External hard drives wear out

Drives do not last forever

Hard drives have moving parts that wear out. Solid state drives and USB flash drives have no moving parts, but they wear out too and can lose data if left unpowered for long periods. Any drive can fail suddenly, with no warning, and drives also get dropped, damaged by heat and lost.

Common problems with drive backups

• One copy only. If the drive fails, the backup is gone.
• Never checked. The drive was filled years ago and nobody has tried to open the files since.
• Always plugged in. A drive connected all the time can be encrypted by ransomware along with everything else.
• Kept next to the computer. A fire, flood or theft can take both.
• Not encrypted. A lost drive full of business files is a data breach.

Better habits

• Treat a single drive as one copy, never as the only backup.
• Follow the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with one kept offsite.
• Check old drives once in a while by opening a few files.
• Replace drives every few years, before they become a gamble.
• Encrypt drives that hold business data.
• For a business, use a managed backup that reports when it fails.