As technology evolves, our online data has become our most valuable asset. Whether running a business, an e-commerce store, or a personal blog, creating regular data backups is crucial, as every second of downtime can result in serious financial consequences. Fortunately, cPanel hosting helps you to keep a complete backup of your valuable data.
Let’s see how this web hosting control panel can help you create robust backup solutions for your online presence.
Why Should You Create a Backup on cPanel Hosting?
Web hosting services have eased and simplified the process of launching a website as compared to the past. However, maintaining an engaging and successful website still takes immense dedication, time, and development. A project may take years to succeed, but all this effort can be wasted in seconds due to unforeseen circumstances.
A backup works like a safety net for your website in a disaster. Whether it’s a technical glitch or a server malfunction, having a backup helps you minimize downtime and restore your website quickly.
Here are the major reasons why it’s important to keep a backup on your cPanel hosting:
Security Breach
Statistics show that almost 30,000 websites are hacked every day. It could be as a result of a phishing or malware attack or a weak password. Unfortunately, all websites are highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. This means the only way to recover your valuable data is to have a backup.
A backup ensures that you have a safe and virus-free copy of your website ready after a cyberattack. It also helps you detect corrupt and outdated files in your system and deal with any unexpected security threats.
Software or Update Errors
Websites often rely on content management systems and other applications to function properly. These systems require various extensions and plugins to maintain the desired website outlook. Sometimes, compatibility issues between these plugins can cause an error and shut down the entire website.
This damage could be a minor error with a text or graphics alignment. However, once a website goes down, it is impossible to recover without a backup. In this situation, having a backup with cPanel hosting allows you to get back on track faster.
Hardware Malfunctions
It’s important to remember that the website you host is stored on large server farms managed by web hosting companies. These farms utilize highly advanced, industry-standard hardware.
However, nothing is 100% error-free, and a malfunction can happen anytime. While the hosting companies have their backup solutions, having your own backup system helps you get back online more quickly.
Data Backup Strategies for cPanel Hosting
cPanel hosting is a web hosting panel popular for its user-friendly interface and wide set of features. These tools simplify the task of managing and updating websites through a single platform. Among these tools, you can find the backup wizard. It’s a comprehensive backup utility equipped with all the necessary features.
The backup wizard is located at the homepage of your cPanel. Once you open it, it will give you two options to manage your website data:
- Full backup
- Partial backup
Let’s see how both backups are generated and what the difference is.
Full Backup In cPanel Hosting
Full backup means a comprehensive copy of everything, including your website files, database, emails, and website configuration. This backup provides complete restoration in case of major data loss, server malfunction, or other unexpected incidents. The most significant benefit of full backup is it can help you transfer your whole website to a new hosting provider.
Creating a Full Backup
Take the following steps to generate a full backup for your cPanel hosting:
- Login to your cPanel account
- Search for “Backup Wizard” in the “Files” section.
- Click on the blue “Backup” button.
- Select “Full Backup” for complete protection.
- There will be a few options on the next screen for your backup destination:
- Home Directory: Stores the backup on your website’s filespace on the server. It is directly accessible to download and restore from your cPanel.
- Remote FTP Server: This allows you to send the backup to a remote server for offline security
- Other Options: Includes secure copy protocol (SCP) and other advanced methods.
- Select your preferred method and click “Generate Backup” to start the process.
Downloading Full Backup
Once the full backup is generated, you can download it from the “Backup” section:
- Return to the “Files” section and click the “Backup” icon at the bottom right.
- Select “Download a full account backup.”
- Choose an appropriate location on your PC to store the downloaded data.
Partial Backup In cPanel Hosting
Partial backup refers to files and folders, such as your website’s theme, database, or email accounts. It is the preferred option for users who don’t need a full backup and choose to download small files. Go for partial backup if you need to save targeted amounts of data that need quick restoration.
Creating Partial Backup
These are the steps to generate a partial backup for your website data:
- Go to the Backup Wizard as described above.
- There are three options for partial backup:
- Home Directory: This backup stores all the files in your home/Username directory, such as email, web files, and web statistics.
- MySQL Database: This database will likely store information related to your website, such as user accounts, product details, or website content.
- Email Forwarders and Filters: Choose this if you want to download email forwarders and mail filter rules files for all domains in your account.
- Complete the selection process described in a full backup, then generate the partial backup.
Download the Partial Backup
- Go back to the “Backup” in the files section.
- Click on the specific file you want to download.
- Save the downloaded file in a secure location on your computer.
Note: Backups are only helpful if you can access them. Check your backup files regularly to ensure they can be restored when needed.
Conclusion
Cyberattacks and data theft are becoming more common in today’s digital world. Due to data breaches, businesses are expected to lose up to 10.5 trillion dollars by 2025. That is why protecting your website files through proactive measures has become crucial. Instead of entirely relying on your web hosting services, try to create, and implement your backup strategies.
No matter if you are working on shared hosting or business hosting, creating regular data backups is essential to protect your website data. By understanding the backup generation process in cPanel hosting, you can effectively empower yourself to protect your data against viruses, threats, and cyberattacks.
