WordPress Backup Plugin Usage & Best Practices

This article explains how iCoreHosting supports WordPress backup plugins, recommended practices, retention limits, Fair Use policies, and client responsibilities.

Table of Contents

1. Why Backups Are Important
2. Fair Use Policy
3. Backup Retention Limits
4. Auto-Backup Misconfiguration Best Practices
5. External Backup Recommendations
6. iCoreHosting 14-Day Backup Coverage
7. Malaysia Acts & Regulatory Compliance
8. Reliability, Availability & Responsibility
9. Responsibilities (Client & iCoreHosting)
10. Disclaimer
11. Contact Information

1. Why Backups Are Important

Backups protect your website from accidental deletion, hacking, plugin failure, theme errors, malware, or major updates that cause downtime. A proper backup strategy ensures your website can be restored quickly and safely.

2. Fair Use Policy

iCoreHosting allows clients to use any WordPress backup plugin (e.g., UpdraftPlus, WPVivid, JetBackup, All-in-One Migration). However, backups must be managed responsibly.

• No limit on using your preferred backup plugin.
• Not advised to store backups on the same hosting server or inside your WordPress account.
• Hosting servers are not designed to function as long-term backup storage.
• Local backups increase disk usage, inode usage, CPU processing, and risk of total data loss.

Important: Backups stored inside your WordPress account are not guaranteed safe if the site is hacked, corrupted, or deleted.

3. Backup Retention Limits

To maintain server performance and fair resources for all clients, the following limits apply:

• Keep a maximum of 5 backup versions inside your account.
• Keep backups for a maximum of 5 months if stored externally.
• Total backup size must not exceed 10% of your hosting disk plan OR 10GB (whichever is lower).

We have found cases where developers kept months or years of backups due to incorrect plugin configuration. This causes excessive disk usage and impacts server stability.

Always set automatic deletion rules in your backup plugin.

4. Auto-Backup Misconfiguration: Best Practices

• Enable auto-delete rules: Ensure your plugin removes older backups automatically.
• Use only one backup plugin: Avoid multiple plugins creating duplicate backups.
• Avoid daily full backups: Weekly is usually enough for normal websites.
• Check retention settings after plugin updates: Some plugins reset to default.
• Remove outdated archives: Delete older backups left by previous developers.
• Monitor file size: Very large ZIP files consume disk and inode resources rapidly.
• Test your backup: Confirm backups can be restored successfully.

5. External Backup Recommendations

We strongly recommend storing all WordPress backups externally:

• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• OneDrive
• Amazon S3
• Backblaze B2

External storage prevents losing backups if your hosting account is compromised, suspended, or deleted.

6. iCoreHosting 14-Day Backup Coverage

All iCoreHosting Shared/Reseller Hosting packages include:

• 14 days of daily server-side backups (files & databases)
• Restoration is available during office hours

This backup is for emergency recovery and does not replace your own backup solution.

7. Malaysia Acts & Regulatory Compliance

• Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998: Requires responsible usage of hosting resources.
• PDPA 2010: Ensures that backup data containing personal information is stored securely.
• Malaysian Content Code: Requires proper handling of digital content and stored data.

8. Reliability, Availability & Responsibility

iCoreHosting provides a stable hosting environment and 14-day backup protection, but clients must maintain their own backup strategy. Backup integrity, frequency, plugin settings, and external storage management remain the client’s responsibility.

9. Responsibilities (Client & iCoreHosting)

iCoreHosting Responsibilities

• Provide secure and stable hosting servers.
• Generate 14-day automated backups.
• Assist with restoration during office hours.

Client Responsibilities

• Configure backup plugins properly.
• Store backups in external locations.
• Delete old or unnecessary backup files.
• Monitor disk usage and inode usage.
• Ensure personal data storage complies with PDPA.

10. Disclaimer

Backups created by third-party plugins are fully managed by the client. iCoreHosting is not responsible for corrupted, incomplete, or unusable backup files stored within the client’s account. iCoreHosting’s 14-day backup is a best-effort service and not guaranteed.

11. Contact Information

• Support Portal
• Knowledge Base
• Backup restoration & assistance available during office hours.

For help configuring your backup plugin, contact our support team.