The backups most people are familiar with simply store files from your computer. This may also include folders as well and in some cases storage system details to enable a complete disk to be restored. Frequently a single machine-oriented backup system may also manage backup frequency and retention so that you have a series of historic backups to restore from.
Backing up your website is different to backing up your desktop computer or your portable devices. Website backups can take three forms;
- Backup of files only
- Backup of databases only
- Backup of your entire web hosting account (web space, databases, email system, FTP system and all configuration data)
A full account backup is a single archive file that can stores all the data necessary to restore a snapshot of your full web hosting account. Every aspect of the data, files, and configuration can be restored very quickly from this archive.
Why Backup?
Your website is part of a complex technological system that constantly changing. Sme changes are expected and authorised. Some changes are imposed by others without authrisation and often with harmful intent (hacking). All changes have the capacity to damage your your online presence. While we can defend against these changes even the changes we allow can be damaging. Sometimes even the hardware systems we use can fail and with it important data can be lost in an instant. By maintaining a backup system of historic data we are always able to restore our web hosting accounts and all they contain, and thus continue with online business - almost as if nothing has happened. Making and keeping backups guards against the risk of your hosted services being discontinued or lost. Imagine having to rebuild your website again from notning. Imagine losing your mailing lists and databases, image the damage to your business reputation from losing all your Internet presence and capability and having to re-establish it. The loss is immediate, intense and final. This state of affairs can be easily and cheaply avoided by a simple backup plan for yoru web hosting account.
