Store and Back Up

Ensure the safety of your data. Replacing it could be time-consuming, costly or impossible.

Your data management plan should include a plan for backing up your data on a regular basis. The risk of losing data due to human error, natural disasters, or other mishaps can be mitigated by following the 3-2-1 Backup Rule:

  • You should have at least 3 copies of your data
    • The here copy, which can be your working copy.
    • The near copy, which is a local backup. Perhaps an external hard drive.
    • The far copy that is stored off-site and ideally accessible from a computer other than yours.
  • The copies should be stored in 2 different locations, like your backup disk and the cloud. Please don’t put two extra copies on the same backup disk!

 

Image representing the 3-2-1 Backup Rule

 

Please make sure you include your metadata and README files in your backups.

We recommend that you check with your IT group to see what kind of storage and backup capacity they can provide. For instance, most UBC researchers will have access to the Compute Canada Data Storage network and UBC ARC compute and storage. Alternatively, your research team can consult the UBC IT Storage Solutions Comparison Chart.

 

Need help? Contact research.data@ubc.ca