How I protect my digital life

By StoneHouse Logic

11 Nov 2014

If you are anything like me, you will have amassed an enormous amount of personal data over the years. For me, the most critical of this data is the thousands of photos and videos that my family have collected. On last count, I have over 50 thousand photos alone. These are irreplaceable and I go to great lengths to ensure they are backed up and always available.

By Andy Long, Stonehouse Logic.

Most businesses (and all StoneHouse Logic customers!) will have an effective backup solution in place that will guarantee data can be restored quickly in the event of a disaster or accidental deletion. These backup strategies will typically involve a combination of different methods including backing up to local devices, taking a copy of data off site and backing up to cloud services. These solutions can have a large cost attached, but compared to the cost of losing the data, it is a price worth paying. The good news is that for a home user, you can deploy a similar level of protection for a fraction of the cost by making use of some simple services aimed at the consumer.

I have tried many backup strategies in the past, but have settled on my current plan as it offers me the most flexibility, protection and cost effectiveness. I must stress that there are many similar services available so you may want to try a few to see which suits you best.

Microsoft OneDrive So, the main service I use is Microsoft OneDrive. I was a very early adopter of the technology when it was first called Mesh. Initially, this allowed you to synchronise files between PCs over the internet. Microsoft refined this and launched the consumer sync and cloud storage platform as SkyDrive. Sky Broadcasting decided this was too confusing and won a law suit which forced Microsoft to change the name, resulting in the current naming of OneDrive.

OneDrive stores your files on your PC and allows you to keep these in sync across all of your devices. This forms the first part of my backup plan, with my digital life kept on multiple PCs - my laptop and my desktop. These files are also stored on Microsoft's super resilient cloud platform in their data centres, so if I was unlucky enough to lose two PCs, I can quickly get my data back from the cloud. There are OneDrive apps for Windows phone, Android and iOS which means I can access my files from anywhere without having to fill up the storage on my tablet and phone. Another huge benefit for me is the fact that any photos or videos I take with either my wife's or my phone are automatically backed up. I currently pay a whopping 99p a month for an additional 50gb of storage space which, coupled with my initial free allowance and a few bonuses that Microsoft has kindly provided, leaves me with over 100gb of space. If this isn't enough then you can pay a little extra for more. Subscribers to Office 365 will soon have unlimited storage.

One of the main reasons for settling on OneDrive over for example Google Drive is the fantastic way in which your images are displayed on the website, making browsing through them a pleasure. Online editing of Word and Excel documents is also very simple yet powerful through the familiar looking online versions of the Microsoft Office suite.

Crash plan There a lots of online backup services so it’s worth having a look around to see which does the best job for you. I have settled on a product called Crashplan having read favourable reviews. For $5.99 a month, Crashplan provides a set and forget backup to the cloud with unlimited storage. A bonus is that it will also send the same backup to a local device. I keep a cheap USB hard drive in my laptop bag and occasionally plug it in, at which point Crashplan will automatically start the backup off.

So why do I need OneDrive and Crashplan? Well, there is my paranoia and the knowledge of what my wife would do if I told her I had lost 10 years’ worth of photographs of the kids, but there is another reason. OneDrive is not really a backup service, but a synchronisation platform. If I delete a file from one PC or device, it will be deleted on every other device and online. It will go into a recycle bin so I should be able to recover, but I think it’s better to take a "belt and braces" approach. Crashplan also saves version histories so if I save over a document, I can go back in time and pull up an earlier version.

YouTube This may not be the first service you think of for backup, but I find it an excellent platform for storing the family videos. These are uploaded directly from my phone when taken and by making them either private or unlisted, I can be relatively confident that they are for my eyes only. I still use OneDrive and Crashplan to store the original video file if it is something important, but YouTube has a polished front end for viewing them on a tablet or Smart TV. So that in a nutshell is how I protect my digital life at home for the price of a couple of coffees a month. As I have tried to emphasise, these are my personal recommendations and not those of StoneHouse Logic and I recommend you try a few to see which suits you. You may think my approach is overkill, but I value my memories and would hate to lose them.

Enjoyed this? Read more from StoneHouse Logic

Latest news

1

Napthens advises Calico Homes on land acquisition for £23m Dovestone Gardens extra care facility in Burnley Paul Hardy

Napthens advises Calico Homes on land acquisition for £23m Dovestone Gardens extra care facility in Burnley

21 May 2025

2

Construction begins on new Civil Service office building in Talbot Gateway Alan McBride Muse Will Town Defence Infrastructure Organisation Jennifer Chard Defence Business Services Cllr Lynn Williams Blackpool Council Garry Bowker Vinci

Construction begins on new Civil Service office building in Talbot Gateway

20 May 2025

3

Skiddle raises over £750,000 for charities Skiddle cheque presentation to Alder Hey Hospital

Skiddle raises over £750,000 for charities

20 May 2025

4

Former Victorian Hotel approved for residential conversion The site

Former Victorian Hotel approved for residential conversion

19 May 2025

5

REVOLUTION PARK: Work starts on Darwen’s new home of advanced manufacturing Oliver Webber, Tracy Clavell-Bate and Tim Webber from Barnfield Group with Cllr Phil Riley, second from right, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council

REVOLUTION PARK: Work starts on Darwen’s new home of advanced manufacturing

19 May 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
LBV122 May/June Launch Event
121 Lancashire Business View Magazine Launch
Networking
21 May 2025

LBV122 May/June Launch Event

Lancaster and Morecambe College, Lancaster, LA1 2TY

08:30 - 10:30

Sub36 Networking
Networking
11 Jun 2025

Sub36 Networking

British Jewellery School, Scorton, PR3 1BA

15:00 - 17:00

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference
Net Zero Carbon Social 1200pxtrident 2
Networking
18 Jun 2025

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference

Crow Wood Hotel & Spa Resort, Burnley, BB12 0RT

08:30 - 13:00

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025
BEC 315 X 315 Px
Networking
25 Sep 2025

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025

Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool, FY1 6HX

08:30 - 13:00

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers
WENDY BOWERS RISE Illustrstion copy.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
02 Apr 2025 - 08 Oct 2025

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Clayton le Moors, BB5 5JR

09:00 - 15:30

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Mytton Fold, Langho, BB6 8AB

11:30 - 14:15

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: May
Freelancer Meet-Up May.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: May

society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Amber River True Bearing quarterly investment seminar
LBV Hub Seminars
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

Amber River True Bearing quarterly investment seminar

Cottons Hotel & Spa , Knutsford, WA16 0SU

16:00 - 18:00

Liverpool Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-881365363-4862066883-1-original.20241023-085714.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Awards
23 May 2025 - 23 May 2025

Liverpool Business Expo 2025

Aintree Racecourse , Liverpool , L9 5AS

09:00 - 15:00

Advantage: AI – A Workshop for Business Leaders – May 29
Artboard 15.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
29 May 2025 - 29 May 2025

Advantage: AI – A Workshop for Business Leaders – May 29

Door4 Office, Burnley Wharf, Manchester Road, Burnley, BB11 1JG

09:00 - 11:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV122 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin