What actually counts as a copy under the 3-2-1 rule, why a RAID mirror or a snapshot only protects against one kind of failure, and the one-page inventory that exposes the gaps.
Free weekly email with the week’s posts, videos and one tip: https://chartmann1590.github.io/homelab-the-right-way/newsletter/
Disclosure: this is my own article (Charles Hartmann, Homelab the Right Way). Written with AI help and edited by me; the setup described is mine.


Totally get that. You don’t have to back up everything, just the stuff you can’t replace: photos, documents, configs. That set is usually small enough for an old USB drive plus a cheap or free offsite option. Rebuildable stuff (media, ISOs, containers you can redeploy) can skip it. Imperfect backups of the important 5% beat a perfect plan you never get to.