Website backup and recovery for your site and software comes down to three things: automatic backups on a fixed schedule, copies stored somewhere other than your server, and a recovery procedure you actually test now and then. A backup you've never restored is a hope, not a certainty.
Many business owners assume their hosting provider or web developer takes care of this. Sometimes that's true, sometimes not, and sometimes only partly. In this article you'll learn what a good backup is, how often to make one and how to get back online quickly when things go wrong.
Why your website and software need backups
Things can go wrong in many ways, and often it's not your fault:
- An update to a plugin or system breaks the site.
- Someone accidentally deletes pages, products or customer data.
- A hack or ransomware (software that encrypts your files and demands a ransom).
- An outage or error at your hosting provider.
- A bug in a new version of your software that damages data.
Without a backup, that can mean your site has to be rebuilt, or that orders and customer data are gone. With a good backup you're usually back within a few hours.
What should a website backup include?
A website or web application consists of more than you see. A full backup includes:
- The files: code, themes, plugins and settings.
- The database: pages, products, orders, users and form submissions.
- Uploads: photos, PDFs and other files that users or you have uploaded.
- Configuration: such as settings for email, integrations and the server itself.
- A list of external services and how they're connected, so you can reconnect them.
Don't forget your email and shared files either. They usually aren't covered by your website backup, but they're just as important.
A common mistake is a backup that only contains the files. The site looks fine after restoring, but all recent orders or accounts are gone. The reverse happens too: the database is there, but the uploads aren't. So ask exactly what's in your backup.
How often should you back up your website?
That depends on how often things change and how much you can afford to lose. Ask yourself: if it goes wrong now, how much work am I willing to redo?
- A site you rarely change: weekly is often enough, plus a backup before every update.
- A site with a blog or regular new content: daily.
- A webshop or booking system: at least daily, and more often with lots of orders. Every lost order is a customer you have to chase.
- A web application with many users: often several times a day, or continuously, depending on what your hosting environment can do.
Also decide how long you keep backups. Keep a few weeks' worth. Sometimes you only notice a problem after days, for example with a hack that stays quiet. Then you want to be able to go back to a version from before that date.
The 3-2-1 backup rule
A well-known rule of thumb for safe backups is the 3-2-1 rule:
- 3 copies of your data: the original and two backups.
- 2 different types of storage, for example the server and a separate storage service.
- 1 copy in a different location, outside your hosting provider.
Why that last one? If your backups are on the same server as your website, you lose them when that server fails or is hacked. A copy with another provider protects you against that. With customer data, remember that your backups also fall under the GDPR (AVG in Dutch). Choose storage within the EU where possible, and make sure backups are secured.
Testing recovery: does your backup really work?
Many businesses only discover during an emergency that their backup is incomplete, or that nobody knows how to restore it. Prevent that:
- A few times a year, restore a backup to a test environment and check that everything works.
- Write down in a few steps how recovery works, who does it and where the data is.
- Decide how quickly you need to be back online. For a webshop that's different from an information site.
- Have your monitoring alert you when a backup fails, so you don't only notice months later.
Testing before a new version goes live is part of this too. For that, read testing your website and software before go-live.
What to do when your website is down
A short recovery plan helps you stay calm:
- Step 1: establish what's going on. Is it a hosting outage, an error after an update or a hack?
- Step 2: contact your hosting provider or web developer and report what you see.
- Step 3: with a hack, close the security hole and change passwords first, otherwise it'll go wrong again after recovery.
- Step 4: restore the last clean backup.
- Step 5: check that everything works, including forms and payments.
- Step 6: see which data was lost between the backup and the problem, such as orders.
- Step 7: has personal data been leaked? Then you may need to report it to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens). If in doubt, get legal advice.
Read more about preventing a hack in securing your website.
Website backup and recovery with Violexa
At Violexa we handle backups as part of our maintenance packages for websites and web applications. They come in Silver at €179 excl. VAT (€217 incl. VAT), Gold at €299 excl. VAT (€362 incl. VAT) and Platinum at €699 excl. VAT (€846 incl. VAT) per month. The first 12 months are fixed, after that you can cancel monthly by email, with one month's notice. Which package fits depends on how important your site or software is to your daily work. Read more about maintenance in website maintenance.
Not sure whether your backups are properly arranged? Book a free quickscan. In 30 minutes, online or at your location, we go through your situation together. Afterwards you get short written advice with a price indication, with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I back up my website?
For a site that rarely changes, weekly is often enough, plus a backup before every update. A webshop or booking system should be backed up at least daily. The more changes, the more often.
Does my hosting provider make backups automatically?
Many hosting providers make backups, but not always daily, not always of everything and not always in a separate location. Ask exactly what's kept, for how long and how you restore it. An extra copy with another provider is wise.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
You keep three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, one of which is in another location. That protects you if one server or provider fails. It's a rule of thumb that works well for small businesses too.
How do I restore my website after a hack?
First close the security hole and change all passwords. Then restore a clean backup from before the hack and check that everything works. If personal data has leaked, you may need to report it to the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
