A 3 Part Guide To Website Backups, Security & Maintenance
Part 1 Of 3: Website Backups
Your security company website is important and a strategy for protecting your online work is critical. That’s where backups, security & maintenance come in. By being proactive in each area, you can rest easy knowing your security website won’t be lost forever in the event of a server crash, a security breach or user error. Backups, security & maintenance work together to create a three pronged solution for keeping your alarm website safe and running smoothly. In this 3 part series, we’ll cover these areas in detail: Website backups, security, and maintenance.
The Problem With Most Website Backups
Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are free and awesome, but they don’t do backups for you. So, it’s on you, the website owner, to make sure your site is backed up. The server that runs your site is just like your computer’s hard drive—if it crashes without a backup, your files will be unrecoverable and lost forever.
Backups need to happen frequently to capture the latest version of your site. Intervals between backups depend on how often you make changes and add new content to your site, and should run frequently enough to minimize any data loss.
Backups made through your host are frequently unreliable and may be difficult to access. Many hosts offer backup features with your hosting plan, but you may not have any control over how often backups run or be able to download your backup files. Also, if you need to restore your site from a backup, you’ll have to wait on hosting support to help complete the process, which could mean hours or days of downtime.
Backups need to be stored safely off-site, in a different location than the server running your site. An important component of a backup strategy is off-site storage of your backup files. If your backups are stored on the same server as your site, you’ll lose your backups along with your site if your server fails or if your site gets compromised.
A backup must include your website database and all the files in your installation. If you’re running a backup plugin, make sure the plugin can handle backing up your current version of the CMS, all the files in your media library, and your theme and plugin files. A database backup doesn’t cover these critical files.
A backup solution also needs to include the ability to restore. What good is a backup if you can’t do anything with it? A backup solution must include the ability to quickly and easily restore your files with little downtime.
Can You Or Your Website Agency Get Your Website Back Up In Minutes In The Event Of An Emergency?
Ignite RMR is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for Dealers, Integrators, Alarm Companies & Tech Providers nationwide. Our hosted website clients include the SDM 100 as well as local & regional security companies. Our services include daily and on demand backups of our client websites. Contact us today for a complimentary digital marketing consultation.