The honest answer: use both
Cloud backup and external hard drives solve different risks. Cloud protects you from physical disasters — fire, theft, flood, or accidentally dropping your laptop. An external drive protects you from software failures and gives you fast local recovery without needing internet access.
The gold standard is the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of media, with 1 copy offsite (the cloud). If you only want one option, which is right for you depends on what you're trying to protect against.
Cloud backup — advantages
- Offsite by default: If your house burns down or your laptop is stolen, cloud copies survive
- Automatic: Services like OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, and Backblaze run continuously in the background — you don't have to remember to plug anything in
- Versioning: Most cloud services keep previous versions of files, so you can recover something you accidentally deleted weeks ago
- Access from anywhere: Your files are available on any device, anywhere
Cloud backup — disadvantages
- Ongoing cost: 2TB of iCloud storage costs around $14/month. Backblaze (unlimited backup) costs around $9/month. It adds up.
- Slow initial upload: On typical Perth NBN connections, uploading 500GB for the first time can take days
- Slow recovery for large files: Downloading 200GB back from the cloud to a new machine takes time and data
- Internet dependency: No internet, no backup syncing — and no recovery without a decent connection
- Privacy considerations: Your files live on someone else's servers. For most people this is fine; for some it matters.
External hard drive — advantages
- Fast recovery: Restoring from a local drive takes minutes rather than hours
- No ongoing cost: Buy once, use for years. A 4TB external drive costs around $120–$150.
- Large capacity at low cost: No storage limits on what you can back up
- No internet required: Works completely offline
External hard drive — disadvantages
- Manual: You have to remember to plug it in and run the backup
- No offsite protection: If your house floods or is burgled, the drive goes too
- Drives fail: External drives have an average lifespan of 3–5 years and can fail without warning. If the drive you're backing up to dies, your backup dies with it.
- Easy to lose or forget: The drive that hasn't been used in 3 months isn't really a backup
Comparison table
| Factor | Cloud Backup | External Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Protects from theft/fire | Yes | No (unless stored offsite) |
| Automatic backup | Yes | Manual (usually) |
| Ongoing cost | $9–$14+/month | None after purchase |
| Recovery speed | Slow (internet-limited) | Fast (local) |
| File versioning | Yes (most services) | Only with backup software |
| Works without internet | No | Yes |
The Perth/WA context
NBN speeds in many Perth suburbs are reasonable for ongoing incremental backups but the initial upload of a large dataset takes time. If you're setting up cloud backup for the first time with 200GB+ of photos and documents, expect several days for the first sync. After that, daily changes upload quickly.
Perth's summer heat is also worth factoring in. Hard drives — including external backup drives — are affected by heat. Store your external drive somewhere cool when not in use, not on top of or next to your PC tower.
Lost data? We recover it.
If a drive has failed — external or internal — bring it to our Midland WA workshop. We use specialist tools to recover data from drives that won't spin up, won't be recognised, or have been accidentally formatted. We assess it and tell you what's recoverable before quoting.
Frequently asked questions
Is cloud backup or an external hard drive better?
Both have distinct advantages. Cloud backup protects against physical disasters (fire, theft, flood) and works automatically. An external drive gives you fast local recovery and no ongoing subscription cost. The best approach is both — follow the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
Keep 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage media, with 1 copy stored offsite (in the cloud or at another physical location). This means a single failure — drive crash, theft, fire — can't take all your copies at once.
Can I recover data from a dead external hard drive?
Often yes — even from drives that won't spin up or aren't recognised. PC Madness offers data recovery services in Midland WA. We assess the drive and tell you what's recoverable before quoting.
How often should I back up my computer?
For home users: at minimum, once a week. For business use: daily or continuously. An external drive you plug in once a month is better than nothing, but it means potentially losing a month's work.
Does Perth's internet speed affect cloud backup?
Yes — the initial upload of a large dataset can take days on typical Australian home NBN connections. Cloud backup is most practical for ongoing incremental backups once the initial upload is done. For large one-time transfers, an external drive is much faster.