Backups

Making backups or data backups is an essential way to prevent the loss of important information and data. The loss of files that you have created yourself, texts, images, tables or other documents, can be a serious matter. If this data disappears, it may be lost forever. A functioning backup ensures that even in an emergency, for example after an infection with malware (e.g. an encryption trojan), a hardware defect of the device, theft or accidental deletion, your data is not irretrievably lost.

  • Backups of work-related and student data

    If you use the network drives of the University of Münster for filing and storing your data, an automatic backup will be performed on a regular basis. You do not have to take any action yourself. Other files on the computers are usually not backed up, which means that the data stored there is not protected against loss. This also applies to mobile devices such as notebooks. Therefore, always use the network drives provided.

    Other services provided by the University of Münster for the storage of work-related or student data are usually also backed up on a regular basis. You do not usually have to take action yourself here either.

    If you have any questions regarding data backup or if special solutions are required, please contact your supervisor or your IVV.

  • Backups of Research Data

    The topic of data backup should definitely be considered for research data as well. Contact your responsible IVV or the Research Data Management of the University of Münster to determine existing or potential additional data backup capabilities.

  • Backups of Private Data

    For private data on your own end devices and storage media you are responsible yourself. How much effort you put into backing up data, i.e. how often you save and update data externally, is entirely up to you. For very important data, it is a best to keep several copies in different storage locations (e.g. 1x local hard disk, 1x external hard disk and 1x in a cloud storage).

    Use offline storage devices for your backup, e.g. an external hard drive. Encrypt your backup storage device and store it in a way that is not accessible to unauthorized individuals. Use the backup storage device exclusively for this one purpose and regularly update the state of the stored data. For backing up to an external data device, the operating system's integrated component called Backup and Restore can be used under Windows, for example. The German Federal Ministry for Information Security (BSI) offers an extensive help page with instructions for backing up data.

    If you want to use a cloud service to back up your data, pay attention to the legitimacy and reputation of the service you use. It is recommended to encrypt your data before storing it (e.g., with Cryptomator) to prevent unauthorized access by the provider.

  • Limited Backup Features in Sciebo

    There is no structured backup for Sciebo, which is accessible for you. Sciebo is only suitable as a primary storage location to a limited extent, as the recovery of accidentally deleted files can only be guaranteed for seven days. The network drives provided by the University of Münster should therefore be used for work-related data; automatic data backups are performed on a regular basis here. Sciebo should primarily be used as a synchronization tool and for exchanging data.