The most important backup you take.
WHY IT MATTERS MOST
Files can usually be reinstalled. The database holds what cannot be recreated: your content, orders, users and settings.
THE METHODS
cPanel > Backup > Partial Backups, which downloads and restores from the same screen phpMyAdmin Export, adequate for small databases mysqldump over SSH, correct for anything large A backup plugin, which automates it
HOW OFTEN
Daily for anything with changing data: a shop, a membership site, an active blog.
Weekly for a site that rarely changes.
Before every significant change, regardless of schedule.
WHERE TO STORE IT
Off the server. A dump sitting in your home directory is lost in the same event that loses the site.
VERIFYING
Check the file size is plausible. Open it and confirm it ends cleanly.
A dump of a few kilobytes where you expect megabytes has failed.
THE TEST THAT MATTERS
Import it into a test database once. Nothing else proves a backup works.
