What is a backup? Why you need to back up your website data

On top of backups, AI website manager also watches over, patches and tunes your website every day.

What is data backup?

Data backup is the process of making and storing a copy of your system data, saving all the data held on a server, computer or any other device that can store data, and keeping that copy somewhere else. 

Organizations and businesses sometimes run into unexpected problems such as hardware or software faults, network failures, natural disasters or cyberattacks. A backup lets a business restore original data that has been damaged or lost. With a backup, a business can quickly restore its data and carry on working without interruption. Data is the lifeblood of any organization, and losing it can cause major damage and disrupt business operations. That is why data backup matters to every business, large or small.

Why back up your website data regularly?

Website data holds a lot of information that matters to a business: customer details, transaction history, article content, product images and more. That is why backing up a website is extremely important and necessary. The key data a website cannot afford to lose includes:

• Article information: the data on your website is very important and directly affects a business's marketing strategy, for example professional SEO service, Googel Ads.
• Images and videos: restoring this data takes a lot of time and effort. So it is wise to run a full backup and avoid risks to your business.
• Service and product information: a website usually carries news about the services or products the business offers. This information is updated often to match how the business is running. Each period brings new information that needs to be stored and updated, so keeping a full copy of all this data is more necessary than ever.
• Customer data: losing part or all of the customer information, purchase history and so on has a big impact on the business. Without backups, a business risks losing loyal customers and potential customers.

Website data is a very valuable intangible asset. If you lose it, a business faces many risks, including:

• Losing customers: Lost customer data means losing a large number of potential and loyal customers.
• Business disruption: Restoring all of a website's data can take a great deal of time and effort and seriously disrupt business operations.
• Loss of reputation: Customers lose trust in a business when its website is unstable or unreachable.
• Financial loss: Data loss can cost a business a lot of money, including the cost of recovering data, marketing costs to win customers back, and more.
• Information leaks: If data is stolen, customer information can be exposed, with serious legal and reputational consequences for the business.

Besides that, a business can run into other risks that lead to website data loss, such as: 

• Hardware failure: Failed hard drives, server problems and so on.
• Software failure: Virus, malware attacks, operating system errors and so on.
• Human error: Deleting data by mistake, wrong configuration and so on.
• Natural disasters: Fire, flooding and so on.
• Cyberattacks: Hackers attack and take over data, Ransomware, malware,…

That is why regular backups protect a business's data from hidden risks such as cyberattacks, system failures and hardware faults. With a backup, a business can restore data quickly when something goes wrong, keep damage to a minimum and keep operations running steadily.

What are the common types of data backup?

There are many types of data backup, each with its own pros and cons. Let's look at the common ones.

Local backup

Local backup copies all or part of your data from your main device (a computer or laptop) to an external storage device, such as a portable hard drive, USB stick, CD/DVD or external drive. It is usually done by hand or automatically with dedicated software.

Advantages of local backup:

• High speed: Backups usually run quickly, especially for small amounts of data.
• Easy to do: You can run a backup yourself without specialist knowledge.
• Low cost: External storage devices are reasonably priced.

Disadvantages of local backup:

• Risk of data loss: A storage device can break, be stolen or get infected with a virus, and the data is lost.
• Limited capacity: The storage capacity of external devices is usually small, especially for people with a lot of data.
• Not secure: Data on an external device can leak if the device falls into the wrong hands.
• Inconvenient: You have to keep carrying the storage device around to look after your data.

Local backup still has some advantages, but given these limits it is no longer the best option for protecting data today. 

Online backup

Online backup copies data from your device (computer, phone and so on) to a server in a data center on the internet. Instead of keeping the copy on a physical device such as a hard drive or USB stick, you store it in cloud storage from providers such as Google Drive, Dropbox or iCloud.

Advantages of online backup:

• Convenient: You can reach your data from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Security: Data is encrypted and protected by the provider's modern security systems.
• Large capacity: You can store a lot of data without being limited by the capacity of a physical device.
• Automatic: Backups run on a schedule, which saves you time.
• Fast recovery: You can restore your data quickly and easily.

