If backups are important for your desktop, they are absolutely crucial for your web site. While on your computer a hard disk may site idle, on a web server, hard disks are always in use. Hard disk failure happens all the time. Add into this the threat of security holes giving hackers access to your files, it is very important that you have your site files backed up.

Most web hosts offer automated backup solutions - a monthly or weekly backup done to another hard disk. Better web hosts backup to a separate server or even off-site to another location. This helps protect from theft, fire, and other possible pains.

As a precaution, it is also wise that you backup your data once a month. If you have *shell* access, simply tar the entire html directory and download it. Otherwise use an FTP program and download all files. Do not forget to also backup your **SQL** data.