Five minutes.
WHAT TO DO
Confirm the scheduled backup ran: check the storage for a recent file of plausible size
Take a manual backup if you made significant changes Delete any backup archives sitting on the server
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
A file dated within the last week A size comparable to previous backups Nothing missing from a multi-site arrangement
WHEN TO TAKE AN EXTRA ONE
Before updating anything Before a developer works on the site Before installing something new After adding substantial content you would not want to recreate
WHY WEEKLY
Monthly is too infrequent to catch a failure before it matters. Daily is more attention than this needs.
Weekly catches a stopped backup within a week rather than within months.
ATTACHING IT TO SOMETHING
Do it alongside your update routine. Back up, then update. The two belong together.
THE POINT
This is the check that turns a backup arrangement from an assumption into something you know is working.
