Backups that cause the problem they prevent.
THE ISSUE
Backups stored on the hosting account count against your disk quota. A full account causes uploads to fail, mail to stop being delivered, and databases to become read-only.
A backup system with no retention policy will eventually fill the disk and break the site it was protecting.
WHAT TO DO
Store backups off the server. This solves the problem entirely. Where local copies are unavoidable, keep only the most recent and remove older ones automatically. Delete downloaded archives from the server after downloading.
CHECKING
cPanel > Disk Usage shows what is consuming space. Backup archives are frequently the largest items.
Look for old full account backups nobody deleted.
INODES
Backup tools sometimes store many small files rather than one archive. This consumes inodes, and inode limits are hit before disk limits on many accounts.
A HABIT
When you download a backup, delete the server copy in the same action. It takes a second and prevents the accumulation.
