Backup strategy: the 3-2-1 rule for your own business

A stolen laptop, a colleague who accidentally deletes a folder, an update that breaks your webshop, or ransomware that encrypts everything: with a good backup you're quickly back up and running. We make backups of your hosting package and mail package every night. Still, we recommend having your own extra backup as well, following the 3-2-1 rule. In this article you'll read how that works and what our backups do and don't cover.

Syncing is not a backup

If your files are "in the cloud", that's often synchronization: a folder on your laptop that's kept identical to a folder online and on other devices. That's handy, but synchronization also spreads errors everywhere. Delete a folder, and it's gone everywhere. Does ransomware encrypt your laptop? Shortly after, the encrypted files will also be online.

A backup is a separate copy that lets you restore an earlier state. A recycle bin and older versions in a cloud service are a handy first safety net, but they disappear after a fixed period, and anyone who takes over your account can empty them too.

The 3-2-1 rule

3 copies of your data: the original and two backups;
on 2 different types of storage, for example your hosting provider's backups and an external drive;
of which 1 off-site: in a different location than your office, and preferably offline or immutable.

The idea: one event should never affect all copies at once. A fire affects your laptop and the drive next to it, but not the copy at your home. Ransomware affects everything connected to your computer or network, but not a drive sitting in a drawer. Offline means: disconnected after the backup. Immutable means: unable to be changed or deleted by anyone for a set period, even with your password.

What WebOké Backups does and doesn't cover

Covered	Not covered
Your hosting package: files, databases, mailboxes and settings. Your mail package: mailboxes and the settings in DirectAdmin. Every night, and you restore yourself from the backups of the past 30 days. Encrypted on separate storage servers in a different datacenter, separate from your website's server.	Your laptop, PC, phone or network drive. Mail and files with Microsoft 365, Google or another service. Mail you retrieve with POP3 that only remains on your computer. Mail that arrives and is deleted again on the same day. Anything that disappeared more than 30 days ago.

Do you have a VPS? Different rules apply there, see Snapshots and backups of your VPS. If you use Microsoft 365 or Google for your mail or files, check with that service what they retain and for how long, and arrange your own backup or fixed export for that.

Your own extra copy of your hosting

With our nightly backups you already have a copy in a different location. For the third copy, download a backup yourself every now and then:

In WebOké Backups, choose the Download method. The package will then be ready for 48 hours.
Or create a backup in DirectAdmin with Backup/Restore and download it. As long as it's in your package, it counts towards your storage and is kept in the same location as the original.
Put the file on an encrypted external drive, disconnect the drive, and store it somewhere else. Alternate between two drives so there's always one off-site.
Set a fixed day in your calendar, for example every week or every month, and just before a major change to your website.

For Nextcloud it works differently: the recycle bin and versions are your daily safety net, and the system backups aren't accessible to customers. Keep your own copy of irreplaceable files, see Backups at WebOké: what we keep and what you can do yourself.

Backups that survive ransomware

A lot of ransomware actively searches for backups to delete or encrypt them. An attacker who has your account can also log in to your backup service. That's why:

Keep at least one copy offline: a drive that's only connected to your computer during the backup.
When choosing an online backup service, prefer immutable storage, with a lock that lasts long enough to detect an attack in time.
Use a separate login for your backups with its own unique password and two-factor authentication, and don't use it for your daily work.

You can't delete the nightly backups in WebOké Backups yourself. They stay in place so there's always a restore point, and they disappear automatically after 30 days.

Test whether restoring works

A backup you've never restored is a gamble. So restore something regularly, without affecting your real site or mail. In WebOké Backups, choose As a copy alongside the current one for this: the backup then ends up in a new folder, database or mailbox. Check that everything's there, note how long it took, and then delete the copy again, since it counts towards your storage. Also test whether you can open your own downloaded copy. You can read how to restore a mailbox as a copy in Retrieving a mailbox or deleted emails from the backup.

Never choose Full restore for a test. That will remove everything added or changed after the selected moment, such as new mail and orders.

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