The data protection rule the pros use is called 3-2-1: three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one copy stored off-site. It's been the standard for decades because it survives almost every disaster scenario — a drive failure, a fire, a ransomware attack, a stolen laptop. What that looks like in practice depends a lot on what you're protecting and what your budget is. Here are three setups for three real situations.
Before anything else: what is NOT a backup
A few things people commonly mistake for backups but aren't:
- OneDrive or Google Drive sync alone. If you delete a file on your PC, it deletes from the cloud too. Sync is convenient, but it's not protection against deletion or ransomware.
- A single external drive that lives next to your computer. One power surge or one house fire and both copies are gone.
- RAID by itself. RAID protects against a drive failing inside the array. It does nothing against accidental deletion, ransomware, theft, or the whole NAS dying.
A real backup has at least one copy that's separate — in time (a snapshot from yesterday), in place (off-site), or in medium (a drive that isn't plugged in).
Setup 1 — The regular user (photos, taxes, documents)
This is most people. You have ~100 GB of important stuff: family photos, tax returns, a few work documents, browser bookmarks. You want it safe but don't want to think about it.
The setup:
- Primary cloud: Microsoft OneDrive (1 TB for $7/month, comes with Office) or iCloud+ ($3–10/month). Set it to sync your Documents and Pictures folders. This is your "live" copy.
- Cold offline: A 1–2 TB external SSD ($80–$150 one-time). Plug it in once a month, copy your important folders, unplug. Store it in a drawer somewhere other than your desk.
Total cost: ~$7/month + a one-time ~$100 for the drive.
Why this works: The cloud is your primary protection against drive failure. The offline drive protects you against ransomware (which would encrypt your cloud copy too) and against deleted files you didn't notice were gone for two weeks.
Setup 2 — The small business
Five to twenty employees. Mix of financial data, customer records, shared documents, maybe a few proprietary files. Downtime costs money, and if you handle customer payment info you have regulatory exposure.
The setup:
- Primary cloud: Google Workspace ($6–18/user/month) or Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50/user/month). Real per-user file storage, real version history, real admin controls. Avoid the temptation to share one consumer Drive account across the team — it's a compliance nightmare.
- On-site redundancy: A small Synology NAS (DS124 or DS224+, around $200–$400 plus drives). Set it to sync nightly from key user folders or use Synology's Active Backup for Business (free, included). Local restore is fast — minutes instead of hours.
- Off-site cloud snapshot: Backblaze B2 or AWS S3 paired with your NAS, $5–20/month depending on volume. This is your ransomware insurance.
Total cost: ~$40–$150/month + ~$500 one-time for the NAS.
Why this works: If a drive fails, the cloud copy is intact. If ransomware hits your office, your NAS and the cloud snapshot both protect you (assuming you've kept the snapshot immutable, which is a checkbox setting on B2). If your office burns down, the cloud copies are untouched.
Setup 3 — The creator (video, photo, design — terabytes)
You have 5–20+ TB of project files. Cloud-only doesn't work — the first upload would take weeks and the monthly cost would be brutal. You need real local storage with real local speed.
The setup:
- Primary working storage: A 4-bay Synology NAS in RAID 5 (DS923+ or similar), populated with 4 × 8 TB drives. ~$1,500 all-in. Run your project files from here over a wired connection. Synology Drive syncs the in-progress folder to your laptop so you can work mobile.
- Rotating cold storage: Two large external drives ($150–$250 each). One stays plugged in for backup, the other rotates off-site (a friend's house, a safety deposit box, your car — anywhere not in the same building). Swap them monthly.
- Off-site cloud, slow but cheap: Backblaze Personal ($9/month, unlimited) for laptops, or Backblaze B2 ($6/TB/month) for the NAS. Plan for the initial upload to take weeks — once it catches up, daily incremental backups are fast.
Total cost: ~$2,000 one-time + $50–$150/month depending on data volume.
Why this works: RAID handles drive failure. The rotating drives handle ransomware or a flood that takes out the NAS. Backblaze handles a complete loss of the studio. The trade-off you're making is that recovery from a cloud-only loss isn't quick — it might take a week to pull 5 TB back down — but the data exists, and that's the point.
How to actually start (without overthinking)
The mistake most people make is researching backup systems for six months while their data sits unprotected. Don't do that. Pick the closest setup to your situation, start with just the cloud piece (it takes 10 minutes), then add the offline piece within a month.
Imperfect backup running today beats perfect backup planned for next quarter. Every working system started with someone clicking "set up sync."
If you'd rather we set it up
If this is a lot to wade through, we set up backup systems for individuals and small businesses across North Georgia — hardware sourcing, configuration, testing the restore (the part most people skip), and showing you how to use it. Flat-rate quotes, no hourly surprises. Call (706) 203-2563 or send us a note.