UpdraftPlus – The supreme solution for WordPress backup

Hello friends,

We are back on the topic related to backup! As you know this is a very important thing related to each website or web project. And when it comes to a CMS system like WordPress where you are presented with regular updates then you should really take into consideration the best practices for creating and restoring backups.

In this post I will present another solution that can be easily marked as a supreme solution. This WordPress plugin is called UpdraftPlus.

What this plugin does?

UpdraftPlus is a solution for backup and restoration. Simple as that but in the mean time it offers a vast majority of important options that will ease your backups and increase your overall data protection in case of a failure related to your database or files.

So to summarize the main functions of UpdraftPlus – it is a supreme solution that will take care for the backups of your WordPress files and database and it will also aid you in their restoration in case of website failure and data loss.

Why I should choose UpdraftPlus instead of the many other plugins for WordPress?

This post is not a comparison between the different plugins. So in most cases you might be safe if you use any of the high-rated backup solutions that are available on WordPress.org.

However you will find that UpdraftPlus will be working extremely fast and well with your WordPress website. It is also extremely easy to use solution that will be suitable even for beginners which is another plus.

So let’s point out all of the features that you will get when you download, install and activate UpdraftPlus:

• Simple backup and restoration procedures – suitable for beginners;
• Various backup destinations – FTP, Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, Email and many others. This is probably the plugin that offers most options regarding the backup destination;
• Single click restoration of your backed-up files and database;
• Backup scheduler that you can set for specific times and for specific tasks – for example you can schedule only the backup of your files or only your database;
• By using this plugin you also get the UpdraftCentral which is a tool for remote control of your backups on every website that you administer with a single dashboard. UpdraftCentral serves for self-hosted projects and also for hosted for you websites;
• UpdraftPlus does not surrender easily in case of a failed upload. This plugin ensures the automatic resumption for them and continues to try once again in order to serve you at its best;
• UpdraftPlus also allows you to split the backups of large websites into multiple smaller archives;
• If you intend to backup only specific files then UpdraftPlus will allow you to select them. For example you may want to make a backup only for your plugins or content;
• The same applies when it comes to restoration of a backup. You are able to select only those components that you consider broken and they will be the only ones restored to your website. This saves time and reduces the server load;
• If you want to download your backups instantly then you can do this right from your WordPress dashboard;
• If you are a developer or you work with developers then you will be glad to find out that UpdraftPlus offers you a complete log for each backup process. This is available because of the Debug mode functionality of the plugin;
• UpdraftPlus is suitable for different languages and more translations can be added to the plugin. This makes it a perfect solution for multilingual websites as well;

This plugin is suitable for all current PHP versions. UpdraftPlus also offers a premium version that extends the backup and restoration power by adding more backup destinations and features. UpdraftPlus can also serve as a duplicating solution for whole websites. This means that if you intend to move your WordPress from one host and/or domain to another then you can rely on this plugin to aid you in this task.

The premium version of UpdraftPlus also offers great support and you can also contract professional support for any enterprise projects that are utilizing the power of WordPress. And if you are using another backup solution then you will be glad to find out that UpdraftPlus can aid you in restoration from a backup made by it. This is very useful if you want to restore your website to an earlier version before the first backup created using UpdraftPlus. Currently you can benefit from this feature if you are a premium user and if your old backups are created from BackWPUp, BackupWordPress, Simple Backup, WordPress Backup To Dropbox.

The premium version of UpdraftPlus also provides options for encryption of the database backups in order to improve their security.

This plugin is with the highest ranking on WordPress.org. So it is safe to say that your website should be in secure hands if you are using UpdraftPlus. We are speaking for more than 700,000 active installations. I am also using this solution for several websites and I am very satisfied with its performance.

UpdraftPlus will help you ensure your investment in your website by providing you with high-quality backups that you can instantly restore in case of a problem.

More on the UpdraftPlus usage can be seen on this video:

What do you think friends? Will you give UpdraftPlus a try? Or maybe you have questions? Feel free to write them in the comment section below. Don’t forget to share this post on social media.

See you soon friends!

Shared Hosting or VPS?

The answer of this question is rather easy. First, we have to know what shared Hosting and VPS is and what are their positive and negative sides.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most popular service offered by the hosting companies. Your website is being hosted on a dedicated server with hundreds other websites. You have access to your website through Control Panel – usually CPanel or Plesk and you have some sort of limitations regarding the services you use (disc space, bandwidth, inodes etc.)

The Shared hosting is suitable for people who are just starting their websites or don’t have the knowledge to run a VPS or afford a managed one. Shared hosting is suitable for entry level websites with low traffic .The reason behind this is that your website is hosted with many others and they are all fighting for the same resources. Also, if you require custom server environment shared hosting is not for you. One of the pros for using it is that Hosting companies provide support for their clients through tickets and telephone calls. As for the VPS this is only available for the managed versions.

VPS (Virtual private server)

A VPS is a standalone instance with its own dedicated resources which you don’t have to share with no one. The two most popular and used pieces of Software for virtualization are OpenVZ and Xen.

The Hosting providers are offering two kinds of VPS – unmanaged and managed ones. In the unmanaged version you get only the VPS with the installed Operating System. Some of the providers are also offering prebuild solutions like LAMP and LEMP. It’s your own duty to support and manage your VPS instance. In order for you to be able to manage the unmanaged version you’re going to need extensive knowledge in Linux LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) or LEMP (Linux, Nginx, MySQL and PHP).

When you order a managed VPS you get a working instance of your virtual server and the support that comes along with it. You receive a Control Panel so as to be able to administrate your VPS and to manage your websites. This makes the managed VPS a better option for users who need the added power and convenience of a VPS and who don’t have the knowledge to administrate a VPS on their own. The managed version of VPS costs double and triple the price of a unmanaged version but it saves your time and allows you to devote it on your website.

To sum up, when you choose between Shared Hosting and VPS you have to evaluate several factors:

1.       Whether you are experienced enough in the field of hosting.

2.       What kind of resources you need.

3.       What budget you have.

4.       Whether you are willing to invest your time in managing your own VPS.