So you’ve decided to use Joomla to create your website and you’ve found what you think is a reliable web host because you want your website to be always accessible. Your visitors are valuable and you need them to return again and again so that they buy things and you make profit. But is a reliable web host all you need?
All websites can be attacked by viruses or hackers. Hackers will try to gain access to your website’s files, its database or your hosting account. If this happens hackers can change anything they choose to on your website such as the home page, delete various files and destroy all your hard work. Apply the latest updates and check for any problems to protect your Joomla site. But what happens if hacker still break into your website. What happens if you are hacked, or the server fails, or the hosting company cannot restore your website from a backup files?
The solution is simply – have your own backup. This essentially means downloading all the files from your database and keeping them on your own computer. This will enable you to restore your website at anytime. However, this is unpractical. It can take time to download thousands of files. But, there is a simpler way.
What you have to do is install the JoomlaPack component. This is a component that does all the hard work for you. It works by archiving all your files including the exported database into one file. This file contains everything you need to restore your site on any server. When the JoomlaPack completes its backup, simply download the file and store it in a safe place. Our only hint is to change the default JoomlaPack directory for security purposes. Anywhere other than the default backup directory is fine.
If you need to restore the website this is how. You’ll need an additional file to unpack the archive file. This is down via the “kickstart.php” file, which you’ll receive with the JoomlaPack component. Set a password in this file to prevent any unwanted access. Restore the website by uploading both files to your web server and starting the kickstart.php file. You’ll be asked to type in your password which will then activate the unpacking procedure.
It is important to make frequent backups of your websites. You are responsible for them and the only person who can put the website back to the way it once was after hacker attack.
