Backups are easy. Restores are the test
Automated, off-site, encrypted backups for sites, databases, mail and servers – with a restore actually performed and verified, rather than assumed to work on the day you need it.
Nearly everyone has backups. Far fewer have restores.
Most businesses discover their backup problem at the worst possible moment: the job stopped running four months ago and nobody was told, the copy is on the same server that just failed, or the file restores but the database does not match it.
We set backups up properly, keep a copy somewhere the original disaster cannot reach, and – the part that matters – perform test restores on a schedule so you know what recovery actually takes before you have to do it in a panic.
- Off-site by default. A backup on the same server is not a backup.
- Tested restores. Performed on a schedule and documented, not assumed.
- Monitored. A failed backup job raises an alert instead of failing quietly for months.
- Encrypted. At rest and in transit, with the keys held by you.
Six things, and they need to be restorable together.
Websites and CMS
Files, themes, plugins, uploads and configuration, versioned so you can go back to a specific day.
Databases
Consistent database snapshots taken in step with the file backup, so the two actually match on restore.
Business email
Mailboxes, folders, contacts and calendars – the data most businesses assume their provider keeps forever.
Files and documents
Shared drives and working files, with version history rather than a single overwritten copy.
Servers and VPS
Full snapshots plus the configuration needed to rebuild the environment, not just the data on it.
Applications and configuration
The settings, cron jobs, certificates and integrations that a data-only restore quietly leaves behind.
Setup, monitoring and the restore rehearsal.
- Audit of what exists and what is missing
- Recovery objectives agreed in plain language
- Backup schedule and retention policy
- Automated job configuration
- Off-site and second-location copies
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Failure alerting to a real person
- Scheduled test restores
- Documented recovery procedure
- Storage cost review and optimisation
- Periodic backup health reporting
- Emergency restore support when needed
Rarely the disaster anyone planned for.
Six steps, and step five is the one nobody else does.
Audit what exists
What is being backed up today, where it goes, when it last succeeded and whether it has ever been restored. The findings are usually worse than expected.
Agree what recovery means
How much data you can afford to lose, and how long you can afford to be down. Two plain answers that determine everything about the design and the cost.
Configure and automate
Schedules, retention and encryption set up to match those answers, with at least one copy somewhere the primary failure cannot reach.
Add monitoring
Alerts when a job fails or silently stops. The most common backup failure is not corruption – it is a job that quietly stopped running months ago.
Perform a real restore
We restore to a separate environment and confirm the site or system actually comes back, then document exactly how long it took and what it involved.
Report and re-test
Periodic health reporting and repeat test restores, because environments change and a plan that worked last year may not work now.
When did you last restore from a backup?
What most businesses have
A backup plugin installed, a green tick in a dashboard nobody opens, and a copy stored on the same server as the site it is protecting.
What they find out later
The job stopped four months ago. The database and the files are from different days. The restore works, but it takes eleven hours nobody had budgeted for. Every one of these is discovered during the emergency, not before it.
A backup nobody has restored is a hope with a filename.
What you have in place afterwards.
Not just running jobs – a documented, proven ability to get back on your feet.
- Automated backups on an agreed schedule
- Off-site copies with retention documented
- Alerting on failure to a named recipient
- A written recovery procedure anyone can follow
- Test restore results with actual recovery times
- Encryption keys and storage access held by you
Storage is in your name and your backups are yours. If you stop working with us, your data does not sit on an account you cannot reach.
Built for businesses that would notice a week of lost data.
The right amount to spend on backups is a function of what a day of downtime and a week of lost records would cost you. For most trading businesses, that number is considerably higher than the backup bill.
Honest note: for a small static site that rarely changes, your host’s built-in backup is probably adequate and we will say so. This service is for cases where a restore actually has to work, quickly, and someone needs to have proven that it does.
- E-commerce stores taking orders daily
- Businesses running client data through their systems
- Organisations with regulatory or contractual retention duties
- Companies whose email history is a business record
- Teams with no one internally responsible for backups
- Anyone who has already lost data once
The things worth knowing before you start.
Does our host not already back everything up?
Many do, and it is better than nothing. The gaps are usually retention (often only a few days), scope (files but not mail), and the fact that the copy lives with the same provider – so an account suspension or provider failure takes your backup with it.
How often should backups run?
It depends entirely on how much data you can afford to lose. A brochure site that changes monthly does not need hourly backups; a store taking orders all day does. We set the schedule from your answer to that question rather than from a default.
Where is the data stored?
In storage opened in your name, in a location you choose, with encryption keys held by you. We can advise where that should be if you have data residency requirements.
How long does a restore take?
We measure it during the test restore and document the actual figure, so you know before an emergency rather than during one. It varies enormously with size and environment.
Can you help if we have already lost data?
Sometimes. Recovery depends on what exists and what has been overwritten since. Contact us quickly and stop using the affected system – continuing to write to it is what usually destroys the remaining chance.
Do you charge for the storage?
Storage is billed to your own account and shown separately from our fee. We will size it to what you need rather than sell you a plan with a comfortable margin on it.
The rest of the technical side.
WordPress Development
Building, extending and maintaining WordPress sites that are meant to be worked on. Read more
Migration Services
Sites, mailboxes and databases moved between hosts and platforms without losing anything. Read more
R&D Solutions
Research and development work for problems that do not have an off-the-shelf answer yet. Read more
When did you last test a restore?
Tell us what you are running and what you believe is being backed up. We will audit it and tell you plainly where the gaps are.