How important it is to save your work and private documents properly is not a new information. A crashing computer is enough to make all your data disappear. Having a backup, or rather several backups, carried out on a weekly basis is therefore essential.

There are more than enough options when it comes to storing your documents, but how do you do this as efficiently as possible? Preferably without your energy consumption running away with you?

Manual or automatic backups
The choice between manually or automated a backup is a personal decision and depending on various factors. Manual is a little more work, but cheaper than an automated backup. A great choice if your data is not subject to much change. There is also another difference that can play in your decision. Automated backups use more energy than manual.

Systems such as NAS are constantly running and using a lot of power. They do offer continuous protection, something that an external hard disk cannot live up to. Automatic systembackups make a complete copy of your system, which requires large storage and processing power.

This is different for manual backups. An external hard disk only uses electricity during use, this is minimally compared to a continuously running system such as NAS. A local backup to a second computer is easy during working hours, then the extra energy consumption is minimal.

Five tips for performing an efficient backup

  1. The type of backup you choose, perform it or let it perform during working hours. This saves energy because all equipment is already switched on.
  2. If you opt for external storage, go for energy -efficient hard drives or NAS systems. Check if they have a sleep mode so that they are not on continuously.
  3. Be critical of what you make a backup of. Just copying all data is a waste of space. Use software with which you remove double data and compress files.
  4. Choose consciously when you go for storage in a cloud. Choose a provider that uses, for example, green energy, this does not save directly on your energy bill, but does contribute to a better environment.
  5. Provide insight. View where you use energy before you look at how things can be done.

Joris Kerkhof – Expert Energie Independer gives the tip: “You can only reduce if you know where you use too much. That is why it is important that you have good insight into your consumption. Without insight into you have no control over your consumption! ”

Whether you opt for an external hard drive, storage in the cloud or an energy-efficient NAS with a good standby mode. By choosing smart, it is really possible to use your energy consumption efficiently. What is good for the planet, but with the current energy prices certainly also for your wallet. Keep in control of how to set the backups and regularly check whether everything is still doing it as you have thought. Then no crashing computer can give you a wise.

This article was created in collaboration with Independer