My site backup policy

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Anonymous
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Hi, I've been using Wordpress to build/manage my site for about 10 years and recently migrated to InMOtion. The site is largely a family travelogue, no blogs, and mostly static except when posting heavily (for me) about 4 trips per year. The site has no value to anyone except me and a few family and friends - but I love it and don't minding spending some money on a hobby that provides much of my time with great satisfaction.

The site and email migration is nearly complete with significant help from InMotion to overcome my lack of experience.

I have taken an initial backup (about 6 GB), copied it to my laptop, and am migrating it to Time Machine and an off site hard drive. This was made possible by some EXCELLENT writing by Ronnie H. Thank you, it is clear, concise, and easy to read and use.

I'm trying to establish a backup policy - when, how often, where - for my use.


The questions:


1. I wish to backup my email and 1 wordpress site. Since my site seldom changes, should I continue to take FULL BACKUPS after each trip?  Should I backup the wordpress material separately with, for example, UPDRAFTPLUS (?) or is the full backup sufficient.


2. Can I restore individual files (or potentially mailboxes) from the files collected by Backup Manager?  I don't mind if it is more difficult, I seldom restore from backups since Wordpress maintains extensive internal backups that are easy to use.


If necessary, I don't mind having to pay for restore assistance - it happens only very seldom.


Thanks   /Stu

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anonymous
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Hi Stu, glad you found the article to be helpful! Apologies on the delayed answer, I wanted to make sure I had something useful for your specific information and wasn't just repeating myself.


I've thought about this, and while the specifics are going to vary depending on how much time you want to put into backups and how much redundancy you want.


Answering your questions out of order: 2. you can restore individual files from backup manager pretty easily. That convenience can easily make Backup Manager worthwhile for certain use cases. 


1. Full cPanel backups are clunkier to restore than Backup Mananger or WordPress backups. They can work as a primary backup method, but they can get pretty large. I still recommend people take one every month or four, on top of any other backup methods they're using, just to have it as an in case of emergency backup though.


A WordPress backup option like you mentioned is great, especially since your account is almost entirely focused around that WordPress site. With many of our plans, you'll have a free premium version of the Total Upkeep backup plugin available -- check your AMP for a connect key you can use to access it. 

Try a few different options in your initial setup and you should be able to find a configuration that has ease of use/quick restoration built in, plus a few long-term-storage backups for emergencies. Hope that helps narrow down the options!

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anonymous
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Hi Stu, glad you found the article to be helpful! Apologies on the delayed answer, I wanted to make sure I had something useful for your specific information and wasn't just repeating myself.


I've thought about this, and while the specifics are going to vary depending on how much time you want to put into backups and how much redundancy you want.


Answering your questions out of order: 2. you can restore individual files from backup manager pretty easily. That convenience can easily make Backup Manager worthwhile for certain use cases. 


1. Full cPanel backups are clunkier to restore than Backup Mananger or WordPress backups. They can work as a primary backup method, but they can get pretty large. I still recommend people take one every month or four, on top of any other backup methods they're using, just to have it as an in case of emergency backup though.


A WordPress backup option like you mentioned is great, especially since your account is almost entirely focused around that WordPress site. With many of our plans, you'll have a free premium version of the Total Upkeep backup plugin available -- check your AMP for a connect key you can use to access it. 

Try a few different options in your initial setup and you should be able to find a configuration that has ease of use/quick restoration built in, plus a few long-term-storage backups for emergencies. Hope that helps narrow down the options!