Creating Automatic Backups in Cloud Server Hosting can easily be done through a few different methods: Snapshots, Scheduled Backups, and Version-control software/services. Automatic backups are important for providing peace of mind for you or your clients when managing web sites or web-based applications.
Why make a backup? The answer to this question should really be a no-brainer. You should not rely on hosting service to do your backup unless you are paying for it and they provide the backup in an off site location. Your backup is insurance for all the time and data that you have on your server. The backup should be timely and include the latest changes, so that if a disaster occurs, then you have the confidence to be able to restore to that point. Your backup is invaluable and should be considered one of the highest priorities you consider when managing a hosting server.
An automatic backup means that you don’t have to launch the backup service yourself. As a server owner, administrator, or reseller, one of your primary responsibilities is to make sure that you have a way to recover your installation(s) should disaster occur. There are a number of ways to create a backup automatically. You can use the Snapshot feature found in the Account Management Panel (AMP), use the automatic backups in WHM, or use a third party software to help you make and track backups
Snapshots versus a Scheduled backup
If you are an InMotion Hosting customer and you have a high-availability cloud VPS account, then you have access to a feature called Snapshots. A snapshot is basically a copy of your entire account for a particular period of time. It’s basically a backup and can be scheduled, but the main difference is that you can have only one snapshot at a time unless you purchase another slot for additional snapshots. A scheduled backup that you can create using the WHM interface allows you to configure and manage the backup. A snapshot can only be recovered by the hosting service. The backups that you make through WHM can be uploaded to a different location and you can also restore them yourself.
How to make a Snapshot in AMP
Snapshots can easily be scheduled so that they occur automatically on a weekly schedule through the Account Management Panel (AMP) interface. Follow the steps below:
- Log in to the Account Management Panel (AMP)
- Scroll down to the account where you want to make the snapshot and then find the icon labeled Server Snapshot
- Click on Server Snapshot
- To edit the schedule for you Snapshot, simply click on Edit Snapshot Schedule
- Click on Save Snapshot Schedle
How to make a Scheduled Backup in WHM
A scheduled backup differs from a snapshot in that you can restore the backup file and also move it off site. A snapshot is a copy of everything on your server and can be restored by the hosting service. A scheduled backup is using the backup utility that is provided within the Account Management Panel (AMP). You can learn more about how to use the Backup Wizard for your cloud hosting in this article.
Version Backups
The final type of backup that we are going to discuss is a version backup. Version backups are often done after a certain iteration of a website or application. There are many types of version control/backup softwares that you can use. One of the most popular is called Git. Basically, you’re saving a set of files and possibly databases that can include the code for your application or website. Applications for version control often perform these backups for you. Software like git not only includes these functions, but they also preserve versions of your software so that if you base you backups on date, you can recover any particular version from a certain date. Or, if you have version numbers for your releases, you can go backup to a specific version and then recover it. The main difference is that your version control software may not always include the data accumulated through using your site or application. It also does not include all of the settings that are on your server. Automatic backups of your
As you can see there are a number of ways to make up backups for your VPS or Dedicated server. Remember that if you want full confidence that you have insurance to recover your application, website, or server, then you should make sure that you have a backup stored in a safe location. You preserve not only your time and effort, but also your customer’s.
