Backups and More Backups
We’re crazy about backups. Why? We learned the hard way.
Several years ago, we had a client whose website was hosted elsewhere. Their backup system reported that everything was working fine. Great! We took them at their word.
Then the website crashed.
When we went to restore the website from a recent backup, we discovered that their system had been creating corrupted files for over a year. Every backup file we had access to was corrupt. No more client orders. No more content. The website had to be completely rebuilt.
It was a disaster.
Now we’re crazy about backups. If you are on our Worry Free Website Support hosting plan, every quarter we test the backups of your website to make sure they are restorable and not corrupt in some way. Then, we send an email to let you know that everything’s good to go.
What backups do we capture?
There are a few different backups that we capture to ensure you are protected:
- Account-level backups through WordPress
- Backups from the server perspective. This offers a different perspective and more protection
- For our highest-level plans, we capture up to 14 backups per day – and sometimes more!
Backups are stored offsite, safely and securely, and away from prying eyes. Some backups contain passwords, so we ensure that private information remains confidential.
When are backups used?
A backup would be used to restore your website if something catastrophic were to happen. Common problems:
- If your website gets hacked
- If a rogue plugin update breaks something
- If someone edited your website and made a hard-to-fix mistake
- If something gets deleted that should not have been removed
- Not likely, but we’re prepared: if something happens to the website server and it is not recoverable, we could quickly restore your site on another server. This example is not very likely, but we’re ready and can get you back online and back in business as quickly as possible.
Backup Technical Details & Fun Facts
Your website is backed up so frequently that we sometimes lose count. Your website is backed up at least 14 times every day at both on-site and multiple off-site locations. We make sure you’re protected!
Geeky Technical Details: Our server generates about 3,000 daily backups of all of our hosted websites. That equates to about a Terabyte (1.1 TB) of compressed daily backups. 1.1 TB breaks down to 1126.4 GBs, or 240 DVDs, or 800,996 3.5-inch floppy disks every day. It’s a lot!
Fun Fact: If you were to weigh all of those floppy disks it would weigh in at 30,038 lbs which converts to 15 US Tons, or about 10.3 Toyota Corollas every day. (Aren’t you glad that floppy disks are a thing of the past?!)
Bonus Fun Fact: We make about 1,350 backups of your website every quarter.
Why so many?
Some may consider it overkill, but we think that the cost of storage space is a great investment for the peace of mind it brings us–and you!
With Worry Free Website Support, we can always restore your website if something bad happens – without having to worry about rework or downtime.