UPDATE: As the commenter below points out, this post is very out of date. I make suggestions regarding specific services (SugarSync) that are no longer valid (since SugarSync no longer has a free plan). Nonetheless, the general advice I give is still valid. That is, it’s important to sync and backup, it’s important for it to be set and forget, etc. In my case, using Office365 is a good option. It’s not free but it does a good job of syncing and backing up and storage comes with a subscription to Office, which I’m guessing most people will now have. If you beg to differ, or if you have other suggestions, please let us know in the comments.
I’m not going to go through all the reasons for backing up your dissertation. I’m sure you are aware of the risks and, in fact, I’m sure you are using some form of backup to safeguard against the loss of your dissertation. You might be backing up versions of your dissertation to a thumb drive or you might be emailing yourself a copy at the end of every day.
In this post I’d like to suggest that there are some easy and free ways to do a better job of backing up your dissertation. I won’t go through all the options. Instead I will suggest one system that I used, explain the basic features it has that I think every backup system should have and then point you to some other options in case you would find one of those more interesting.