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Backups & Restoration: Protecting Your Website Data

Regular backups are your safety net against data loss, hacking, accidental deletion, and failed updates. Whether you're running a small blog or a business-critical application, having reliable backups ensures you can always recover your website quickly. This guide covers how backups work at Salama Hosting, how to create and restore them, and best practices to keep your data safe.

Why Backups Matter

Data loss can happen to anyone, at any time. Common causes include:

  • Hacking or malware — Attackers may delete or encrypt your files
  • Accidental deletion — A wrong click in File Manager can remove critical files
  • Failed updates — WordPress, plugin, or theme updates can break your site
  • Server hardware failure — Although rare, hardware can fail
  • Human error — Incorrect database changes or configuration mistakes

Without a backup, recovering from any of these scenarios can be extremely difficult — or impossible.

Salama Hosting Backup Services

At Salama Hosting, we provide multiple layers of backup protection:

Automatic Server Backups

  • Daily backups of all hosting accounts are performed automatically.
  • Weekly full backups are stored for additional redundancy.
  • Backups are stored on separate backup servers — not on the same server as your website.
  • Retention period: 7–30 days depending on your hosting plan.

What's Included in Automatic Backups

Component Backed Up
Website files (public_html) Yes
Databases (MySQL/PostgreSQL) Yes
Email accounts & messages Yes
Control panel settings Yes
DNS zone files Yes
SSL certificates Yes
Cron jobs Yes

Important: While we maintain automatic backups, we strongly recommend creating your own backups as well. No backup system is infallible, and having multiple copies in different locations provides the best protection.

Creating Manual Backups

In cPanel

Full Account Backup

  1. Log in to cPanel.
  2. Navigate to Files → Backup or Files → Backup Wizard.
  3. Click Download a Full Account Backup.
  4. Select the backup destination (Home Directory is recommended).
  5. Enter your email to be notified when the backup is complete.
  6. Click Generate Backup.
  7. Once ready, download the backup file to your local computer.

Partial Backups

You can also back up individual components:

  • Home Directory: Downloads all website files.
  • MySQL Databases: Downloads individual database dumps.
  • Email Forwarders & Filters: Downloads email configuration.

Database-Only Backup via phpMyAdmin

  1. Go to Databases → phpMyAdmin.
  2. Select your database from the left sidebar.
  3. Click the Export tab.
  4. Choose Quick export method and SQL format.
  5. Click Go to download the .sql file.

In Plesk

Full Backup

  1. Log in to Plesk.
  2. Go to Websites & Domains → Backup Manager.
  3. Click Back Up.
  4. Select what to include (website, mail, databases).
  5. Choose the storage location.
  6. Click OK to start the backup.

Scheduled Backups

  1. In Backup Manager, click Schedule.
  2. Enable scheduled backups.
  3. Set the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly).
  4. Choose the storage location and retention policy.
  5. Click OK to save.

In DirectAdmin

Full Backup

  1. Log in to DirectAdmin.
  2. Go to Account Manager → Create/Restore Backups.
  3. Select the items to back up (domains, databases, email).
  4. Click Create Backup.
  5. Once complete, download from the backup directory.

Restoring from a Backup

Restoring in cPanel

Full Account Restoration

  1. Go to Files → Backup in cPanel.
  2. Under Restore, click Choose File and select your backup.
  3. Click Upload to restore.

Note: Full account restorations may overwrite existing data. For selective restoration, use partial restores.

Restoring a Database

  1. Go to Files → Backup.
  2. Under Restore a MySQL Database, click Choose File.
  3. Select your .sql backup file.
  4. Click Upload — the database will be restored.

Restoring Files Only

  1. Go to Files → Backup.
  2. Under Restore a Home Directory Backup, upload your backup file.
  3. Files will be restored to their original locations.

Restoring in Plesk

  1. Go to Websites & Domains → Backup Manager.
  2. Select the backup you want to restore.
  3. Click Restore.
  4. Choose what to restore (all or specific components).
  5. Confirm and click OK.

Restoring in DirectAdmin

  1. Go to Account Manager → Create/Restore Backups.
  2. Select the backup file to restore.
  3. Choose the items to restore.
  4. Click Restore to begin the process.

Requesting a Restoration from Salama Hosting

If you need us to restore from our automatic server backups:

  1. Submit a support ticket from your client portal.
  2. Specify:
    • Your domain name
    • What you need restored (files, database, email, or everything)
    • The approximate date you want to restore from
  3. Our team will process the restoration, typically within 1–4 hours during business hours.

Restoration from our server backups is free of charge for all Salama Hosting customers.

Backup Best Practices

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule

Follow the industry-standard backup strategy:

  • 3 copies of your data (the original + 2 backups)
  • 2 different storage types (e.g., server backup + local download)
  • 1 copy stored offsite (e.g., cloud storage, external drive)
Website Type Backup Frequency
Static / brochure site Weekly
Blog (regular posts) Daily
E-commerce store Daily (or more frequent)
Web application Daily with database snapshots

Additional Tips

  1. Download backups to your computer — Don't rely solely on server-side backups. Download a copy regularly.
  2. Test your backups — Periodically restore a backup to a staging environment to confirm it works.
  3. Back up before major changes — Always create a backup before updating WordPress, plugins, themes, or making significant site changes.
  4. Store database backups separately — Database content changes more frequently than files.
  5. Automate where possible — Use scheduled backups in your control panel or WordPress backup plugins.
  6. Keep multiple generations — Don't overwrite your only backup. Keep at least the last 3–5 backups.

WordPress Backup Plugins

If you run WordPress, these plugins can automate backups:

  • UpdraftPlus — Free and popular, supports cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3)
  • BlogVault — Real-time backups with one-click restoration
  • All-in-One WP Migration — Simple export/import for full site backups
  • BackWPup — Scheduled backups to multiple destinations

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are automatic backups retained?

Automatic backups are retained for 7–30 days depending on your hosting plan. Daily backups are kept for 7 days, and weekly backups for up to 30 days.

Can I schedule automatic backups from my control panel?

Yes. cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin all support scheduled backup creation. See the instructions above for your specific control panel.

Will restoring a backup overwrite my current data?

Yes. A full restoration replaces existing files and databases with the backup version. We recommend downloading your current data before restoring.

Can I back up just one folder or file?

In cPanel's File Manager, you can compress individual folders and download them. For databases, use phpMyAdmin to export specific tables.

What if I need a backup from more than 30 days ago?

Backups older than the retention period are automatically removed. This is why we strongly recommend keeping your own offsite copies.

Need Help?

If you need help with backups or restoration: