The term local backup refers to copying your important data to devices directly connected to your computer.
There are many different kinds of devices that can be used for local backups, but the most popular device is an external USB hard drives (or flash drives for smaller amounts of data)
Backing Up to an External Hard Drive
To back up your data to an external hard drive, connect the USB cable from your hard drive to your computer, and connect the external power supply to your external hard drive if it has one. Your computer should find your hard drive automatically, and install necessary drivers. After it is connected, your hard drive should appear either as an icon on your desktop (for Macs), or as a drive in the My Computer window (for PCs). Both operating systems offer automated solutions for backing up data.
Time Machine on the Mac:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
Windows Backup for PC:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17127/windows-back-up-restore
To restore files use the Time Machine or Windows back up interface.
The disadvantage to a local back up is that it is easily lost, stolen, or damaged by fire, flood, etc.
Remotely backing up your data involves copying your important files to a location that is not attached directly to your computer. Generally, this means copying your data over a network to a location on a file server. The University provides many options including OneDrive, g.harvard, Sharepoint, departmental network shares and CrashPlanProE. This can be useful in cases of hard drive failure, fire, flood, or other disastrous situations that not only could cause your computer components to fail, but also could cause damage to hardware near your computer. Another advantage of this type of remote back up is redundancy and accessibility across multiple systems.
The University provides Crashplan ProE back up solution which stores securely off site in the Cloud. Please contact us to set up.
To restore files that were backed up to an external hard drive, follow the protocols provided by your backup system (i.e. TimeMachine or Windows Backup)
To restore files that were backed up to network drives or CrashplanProE, contact us for assistance.