Backups: the five questions to ask any host
“We take backups” says nothing. Where they are, how often, for how long, who restores them and whether they're encrypted. And our answers.
Zygore team · · 5 min read
Every host says they take backups. The difference is in the details, and the details are what matter the day you need them. These are the questions.
1. Where are they?
If the backup sits on the same disk as the site, a disk failure takes both. At Zygore, backups are stored off the hosting server, in object storage, with restic.
2. How often?
“Weekly” means you can lose six days of work. At Zygore, one backup every night of each site's files and database.
3. How long are they kept?
If only the latest is kept, and the infection was three days ago, the backup is infected too. At Zygore, fifteen days of retention: you can go back to any day in the last two weeks.
4. Who restores, and what?
If restoring means opening a ticket and waiting, the outage lasts as long as the ticket. At Zygore you restore from the panel: the whole site, or just a folder or a file, by browsing the backup. The current state is saved first, just in case.
5. Are they encrypted and scanned?
At Zygore, encrypted with restic and scanned with ClamAV. If a backup contains malware, you know when you look at it.
What backups don't replace
Your own copies. Before a big change, download one from the panel. And if you want more than fifteen days, tell us: we don't sell it as an add-on today and we won't pretend to.