Disadvantages of online backup:

• Depends on internet connection: Without an internet connection, you cannot back up or restore data.
• Cost: You pay a monthly subscription for the backup service.
• Data security: Although providers promise to protect your data, the risk of cyberattack remains.

Online backup is an effective way to protect your data. Before choosing a service, though, think carefully about cost, storage capacity, security features and the provider's reliability.

Full backup

A full backup copies all data from a source (such as a computer or server) to another storage location. It produces an exact copy of all the data at a specific point in time.

Advantages of a full backup:

• Easy, fast recovery: If something goes wrong, you only need to restore the latest full backup to get all your data back.
• Data integrity: A full backup is a complete copy, so you can restore everything.
• Safe: You always have a complete copy of your important data.

Disadvantages of a full backup:

• Takes a lot of time: Copying all the data takes a long time, especially on systems with a lot of data.
• Takes a lot of space: You need enough storage to hold the full backup.
• Less efficient for frequently changing data: If your data changes constantly, running frequent full backups costs a lot of time and resources.

Incremental backup

Incremental backup is an efficient method that backs up only the data that has changed since the previous backup. In other words, each incremental backup holds only the new changes, which saves a lot of time and storage.

Advantages of incremental backup:

• Saves time and space: Only changed data is backed up, so backups run faster and use less space than full backups.
• Suits frequently changing data: A good fit for systems whose data changes constantly, such as email servers, databases and so on.

Disadvantages of incremental backup:

• Complex recovery: To restore data, you need the latest full backup and all the related incremental backups.
• Depends on the full backup: If the full backup is damaged, restoring your data becomes difficult.

Differential backup

A differential backup is a method where each backup contains all the changes made since the most recent full backup. In other words, each differential backup is a complete “snapshot” of everything that has changed since the last full backup.

Advantages of differential backup:

• Faster recovery than incremental backup: To restore data, you only need the latest full backup and the most recent differential backup.
• Uses less space than a full backup: Each differential backup holds only the changes since the last full backup, so it is smaller than a full backup.

Disadvantages of differential backup:

• Differential backups keep growing: Because every differential backup contains all the changes since the last full backup, its size grows over time.

Hybrid backups

Hybrid backup combines several backup methods, usually local backup and cloud backup. This strengthens data protection, gives you more recovery options and reduces the risk of data loss.

Advantages of hybrid backup:

• High security: Combining local and cloud storage strengthens data security.
• Flexible recovery: You can restore from the local backup or the cloud backup, depending on the situation.
• Remote access: Cloud data can be reached from anywhere with an internet connection.

Disadvantages of hybrid backup:

• More complex to manage: You have to manage several backup systems.
• Higher upfront cost: You need to invest in local storage devices and a cloud service.

Mirror backups

Mirror backup makes an exact copy of the original data and updates it continuously. The copy is stored in a different location and syncs instantly with every change to the original data.

Advantages of mirror backup:

• Fast recovery: If the original data is damaged, you can switch straight over to the mirror copy without losing any data.
• High availability: The mirror copy is always ready to replace the original data, so the system keeps running without a break.

Disadvantages of mirror backup:

• Needs a lot of storage: The mirror takes up as much space as the original data, so it needs large capacity.
• High cost: You need to invest in high-performance, high-capacity storage

Data backup methods in use today

Common data backup methods today include tape, disk and portable storage. Cloud backup also serves as an alternative storage method and an off-site copy. Each method has its own pros and cons. Let's go through them together.

Tape

Tape is a computer storage medium dating back to the 1950s that is still used as a backup technology

Pros:

• High security: Data on tape is kept offline, which limits the risk of attack.
• Large capacity: Modern tape can hold huge amounts of data.
• Storage cost: low per GB.

Cons:

• Slow retrieval: Reading and writing data on tape is fairly slow.
• Needs maintenance: Tapes and tape drives have to be stored with care.
• Hard to scale: Adding storage capacity with tape can be complicated.

Disk 

Disk is a popular backup method, with attractive pricing and better performance than tape.

Pros:

• Fast retrieval: Especially with SSDs, backup and restore run quickly.
• Flexible: Storage capacity is easy to expand.

Cons:

• Costs more than tape: Especially with SSDs.
• Less durable: Hard drives fail more easily than tape.

