I intended on writing this article back in… *checks to-do list*… 2009, and kept putting it off. But I cannot deny that it is very important to keep backups of your files. Whether they be on a server where your website is hosted, music on your iPod, or your assignments and tasks or even stories that you write on your computer – you never know when bad luck could get to you.

From The Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

backup-noun (1951): a copy of computer data (as a file or the contents of a hard drive); also: the act or an instance of making a backup

In 2004, I had a website hosted on the now defunct Angeltowns.com. They were really terrific – no forced advertisements other than a manual link back to their website and a relatively easy-to-remember URL (although I used URL cloaking).

After being hosted with them for only a short time, they had troubles with people violating their rules and immediately deleted all websites hosted with them for free. That included me. They deleted everything, meaning that there was no way I was going to get my website back. There was no warning about the deletion. It came as a shock to me and from that moment I started to make regular backups of my site.

Creating backups

I think that a lot of people need to be educated on how to create a backup. It really isn’t that hard.

For computer files – you would just burn your files onto a CD or DVD, or even copy them to a USB/memory stick. External hard drives are useful for large amounts of files. All you are doing is creating a copy of your files in a different location. If your computer crashed, you would have a backup on your external hard drive, for example – and not all is lost.

The most common question I receive is “how do I back up my site?”

If you have your own cPanel or other kind of control panel for your website, you should be able to obtain a backup from there. However, there are specific ways you can obtain a backup depending on your website:

For cPanel users: Visit “Backups”. Download the home directory, the MySQL databases and any email forwarders/filters you may have. This is easiest for moving from server to server (if you plan to later on or if the need arises). Downloading a home directory isn’t so useful as you often need WHM access to restore these.

For WordPress users: WP-DB-Backup is a terrific plugin that lets you have your backup emailed to you at regular intervals. Alternatively you could download the MySQL database via cPanel, but I recommend this method because it is also useful for people hosted on a subdomain with no cPanel access – the database is simply emailed to you.

For scripts using a database (Enthusiast, FanUpdate, Iconish, etc.): The best you can do is log into your control panel and download a backup from there. You can also use phpMyAdmin to export the database.

For regular HTML or PHP files: This seems to be the one people have a problem with when they don’t have a control panel. It’s simple – download the files. Copy the coding and save them on your computer.

Why is it important?

It is really a better idea to edit your website’s files on your computer first, then upload them. You’ll have organised copies on your computer which you can edit when you don’t have an internet connection, and upload them when you’re ready. Some people only keep a copy on their website, yet many website hosts have terms and conditions stating to make your own backups. The reason for this is because servers are not immune to problems. There could be a power outage. There could be people attempting to hack the system. This could lead to possible data loss. You should never rely on having just one copy of your files, especially with websites.

RigRag.com recently closed because they were unable to pay the server’s fees. Many people hosted under RigRag lost all their files and they didn’t have a backup. I’m sure most people hosted under RigRag could tell you their surprise at their sudden cessation.

Computers are also not immune to problems. Viruses could come in and infect your files if you simply don’t have an antivirus program. This could result in your computer crashing and, again, data loss.

You may sometimes receive a warning when you might lose data. Computers produce a dialog box when you could be taking an action that might result in the system not functioning normally. You receive warnings when you try to delete a system file or even when you attempt to access the folder. You are even prompted to save your documents if you have not saved them yet!

In the off-chance that your baby sister crawls into your room and bashes the keyboard of your laptop while you take a trip to the bathroom, and manages to hit Ctrl+A or Command+A, Delete, and Enter/Return – you could lose your files just like that.

Reactions to data loss are not pretty. You could ask a few of my friends how many times they’ve heard me screech about losing something I’ve typed. Only the other day I witnessed my brother going into extreme panic and anger mode after his laptop froze, restarted, and upon logging in – all of the files were gone – as if the computer had just been formatted. ^[1]

Maintaining Backups

If we can continue making backups daily, maybe even twice daily (if something like your website is regularly updated) – we can make it a habit, so that we won’t be hit with data loss woes.

Planning a website update on your computer before posting/publishing it can also help, especially if your browser is prone to freezing. You can hit the “save” button on a document or program from time to time (remembering the shortcut is just as useful) to make sure you don’t lose small changes.

Perhaps turn on autosaving settings on your blog, document or email client? It’s not hard to lose data you’re working on when you put these into practice. When it comes to data you’ve completed, it’s just a matter of making copies. Creating backups is important both on the web and on computers alone. Don’t be a fool.

[1] It turns out there was a glitch in the laptop (it was the personalised one he got from the school) and everything was fine upon re-login.