I'm not a serious IT person, but I imagine a serious IT person would draw a distinction between synchronization systems (like Windows Mesh/Sync, database replic

I'm not a serious IT person, but I imagine a serious IT person would draw a distinction between synchronization systems (like Windows Mesh/Sync, database replication systems, RAID 1, source control systems etc) and true backup systems that create more-or-less non-editable snapshots of the data in question. Simply because the sync systems can turn against you and amplify your own mistakes, deleting or altering all the copies of something, even when the deletion or alteration was in error. Real backup systems make that sort of mistake much more difficult or even impossible (in the case of write-once media). Certainly, both types of systems can save your bacon, but not in exactly the same situations. In any case, though, thanks for sharing your experience.