Backing up your important documents and files is vital and there are various ways to do so. Computers will always eventually fail and often this will happen when you least expect it. We recommend backing up data at least once a week.
This article is intended for full-time Wharton students.
For more information on the differences between various cloud storage solutions, see Cloud Storage Options (Students & Staff).
Common Backup Options
| Method | Description | Storage Space | Portability | Durability | Ease of Use | Archive Quality1 |
| Flash Drive | Plug into any device with a USB port | 1GB - 256GB | High | High | High | Medium |
| External Drive | Stores lots of data; semi-portable | 128GB - 4TB | Medium | Medium | High | Medium |
| Cloud Storage | Always available online | Penn+Box: Unlimited OneDrive: 1TB Google Drive: Unlimited Dropbox: Unlimited | High | High | High | Penn+Box: Low2 OneDrive: Low2 Google Drive: Low3 Dropbox: High |
| MyWhartonDrive (Y:) | Network storage provided by Wharton | 5GB | Medium4 | High | Medium4 | Low3 |
1Archive quality denotes the ability of the media to be used as a long-term (many years or decades) archival medium for data.
2Your PennO365 account (including OneDrive storage and files) and Penn+Box account will be deleted within 60 days after graduation.
3Your MyWhartonDrive (Y:) and Google Drive will be deleted 1 year following graduation.
4You can access your MyWhartonDrive (Y:) via any Wharton public computer or the vLab.
Additional Considerations
Flash Drives
- Convenient, but easy to lose.
- Works with any computer that has a USB port.
- Widely available for sale at sizes starting at 1GB.
- Also known as a thumb-drive, Jump Drive, or memory key.
External Drives
- There's a variety of inexpensive external hard drives available.
- Many external hard drives come pre-loaded with software to schedule automatic backups.
- Mac computers come with a program called Time Machine, which backs up up your data to another place on your hard drive.
Cloud Storage
- Your data is always available and is not reliant on physical media
- Some people have concerns about having their data stored in the cloud.
- For a list of options, see Cloud Storage Options.
MyWhartonDrive (Y:)
- This space is available from the Wharton computers, or online.
- This option is only available until 1 year following graduation