Backup & Disaster Recovery
A website backup system stores complete copies of files and database off-site on an automated schedule, with restores tested periodically to prove they work. Backups stored on the same server as the site are not backups: a compromised or failed server takes both the site and its copies.
Prices shown are starting points. The final cost depends on the size and scope of your project, and we confirm it in writing before any work begins.
Almost every site we audit has backups enabled. Far fewer have backups that would actually work. The two common failures are storing copies on the same server as the site, and never once testing a restore, so the first attempt happens during an emergency, which is exactly when you discover the database dump was truncated.
We set up off-site storage independent of your hosting account, an automated schedule matched to how often your content changes, and a quarterly test restore into a sandbox to prove the whole thing works while nothing is on fire.
What's included
- Off-site backup storage independent of hosting
- Automated daily file and database backups
- Retention policy matched to your change frequency
- Quarterly test restore to a sandbox environment
- Pre-update snapshots before any major change
- Restore runbook documented for your team
- Backup failure alerting
Questions people actually ask
My host says they take backups. Is that enough?
Usually not. Host backups typically live on the same infrastructure as your site, are often kept only a few days, and are aimed at recovering their servers rather than your individual site. Many hosts also charge to retrieve one. Treat host backups as a bonus, not a plan.
How often should backups run?
Match the schedule to what you would lose. A brochure site updated monthly is fine on weekly backups. A store taking daily orders needs at least daily, ideally with real-time database replication, because a day of lost orders is unrecoverable.
How long do you keep backups?
Thirty days by default, with monthly snapshots kept for a year. Longer retention matters more than people expect: malware often sits dormant for weeks, so a two-week-old backup can already be infected.
How fast can you restore?
A standard site is back within an hour of the decision to restore. The variable is not the restore itself but diagnosis: deciding which snapshot is the last clean one. Tested restores and good retention make that decision fast.