JetBackup backs up the hosting server — cPanel accounts, files, databases and email — while Backuply backs up a WordPress website from its administration. They serve different needs: one protects the infrastructure, the other protects a specific website. A backup plan is judged by its restores, not by the number of archives.
Two levels of backup
A server backup restores a whole account after a handling mistake or an attack; a website backup returns a single WordPress site to an earlier version. Both are useful, and neither replaces the other.
JetBackup: server backup
JetBackup integrates with cPanel and WHM, schedules full account backups (files, databases, email, configuration) and supports remote destinations such as object storage or an FTP/SFTP server. Retention policies are defined per account, and restores can be granular: a single file, one database or a whole account. Restoring to an alternative location lets you check content before overwriting anything.
Backuply: WordPress backup
Backuply is a WordPress extension published by Softaculous: you schedule backups of the site files and database to cloud storage, with one-click restore. It suits a single website or a few sites managed separately, without administrator access to the server.
Choosing and configuring the destination
- A local copy does not protect against disk failure: prefer a remote destination.
- Store the backup with a provider different from the one hosting the server.
- Test credentials and available space before scheduling the first archive.
- Check that the destination keeps immutable copies if the provider offers them.
- Encrypt archives and keep the keys somewhere separate.
Testing a restore
A backup that was never restored is not a reliable backup. Create a test account, restore the latest archive to an alternative location, then check that files, database and email are complete. For WordPress, restore on a staging site rather than in production. Note the restore time: it determines your real recovery delay after an incident. Write down the outcome in a short report with the date of the last test restore.
Retention best practices
- Daily backup, with weekly and monthly retention.
- Monitor failures: a silent scheduled task is a trap.
- Back up before every major update or extension installation.
- Archive an off-site copy before any major system or panel upgrade.
- Watch the space used by archives to avoid filling the disk.
