Minimalist File Backup Strategy - 2 Cloud Backups in 2 Contients#

Setup#

1. Pick two cloud storage providers in two different countries, ideally on two different continents. Example: one in North America, one in Europe.
2. Make two copies of your data and encrypt both with AES-256. AES-256 is considered quantum-resistant against brute force attacks. Use a unique nonce per file, and save the SHA-256 checksum of each encrypted file to verify integrity later.

$ sha256sum file.enc
c80f4cb001bf10ae02ceefd778415c5b52c792f86cfd1347d5cbaa61465f2be2 file.enc

3. Store each copy with a different provider in a different country. Example: one copy on Backblaze (US East), the other on Hetzner (Germany).

Avoid#

• Geopolitically risky locations. Countries along the Ring of Fire, such as Japan, have frequent earthquakes and tsunamis. Countries at risk of conflict, such as Iran, may lose internet connectivity or have their data centers destroyed overnight.
• Cold / Deep Archive storage. Services like AWS Glacier or Google Cloud Archive have high retrieval costs. If one of your two backup copies goes down, you’re stuck pulling data from cold storage, which is expensive.
• Both copies on the same provider. Some providers offer multiple data center locations. If your account gets banned, both copies become inaccessible. Use two separate companies.

Advantages#

• No external hard drives needed. No hardware to buy, store, or maintain.
• Fast. Upload directly from your computer over the internet. No cables or hard drive docking stations on your desk.

Risks#

• Both data centers get destroyed at the same time by a large-scale multi-continent natural disaster or similar event.
• Both cloud providers going out of business simultaneously.