Cloud

As part of a 3-2-1 strategy, cloud backup offers scalable, low-cost capacity. Using the cloud can also simplify remote backup processes.

Advantages of cloud:

• Flexible capacity that is easy to scale.
• Convenient remote access.
• Protects data from on-site incidents.

Disadvantages of cloud:

• Depends on the network connection.
• Costs can rise when you store large amounts of data.

Pros and cons of data backup

Backing up data is essential for protecting your important information from risk. It does come with some pros and cons, though:

Advantages of data backup

• Protects data from hardware failure, cyberattacks, accidental deletion and natural disasters
•  With a backup, you can restore data quickly and get back to work without a long interruption.
• Helps you meet legal and regulatory requirements for data protection and retention
• Prevents costly financial loss from data loss incidents

Disadvantages of data backup

•  Backups usually take time and system resources, especially when you have a lot of data.
• Needs regular monitoring and checking to make sure backups run correctly and data stays up to date
• Needs strong security measures to protect backups from unauthorized access and data breaches
• Some backup solutions take longer than others and use resources that can affect system performance

How to back up your website data

To get good results, a website backup has to follow the right process. A website is usually split into two parts, the source code and the database, and each needs to be backed up correctly.

Back up the database

Website data is usually kept in a database management system such as MySql, SQL Server, SQLite and others. Each database system has functions that let you back up the database by exporting a data file, usually with the .sql extension. You can then store that file on an online storage service, a PC or the cloud with ease. In addition, many Web Hosting today also provide tools to back up quickly and simply.

Back up the source code

The website's main source code is the set of files that make up the site. Keeping a full copy lets the site keep running well and lets you deal with unexpected problems yourself. It includes:

• Folders holding images, or Excel and CSV data files.
• HTML, XML, CSS or JavaScript files.
• PHP, Java, Python and similar files.
• Configuration files such as .htaccess and robots.txt.

These files are the source code of a live website. A backup works best when you follow the process and complete every step. A few very simple steps are enough to back up a website's source code properly:

• Step 1: Log in to your hosting control panel.
• Step 2: Go to the root folder that holds the website's source code and compress everything into a single archive in .zip, .rar or .gzip format.
• Step 3: In this step, download the compressed file and store it on Google Drive, a PC or a cloud service such as Dropbox.

When you need to restore from the stored archive, upload the file to the root folder and extract it, and you have all your data back. With a few simple actions, you can back up and restore any website's data whenever you need to.

Back up data with a CMS

The business's CMS Popular CMSs such as WordPress and Joomla always have automatic backup plugins that are simple, effective and fast, so manual work is usually unnecessary. These free backup plugins are worth considering:

• BackUpWordPress
• BackWPUp
• WP-DB-Backup
• Duplicator

All you need to do is download the plugin and activate it on your open-source WordPress site. Follow the instructions step by step and the backup can be set up quickly and effectively.

Things to know before you back up your data

Before backing up your data, keep these important points in mind:

• Identify your important data: Not all data needs to be backed up with the same priority. Be clear about which data is core and irreplaceable and which needs frequent protection.
• Assess the risks: Understand the threats you may face, such as data loss from hardware or software faults, cyberattacks or natural disasters, so you can plan the right prevention.
• Plan for recovery: Draw up a detailed plan for restoring data when something goes wrong. It should include specific steps, expected timing and who is responsible.
• Choose the right backup solution: There are many options, from manual to automatic, and from local to cloud. Choose the one that fits your needs and budget.
• Make sure the system is stable: Before backing up, check that the system is running stably to avoid unexpected errors during backup and restore.
• Protect your network infrastructure: Protecting your network is very important to stop cyberattacks that could corrupt your data.

Keeping these points in mind will help you protect your data effectively and reduce the risk of losing important information.

Backing up website data is extremely important and necessary. Do it regularly if you don't want to lose data you can never get back. Understanding why it matters, and how to back up each website correctly, lets you apply the right approach for your needs. That way you always have the data your website needs when you need it, and damage is kept to a minimum. We hope this information helps you see how important data backup is. If you have any questions about backups, please CONTACT 1900 636 648 and the MONA team will help you.