Many people entrust their WordPress backup to web hosts. Is this a good practice, and how reliable are HostGator backups?
We agree that all website hosts should have stable backups that are entirely independent of their web host. Otherwise, your backups, as well as your website, maybe destroyed. It is important for WordPress users to have a reliable backup solution.
Backups are typically measured by how simple they are to restore and how little effort or resources they need to create, store, and protect them. How do HostGator backups fare in these categories?
HostGator Backups: What do you get?
Frequency: Only once a week
Once a week, HostGator builds a backup of your web. This, though, is done on a random weekday. There is no set day or time for backing up your site(s) per week.
Auto backups can, in our opinion, be performed on a regular basis. It's even easier if it's automated.
Storage: Only one copy of backup
HostGator only keeps a single backup copy. Each new backup round overwrites the one before it. If you have a problem with your site, the most recent backup is likely to have the same issues. It's possible that restoring from that version isn't the best option.
Backups should ideally be contained in several copies. According to WordPress.org's backup best practices, at least three copies of a backup should be held in three separate off-site locations.
Limit
Auto backups are only available if your account has less than 100,000 files and is less than 20GB in size. If you go over this cap, your website will not be automatically backed up. Only the Create Backup feature in the cPanel dashboard will create manual backups, and only up to 150,000 files. If you have more than 150,000 files on your site(s), HostGator suggests contacting them for help. This means that even if you take on the task of frequently backing up your site and managing the backups yourself, you can encounter a number of process issues.
In your cPanel dashboard, you can keep track of your use (number of files and size). On the left side of your cPanel dashboard, it appears in a bar. If you go beyond the file size or number limit, HostGator suggests that you contact them for help.
Ideally, there should be a simple way to monitor whether backups are being performed, as well as a secure notification system.
Backup Access- Timeline
You can have access to your backups if your account is suspended less than a week after the last backup. If your last backup was more than a week ago, the most recent round of backups would overwrite your previous backup.
How to Restore from a HostGator Backup?
The cPanel interface does not allow you to restore a complete backup. It must be done by the server's root user. You must fill out a Restoration Request form for this. Person tables or files may be partially restored. In the above case, you can use the Backup Wizard to recover the files or database from cPanel.
If you want to use HostGator's backup, you must pay a charge of $15. This fee is only waived if you have your own backup data.
Restorations should be as simple as possible, particularly if you're restoring complete backups. The best WordPress backup services not only allow you to restore individual files and tables with a single click, but they also give you more granular power. Check out the ‘restoration' portion of the review for more detail.
HostGator Backup Review: Is it worth the risk?
Although those are the arguments, we discovered a few drawbacks while testing HostGator's backups:
Automatic backups might not have occurred if you have not periodically signed into your cPanel and monitored the size of your files and websites to ensure that they have not surpassed the cap. You may not have any backups if you haven't downloaded backups as well.
Backups are not Independent of Your Web Host
Another crucial thing to remember is that your backups are not at all reliant on your web host. This is a big red flag for us at BlogVault. After all, if you keep the key to your bank's safe deposit box at home, you may as well keep your valuables there as well.
👉 Also, you can read: Extremely Useful HostGator reviews for newbies
Lagging Notifications
If you go over the automatic backup file limit (as we did), you can always remove some files to get back under the limit using the File Manager feature. However, the next time we signed into cPanel, we received a ‘Backup Skipped' message, informing us that our site was not only not being backed up, but also that the number of files on our server had been reduced.
Even if the amount of files in your account is under the HostGator cap for automated backups and you create a complete backup, the email update (notifying you that the backup is ready to be downloaded) takes a long time to arrive, or you might never receive it at all. This does not necessarily imply that backups have not been completed. Often the backup is completed, but you are not notified by email. You must remain signed in at all times to keep track of when the backups are complete and to download them.
Restoring Can Be Difficult
When the time comes to rebuild your site, you'll have to sift through all of the domains and subdomains under your single account's files and tables to find the files you want to restore. This can be a time-consuming procedure.
Particularly because you can only restore for free if your backups have been downloaded and saved. Backup storage and security then become a hassle for you. Otherwise, you'll have to pay the web hosting company any time you need a restoration, whether it's for a single file or the whole site.
Do you really want to go through all the trouble in HostGator's cPanel when WordPress backup services like BlogVault allow for one-click restores, one-click migrations, and even testing backups before restoring your WordPress site?
One WordPress Backup Copy
Having just one copy of your most recent WordPress version ensures that if you have a problem today, your backup is likely to have the same issue. We're talking about hacker or malware problems.
Working with WordPress backups and protection for over five years has taught us that many breaches and malware attacks are much more complex than depicted on television. As a result, most WordPress site owners are unaware that their sites have been compromised for months. In most cases, the issue does not manifest itself for a long time after it has begun.
Note: HostGator, on the other hand, is upfront about the backup service they offer. They make it clear that the service is provided as a courtesy and that consumers do not rely on it.
Customer Support
Starting a live chat with HostGator took anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. As a result, if you're searching for a fast fix, it may not be possible.
Conclusion:
You don't have granular control over the backups, and you can't download individual files or files from a specific subdomain.
Apart from that, notification for missed or manual backups is lacking, in the sense that you do not receive a reliable email notification. To keep track, you'll need to log into cPanel.
Web hosting and backups are included in the price.
Backups are only useful for restoring your site. If you have to pay to use your backup, it's a problem that needs to be addressed, particularly if you can't keep track of the backups or their functionality.
You still have no way of knowing if your backups are running. It's best to take HostGator's advice and avoid relying on their backups. You should consider making manual copies of your WordPress account, storing them, and securing them. Alternatively, you can pay for a professional WordPress backup service.
No comments:
Post a Comment