Why do I need website and email backups?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We find that the most common ways that a website is \u2018broken\u2019 in some way is through user error. We\u2019ve all deleted the wrong file at some point. Or despaired at finding an email that\u2019s been deleted permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s also a chance of something more nefarious happening. Even though we provide the most secure hosting<\/a> possible, if someone gets hold of your password and you don\u2019t use 2FA<\/a>, there\u2019s little we can do to stop them accessing your files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all like to think that we\u2019re tech-savvy enough to not fall for social engineering. But the figures put the lie to that. Google found that 45% of the most sophisticated phishing attempts were successful<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, being technically-adept can make you vulnerable. A survey by Keysight<\/a> showed that security professionals were overconfident when it comes to cyber security. 75% of organisations had experienced a security breach. Lots of people still use the same password for multiple sites too \u2013 further exposing themselves to website breaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s essential that you take backups of your website files, databases and emails regularly, so they can be restored at a later date should the worst happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I\u2019ll look in to your options, starting with the time-consuming \u2018manual\u2019 ways to do it, and then covering the automatic website backup services available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the My20i<\/a> hosting control panel, we have a \u2018manual\u2019 backup tool. With this, it\u2019s a simple process of choosing whether you want your files and\/or databases backed-up, setting it going and then downloading the zip file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019d probably then want to store that file somewhere away from your device, in case your local hardware is compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re using 20i Reseller Hosting<\/a>, you can also backup multiple website files and databases all at once. This is done from the \u2018Back up web hosting<\/a>\u2019 tool in My20i.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To restore all files and databases, you upload the file, and choose whether you want all the files on our servers replaced, just the missing files, or if you want them restored to a temporary directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the most simple and easy way to take backups manually, but there are alternatives. You can use our File Manager or FTP<\/a> (or SFTP) to move your website files. You can use phpMyAdmin<\/a> to export\/import your database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For email, much depends on your email client. For 20i Stackmail, you\u2019d need to select the emails or folder you want to download, and download them using the \u2018More\u2019 menu on the right \u2013 very easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same goes for other clients. For example, with Outlook, it\u2019s a matter of File > Export, while with Google it\u2019s part of their Takeout Service. While the methods vary, it\u2019s all relatively simple to download copies of your email that you can later restore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t trust myself to remember to make regular backups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I just know that the one time I forget will be the time when I need to restore my website and email the most…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there\u2019s those of you with tens, hundreds\u2026thousands of websites! Even if you use our bulk-backup tool, the manual method can still take up precious time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, automatic backups exist. They give you the peace of mind that backups have been made on a regular schedule, giving you more time to concentrate on your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll now go through your options with 20i. Most other web hosting companies offer some form of similar auto-backup service, although usually it’s only confined to website files and databases only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Timeline Backups<\/a> is one of our automatic backup services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They get the \u2018Timeline\u2019 name because that\u2019s how they work: regular daily \u2018snapshots\u2019 of websites and databases are created. You can restore back to one of these backups using a convenient calendar picker. You can do this at any time in a couple of clicks, for no extra charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the backups are stored offsite, away from our main data centres. So in the unlikely event that an origin data centre was destroyed (maybe not so unlikely<\/a>), these snapshots will still be available to restore your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re useful not just worst-case disaster recovery, like after a hack. As they\u2019re always available, they a life-saver if, for example, the \u2018intern\u2019 (not you, never you ?), accidentally hits \u2018delete all posts\u2019 in WordPress or similar\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you host your website(s) directly with us – on our WordPress<\/a>, Web<\/a> or Managed Hosting<\/a> – these backups are included free as part of the hosting plan<\/strong>. (That\u2019s something you should always check if you\u2019re thinking of using a different provider \u2013 many others charge for these services as an \u2018optional\u2019 extra).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You get seven days of backups<\/strong>, giving you plenty of time to roll back a coding mistake, notice a security issue, or be told about it through our automatic malware scans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For 20i customers with an unlimited Reseller Hosting<\/a> account, this is a chargeable service and one you can use to increase revenue from your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Manual](\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/backup-icon.png\"){kind=icon}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWebsite files and databases: manual backups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Email: manual backups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Back up your website and email automatically<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Timeline](\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/timeline-backups.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTimeline Backups: for your site files and databases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Timeline Backups for Resellers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Timeline](\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/timeline-backups-pro.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n