Backing Up Data

Depending on your needs, the Hosting Control Panel can perform two types of backup:

• Account configuration. Such backups have small size and are convenient for restoring account settings in case of configuration problems.
• Account configuration and websites content. This type of backup requires more disk space and system resources because the Panel also saves the content of all websites. Such full backups are the best way to prevent data loss.

You can perform backup manually at any time, or schedule it for a specific time. For example, make the full backup once a day at night time when the number of site visits is minimal. To get the details on scheduling backups, refer to the section Scheduling Backups.

Storing Backups

There are two ways of storing backups in Panel:

• On the Webnames hosting server. All backup files are stored on your Hosting Control Panel server along with other account content. Note that in this case backup files occupy the disk space provided by your subscription.

NOTE: Up to 3 GB of backups may be stored on our servers at any given time. Accounts using in excess of 2 GB for backup storage will have their ability to schedule further backups temporarily suspended. Backups can always be created and downloaded to your computer or other local storage without restriction. Please see section 3.5 (b) of our Hosting Terms and Conditions for further details.

• On a remote FTP File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. server. All backup files are stored on a remote FTP repository. In this case, backup files do not occupy the disk space provided by your subscription. The instructions on how to configure Panel to save backups to an FTP account are provided below in this section.

Creating Password-protected Backups

You are able to secure sensitive data in your backups by protecting them with a password. Protection makes it impossible for an attacker to reveal backup data if the security of your external backup storage is compromised.

You can specify a backup password in the following circumstances:

• In your FTP repository settings (Websites & Domains > Backup Manager > Remote Storage Settings).
• When downloading a backup file from the Panel internal repository to some external location.

When uploading these backups back to Panel and restoring them, you will be prompted to provide the password you used for protection.

Important: If you forget the password you used for backup protection, it cannot be recovered. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to keep a list of your passwords and corresponding backup file names in a safe place.

Configuring Panel for Working with an FTP Repository

If you are going to use an FTP server for storing backup files, you should specify its settings in Account tab > Back Up Account and Websites > Personal FTP Repository Settings:

• FTP server's IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing or host name.
• Directory on the server where you want to store backup files.
• User name and password for access to the FTP account.
• Password that Panel will use for protecting backup files.