# Website backup

URL: https://tnb-tech.com/en/glossary/website-backup/

## What is a website backup?

A website backup is a complete copy of the site’s files and database, stored away from the site itself, from which the site can be put back into working order after a crash, a bad change or an attack. A copy is worth what a restore proves: someone has to put it back and check that pages, orders and customer data are intact. How often it runs decides how much work is lost.

**Example**

A shop runs one backup a night, at 03:00. At 17:00 a failed update corrupts the database. Fourteen hours sit between the last copy and the failure: at 12 orders a day that is roughly seven orders, and at an average order value of €60 about €420 of trading to be rebuilt from emails and bank statements. The amounts are illustrative.

Two numbers describe that gap. The first is how much work you accept losing — with a nightly copy, up to 24 hours of it. The second is how long a restore takes: download the copy, import the database, check the site. If the only copy lives on the same server and the server is the problem, both numbers become guesses.

That is why the rule is short: at least one copy outside the site’s own server, and at least one restore rehearsed on a staging copy before it is needed for real.

**Why it matters for a business**

A backup is the last line of defence against three different events: human error, such as a deleted product or overwritten text; technical failure, such as a broken database or a dead disk; and malicious code that encrypts or replaces files. The third one is why storage matters more than the copy — a backup sitting on the same server, reachable with the same password, is usually destroyed along with the site.

There is a legal side too. Where a site processes personal data, Article 32 of the GDPR requires the ability to restore access to it in a timely manner after a physical or technical incident, and regular testing of the measures that provide it. A rehearsed restore is not a nice extra; it is what the regulation asks for.

Copies, retention and rehearsed restores travel together in website maintenance.

**What to ask**

- How often is a copy taken, and does it include both files and the database?
- Where is it stored, and can it be reached when the hosting cannot?
- How far back do copies go, and who deletes the old ones?
- When was a restore last performed, and how long did it take?
- Who is allowed to restore, and how is that requested outside working hours?
- If the contract ends, do you get a copy that stays with you?

- Services: [Website maintenance](https://tnb-tech.com/en/services/website-maintenance/)
- Glossary: https://tnb-tech.com/en/glossary/