When to backup

How often you should perform a backup will depend on a number of factors:

• Availability of the resources you need in order to perform the backup operation;
• Frequency of content updates in your website;
• Amount of updates; and
• Importance of the website to the organization.

What to backup up

For most cases, there are two things that need to be backed up:

1. Database. If you are using one of the popular open source content management systems (CMS) to maintain your website, there is a great possibility that your content is saved on a database.
2. Web files. These are the files accessed by your users (PHP, HTM, images, etc.), and are usually saved in a directory called public_html or www. Note: If your website writes or reads files in another directory, whether remote or above the public_html directory, then these should be backed up too.