If you’ve set up real-time backup on your website, you’re on the right track. You understand the importance of safeguarding your data. In a world where new vulnerabilities are discovered constantly, regularly backing up your WordPress site is more critical than ever.
But why isn’t the standard daily automated backup sufficient? Scheduled backups occur once every 24 hours. Therefore, if your site crashes mid-day, there’s still a risk of data loss, especially for high-traffic sites with frequent updates. This is where real-time backups come into play.
Real-time backup is the most effective method to secure your WordPress site. Every change is instantly backed up without waiting for a scheduled backup. Even if your site crashes, you can be confident that no data is lost. However, there are still some considerations to keep in mind.
Despite having real-time backups, certain parts of your site may remain vulnerable. Many people are unaware that their real-time backup solution may not cover everything. This article aims to highlight instances where real-time backup might fall short.
How Real-time Backup Functions
Before we explore scenarios where real-time backups may falter, let’s understand how they operate. When you make changes to your site, such as adding a new post, WordPress stores this information in its database. WordPress uses specific APIs to modify the standard database tables.
Whenever a table, like wp_posts, is updated, an event is triggered. Any additional tasks following the update must be linked to this event. This is where backup plugins come in. Plugins that support real-time backup connect to these update events and initiate a backup immediately.
blogVault is a WordPress backup plugin that employs this technique for real-time backup. For more insights on how blogVault’s real-time backup functions, refer to our previous post.
Does Real-time Backup Include Everything?
Why are certain parts of your WordPress site not encompassed by real-time backup? Some WordPress plugins create custom tables in the database to store additional data. For instance, WooCommerce creates tables like wp_woocommerce_order_items and wp_woocommerce_tax_rates to house information related to orders and tax rates.
Another example is Easy Digital Downloads, which builds eCommerce sites and creates a custom table, wp_edd_customers, to store customer details. Updates to these custom tables do not use standard APIs, so backup plugins are not notified about changes to this data. Consequently, these updates to custom tables are not part of real-time backups.
WordPress hosts countless plugins developed globally, and while many may not adhere to recommended coding guidelines, resulting in some plugins not using standard APIs when updating the database, even for standard WordPress tables.
This can lead to events not being triggered according to expectations. Therefore, updates by such plugins will not be covered by real-time backups. While detecting such deviations isn’t simple, testing backups regularly is advisable to ensure everything is intact. If any issues arise, you can reach out to developers for assistance.
The Next Steps
It’s evident that relying solely on real-time backups may not suffice. Special care is required for certain plugins to ensure a complete site backup. Without this support, one may need to depend on regular backups, risking potential data losses.
It’s essential for every website owner to fully comprehend their backup requirements before selecting a solution. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of your backup system is crucial to prevent unwelcome surprises down the line.
blogVault offers a comprehensive backup service inclusive of real-time backups and provides specialized support for WooCommerce sites to guarantee no order goes missing – ensuring 100% real-time backup.
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