How to Backup a Large WordPress Site with the Best WordPress Backup Plugins
One of the most daunting tasks in setting up a new WordPress site is figuring out how to back it up. Especially if you’re new to WordPress and don’t have a lot of experience with website backups, it can be tricky to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this guide, which will help you figure out what type of backup plugins are worth using for your WordPress site and how to install them successfully.
The Most Popular WordPress Backups
Let’s take a quick look at the most popular WordPress backups available. As you might expect, they’re mostly aimed at enterprise level customers, which means you’ll probably have to pay for them. Still, it’s nice to know that there are free alternatives available, too.
Backup Pro
Backup Pro is one of the most popular enterprise-level WordPress backups available, used by some of the biggest websites in the world. With that level of popularity, you’d expect that Backup Pro would have some pretty amazing features. Indeed, it does!
First off, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. Next, you’ll want to activate the Backup Pro plugin. Finally, you’ll need to configure the service to connect to your AWS account. Once that’s done, you can begin backing up your WordPress site using the Backup Pro console. The console is fairly easy to use and has a clean interface which makes it easy to follow along.
There are a few notable differences between this plugin and the free alternatives we mentioned earlier. The first is that the free alternatives don’t require an AWS account to function. The second is that the paid versions come with a cron job, which will automatically run a backup every night. Third is that the paid versions have an option to encrypt your backups, meaning no one else can access your data. Last but not least, the free alternatives also offer hardware compatibility checks, which the paid versions do not.
Amanda
Amanda is another enterprise-level WordPress backup plugin that you might want to check out. It’s available in both free and premium versions, so you can choose how much you want to spend. Like Backup Pro, it also offers hardware and software compatibility checks along with daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
The only differences between the two are that Amanda does not require an AWS account to function and it’s not as widely used as Backup Pro. That said, it’s still a popular choice with large enterprise level sites that need a reliable backup solution.
Warped
Warped is the most downloaded WordPress backup plugin in history, with over 125 million downloads. With that much popularity, you’d assume that Warped would have some pretty good features!
It does! The primary feature that sets warped apart from the others is that it automatically creates a snapshot before deleting a file or folder. That way, you can go back and restore a specific version of a file or folder at any time. The snapshots are timestamped, so you’ll know exactly when the backup was created. While this might not be essential for all websites, it’s a great way to ensure your data is safe and can be accessed anytime you need it.
Cloud Backup
Speaking of automatically creating snapshots, Cloud Backup is the WordPress backup plugin for teams and businesses. It’s also one of the most popular plugin-based backups available, due mostly to the fact that it’s built on top of the widely used LAMP stack. That means you can use it with just about any Linux or macOS server and don’t necessarily need an AWS account to use it.
It’s important to keep in mind that not every site will be able to use Cloud Backup. That’s because the plugin requires you to have a MySQL database already installed on your server. Still, it’s a popular choice amongst larger enterprise level websites due to its ease of use and low barrier to entry.
Deep Freeze
Deep Freeze is, essentially, a server-side firewall that runs on your web server. It was designed with the WordPress ecosystem in mind and makes it easy to setup a whole-site firewall that blocks access to external resources. That way, if your site gets breached by a hacker, they won’t be able to access resources from outside your server. That can be a big problem if you’ve ever tried to restore a WordPress site after a breach!
Deep Freeze supports multiple servers so you can protect multiple sites with just one license. In order to use it, you’ll first need to download the.deb file from the Firewall project website. Once that’s done, you can install it like any other software package. As an added bonus, you can use the Force Touch gesture to temporarily turn on Deep Freeze while you’re installing WordPress or updating it. That way you won’t accidentally turn it off while you’re trying to save something!
As you might expect, there are some key differences between this plugin and the others we mentioned. First, it’s not free. Second, it’s not as widely used as the others. Third, it doesn’t encrypt your data. Lastly, it doesn’t run on a cron schedule, so you’ll need to manually run it every night.
Cloud Sites
Last but not least, we have Cloud Sites. Cloud Sites is, effectively, a free version of what Warped and Cloud Backup do. In addition to backing up your site automatically, it also provides free CDN and free SSL. That means all your site’s content is stored remotely, allowing you to quickly deploy new versions of your site if needed. The benefit of this system is that all your site’s content is stored in the cloud and you don’t necessarily need a separate server to run it.
This is, in effect, a SaaS product that allows you to store and run your WordPress site remotely. That way, you don’t necessarily need a physical server to keep your site running. That’s not to say that there aren’t drawbacks to this system. For example, unless you’ve got a lot of storage space, you’ll run out of room fairly quickly. In some cases, you might also need to look into getting a VPS (virtual private server) to host your site.
The bottom line is that Cloud Sites is a great solution for people with smaller sites or those who just want to try out hosting a WordPress site. For larger sites, it might be overkill and you’d be better served by one of the premium plugins we mentioned earlier.
In summary, these are the most popular WordPress backups available. Not only does the information in this article help you decide what kind of plugin to use for your site, but it can also help you figure out how to install them successfully.
What Type of Backup Plugin Should I Use?
So, which type of WordPress backup plugin should you use for your site? That entirely depends on you and what you want from the plugin. If you’re looking for a simple solution, then go with the basic WordPress backup plugin that Google provides. This is what most people will suggest and recommend. It’s free and doesn’t require any special software or configurations. Plus, it has excellent support and is widely used, so you’re bound to find help if you have any questions about it.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more robust solution, then you might want to consider the premium options we mentioned earlier. They’re usually aimed at large enterprise level customers, so they provide a bit more functionality and can also be a little more expensive. Still, it’s worth it! Enterprise level customers that need a robust, feature-packed solution should look into Amanda, Backup Pro, or Warped. The key takeaway from this section is that all of these solutions have something great to offer, depending on your specific needs.
How Do I Install WordPress Backup Plugins?
Let’s take a quick look at how to install WordPress backup plugins. As mentioned earlier, the best way to ensure your data is safe is to back it up. Still, once you’ve done that, it’s important to consider how you’re going to get that data back. That’s where the plugins come in. As you might expect, all these plugins must be installed on a WordPress site in order to function. In some cases, you’ll also need to enter some specific credentials. That way, you can connect the plugin to your AWS account or other remote servers. Once that’s done, you can start using the plugin to back up your site.
Amanda, Cloud Backup, and Warped are pretty easy to install. All you need to do is download the corresponding.deb file from the WordPress repository and double click it to start the installation process. Alternatively, you can use the WordPress install tool to install each plugin individually.