The whole category in one page.
THE PRINCIPLE
Almost every website disaster is recoverable with a good backup and unrecoverable without one.
THE ARRANGEMENT
Automatic backups: database daily, files weekly
Stored off the server, in cloud storage
Retention: a fortnight of dailies, a couple of months of weeklies, a year of monthlies
Email archived separately, since plugin backups do not include it A full account backup periodically, downloaded
THE HABITS
Back up before every change Check the storage monthly Restore-test quarterly Review annually
THE THINGS PEOPLE GET WRONG
Backups on the same server Never testing a restore Assuming the schedule is running Retention too short for a slowly discovered problem Forgetting email
THE THINGS OUTSIDE THE BACKUP
DNS records Domain registration Third-party credentials Cron jobs
Record those separately.
IF YOU DO TWO THINGS
Store backups somewhere other than the hosting account, and restore one successfully at least once.
THE TEST
If the account disappeared this afternoon, what would you still have?
