Are your Website Backups Working?

Backups are a critical part of managing and maintaining a website, but you could be wasting your time if you're not testing them. We have a compiled some tips to help you make the most of your backup strategy.

Understanding what to back up.

Not everything needs to be backed up, so it's important to figure out what's important and what's not. Backups take time and storage costs money, so the less space you use the better. For example, if you're using a CMS then you will likely need a backup of the database and your assets (images, files etc.). However, If you have a static website then you will need a backup of all the files/components that are used to generate the site.

The 3-2-1 rule.

The 3-2-1 backup rule is well known in technology circles but less so elsewhere. The 3-2-1 rule considers the following:

• 3 copies of your data should be kept at all times.
• 2 of them should be on different devices.
• 1 of them should be kept off-site.

A note on cloud storage.

With cloud storage getting cheaper all the time, it is common to store your backups in the cloud. This is a great way to keep your backups off-site but be careful; encrypt all of your backups before you upload them to the cloud. Your website and its data should only be accessible by you.

We have plans to make a blog post about encrypting your data for the cloud so stay tuned!

Test, verify, and test again.

You might as well not bother making backups at all if you're not going to test them. You would be surprised how many people think they're doing a great job with their backups only to realise they don't work when it comes time to roll-back.

All backups should be tested and confirmed to be working. But this isn't always enough because any data stored on a hard drive can become corrupt, so it's also worth making a checksum of all your backups so that you can verify them completely.

Don't implicitly trust third-party backups.

Whether you have a "no hassles" backup service included with your web hosting or are paying a company to do it for you; don't just trust or assume that they are doing the right thing.

You should be able to access your backups on demand or by request so take the time to test them periodically or ask to have a backup restored on a test site, so you can confirm that everything is working.