Joomla Backup Extensions
Backing up your site is usually a pain in the neck because most users hate messing around with MySQL databases. This is the case for me too, so I go for a better option instead - automate the back-up as much as you can through scripts or, in Joomla’s case, with extensions.
I’ll be reviewing the following backup extensions for Joomla:
Joomla SQL Dumper
Although it’s not automatic it is a really big time saver. After you input a MySQL username and password the script lets you choose which database to backup, compression type and level. After you backup a database it gives you the choice to download it.
You can also restore the databases you save from the same script. Just choose which dump file to restore and the database to restore it to. All in all it’s a simple script that does the job; unfortunately it’s not automated.
Jombackup
The Jombackup mambot is a one of the best solutions for a database backup - it is automated (does a daily backup) and sends the database dump to an email address you can configure.
The script is called not by cron, but by checking each time Joomla is loaded if the backup has been performed in the last 24 hours. If a backup exists the mambot does nothing - if 24 hours have passed it will backup the database again.
There are some options you have to pay attention to, but the most important is the testing option. When set to Yes the mambot will save the database each time a Joomla page is visited. While this is ok on a test site it can bring down your server if it’s live and popular.
Also, compressing the database is a good ideea, as it will shrink its size by at least 10 times, which will be important if you want to send it by email.
Another thing you might want to consider is the backup folder. The default path is /media but it would be safer if you create another folder (with some odd name) and set that as the backup path.
From these 2 plugins I recommend Jombackup - it does the job and as long as you get at least 1 visitor per day you’re going to have your daily backup saved.