Types of WordPress backups explained
We’ve all had a website crash. We’ve all seen updates fail. Most of us have also struggled to recover from a hack. More often than not, backups have come to the rescue.
But a recovery is only successful if you have a good backup. Does it have all the data? Is it easy to restore? Can you recover your site quickly? In this article, we'll explore the four main types of backups: full, incremental, and differential. We'll explain how they work, their advantages and disadvantages. We’ll give you everything you need to make an informed decision.
Full backups
A full backup creates a copy of all your website data. It's a clone of your site at a specific moment.
For example, if your website has 20 blog posts, images, and settings, the full backup will include all 20 blog posts, every image, the theme, the plugins, and the site configuration. It's like saving your site as it is in that moment — a complete snapshot of everything.
Even if you add new blog posts later or delete old ones, that full backup will always show the site as it was on that specific day.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Full backups are the most reliable type of backup to restore because they have all the data that you need. However, they are incredibly resource intensive. This could prove problematic when your backups are stored on your servers.
They are best used in combination with other backup types - like incremental - to optimize efficiency.
Incremental backups
An incremental backup saves only the changes made since the last backup, whether it was full or incremental.
Imagine your WordPress website is a bustling online store. On Monday, a full backup captures everything—products, images, orders, plugins, and themes. On Tuesday, you add 10 new products, but instead of re-copying the entire site, an incremental backup saves only those new product changes. On Wednesday, you receive new orders, and the incremental backup records just those updates. If something goes wrong, the system combines Monday’s full backup with Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s incremental backups to restore your site to its latest state.
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Pros
Cons
Verdict
Incremental backups are efficient when combined with regular full backups. BlogVault uses this approach for faster and lighter backups while ensuring reliability during recovery.
Differential backups
Differential backups save the changes made since the last full backup. They include all data changes since that particular point.
Let’s say your WordPress website is an online portfolio. On Monday, a full backup saves everything—your portfolio items, images, plugins, and site settings. On Tuesday, you add 3 new portfolio projects. A differential backup saves those 3 new projects since Monday’s full backup. On Wednesday, you add 2 more projects. Instead of saving just the changes from Tuesday, the differential backup saves everything changed since Monday—the 3 projects from Tuesday and the 2 new ones from Wednesday. If you need to restore your site, the system uses the full backup from Monday and just the latest differential backup (Wednesday’s) to rebuild the site.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Differential backups serve as a middle ground. However, they might not be cost-effective for WordPress sites needing frequent backups.
Wrapping up
A good WordPress backup strategy balances speed, storage, and reliability. A combination of full and incremental backups is usually the best option. Tools like BlogVault use this method to create regular, efficient backups while keeping recovery simple. Invest in a good backup solution to safeguard your website and its data. Your peace of mind is worth it!
For a more detailed explanation, check out: https://blogvault.net/types-of-backup/
Great breakdown! Understanding the different types of WordPress backups—full, incremental, differential, and real-time—is crucial for building a resilient and secure website strategy