make backup copies is to store the information on  NAS, which is a unit made up of several hard drives that have been designed to make this type of copy.

This system includes applications that facilitate this work without the user having to worry.

Scheduling backups in an automated way is the most appropriate so that errors do not occur and these are carried out with the necessary periodicity.

There are also cloud storage systems such as  Google Drive, but they are not very suitable when it comes to data that concerns third parties, such as customer contact information, files … which is very sensitive information.