What backups should my website have?
The short answer
At least two: the automatic backups your host makes, and your own copy kept somewhere else. Check you can actually restore one, and take a fresh backup before any big change. Some website builders don’t let you download a complete copy of your site, so keep your own copies of your text, images and product data.
- Your host’s backups: find out how often they run, how long they’re kept and how to restore one.
- Your own copy: download it regularly and store it away from your host, in case the account is lost or closed.
- Databases and uploaded files need backing up as well as the website itself.
- Test a restore once in a while. A backup you can’t restore isn’t a backup.
Before deleting a server or database, take a final backup: see an example.
Words used here
- Backup / snapshot
- A saved copy of your data at a moment in time, so you can restore it later. Always take one before deleting anything.
- Database
- The filing cabinet where your app keeps its users, accounts and everything they save.
- File storage (bucket)
- Online storage for files people upload — photos, PDFs, videos. Each storage area is called a “bucket”.
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