Maintenance · · 2 min read
Backups: the boring task that saves businesses
Nobody thinks about backups until they need one. This is how I organise them so that, when the time comes, they actually work.
Backups are invisible when everything is fine and the only thing that matters when something goes wrong. An editing mistake, a failed update or an attack can wipe out years of work in minutes.
The 3-2-1 rule
It's a simple rule I use as a starting point:
- Three copies of the data: the original and two more.
- Two different storage types, for example the server and cloud storage.
- One copy off-site, so a problem with the server doesn't take the backups with it.
What to back up
For a website, the files alone aren't enough. You need to include:
- The database, where text, users and orders usually live.
- Uploaded files: images, documents, attachments.
- The configuration needed to get everything running again.
How often
It depends on how much the site changes. An informational website may be fine with weekly backups; a shop or an app with customer data needs daily backups or even more frequent ones.
The part almost nobody does: testing
A backup that's never been restored is an assumption, not a guarantee. From time to time I restore a backup in a test environment to confirm it's complete and the site works again.
Before every important change
On top of scheduled backups, I make a manual one right before any delicate change: a big update, a migration or a redesign. If something goes wrong, rolling back takes minutes.
This very website saves a copy of its data before every release. It's a small habit that brings a lot of peace of mind.