Guide

Choosing a second location for your backups

The whole point of a second backup location is that it fails independently from the first one, which means the choice matters more than it first appears.

Different does not always mean independent

Two drives plugged into the same computer are more independent than one drive, but they still share the risk of anything that affects that one room or that one device, such as fire, theft, or a power surge.

Physical distance solves a specific category of risk

A copy kept at a different physical location — a relative's house, a safe deposit box, or a cloud service — specifically protects against anything that would destroy everything in one place at once.

Accessibility is part of the decision too

A second location that is extremely difficult to reach defeats part of its own purpose if you would never actually retrieve or update it. The right choice balances genuine independence against realistic, ongoing access.

Questions people ask