{"id":109,"date":"2025-12-17T07:44:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T06:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/?post_type=manual_kb&#038;p=109"},"modified":"2026-06-09T03:43:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T01:43:30","slug":"backup-3-2-1-rule","status":"publish","type":"manual_kb","link":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/backup-3-2-1-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Backup &#8211; The 3-2-1 rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A backup is only useful if it actually works when you need it. The 3-2-1 rule is a widely adopted standard that defines how many copies of your data you should have, where they should be stored, and why that distribution matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This article explains the principle and how it applies to your mybox account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/backup-3-2-1-rule\/#What_the_3-2-1_rule_means\" >What the 3-2-1 rule means<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/backup-3-2-1-rule\/#How_mybox_handles_backup_automatically\" >How mybox handles backup automatically<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/backup-3-2-1-rule\/#Why_the_automatic_backup_is_not_enough_on_its_own\" >Why the automatic backup is not enough on its own<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/backup-3-2-1-rule\/#Practical_backup_habits\" >Practical backup habits<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_the_3-2-1_rule_means\"><\/span>What the 3-2-1 rule means<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"mybox-2754139640\" class=\"mybox-content mybox-entity-placement\"><div class=\"early-access-banner-inpost\">\r\n  <div class=\"banner-left-inpost\">\r\n    <div class=\"icon-box-inpost\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/square-info-icon.svg\" alt=\"Info\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"text-box-inpost\">\r\n      <span class=\"label-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Early access<\/span><\/span>\r\n      <h4><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Still need help?<\/span><\/h4>\r\n      <p><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Contact our customer service team.<\/span><\/p>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <div class=\"banner-right-inpost\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/panel.mybox.com\/helpdesk2\/v\/list\/\" class=\"banner-button-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Message us<\/span><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rule is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>3<\/strong> copies of your data in total<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2<\/strong> stored on different types of media<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1<\/strong> stored off-site (outside your primary location)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The logic is redundancy. If one copy fails or is destroyed, you have others. If two copies are in the same physical location and that location is affected \u2014 fire, flood, theft \u2014 the off-site copy remains intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_mybox_handles_backup_automatically\"><\/span>How mybox handles backup automatically<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every mybox account includes an automatic daily backup. The backup runs overnight and is available for restore the following day. You do not need to configure anything \u2014 the backup happens in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To restore your data, go to the <strong>Backup<\/strong> section in your mybox panel and submit a restore request. You do not need to contact support to initiate a restore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Plan<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Frequency<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Retention<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Restore method<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>One Box<\/td><td>Daily (overnight)<\/td><td>1 day<\/td><td>Self-service via panel<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Flex Box<\/td><td>Daily (overnight)<\/td><td>7 days<\/td><td>Self-service via panel<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Prime Box<\/td><td>Daily (overnight)<\/td><td>7 days<\/td><td>Self-service via panel<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flex Box and Prime Box accounts allow you to restore from any of the previous 7 daily snapshots \u2014 useful when an issue goes unnoticed for several days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_the_automatic_backup_is_not_enough_on_its_own\"><\/span>Why the automatic backup is not enough on its own<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mybox backup covers most common scenarios \u2014 accidental file deletion, a failed update, a corrupted database. However, it does not cover every situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Changes made and lost within the same day are not recoverable from the backup<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The backup copy is stored on mybox infrastructure \u2014 it is not an off-site copy in the 3-2-1 sense<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For projects where data loss has serious consequences, consider maintaining an additional copy outside of mybox \u2014 for example, a local download of your files and a database export stored on an external drive or a separate cloud service. This brings your setup closer to the full 3-2-1 standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Practical_backup_habits\"><\/span>Practical backup habits<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regardless of what your hosting provider backs up automatically, a few habits reduce risk significantly. Export your database before making major changes. Download a copy of your files before updating themes or plugins. Test your backups periodically by verifying that a restore actually works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-onethird-callout-box onethird-callout-wrap\"><div class=\"onethird-callout onethird-callout--hint\" style=\"--ot-bg:#EAFFF7;--ot-border:#C8E8D8;--ot-text:#6F7C88;--ot-title:#384048;--ot-body:#6F7C88;--ot-icon:#384048;border-radius:6px;padding:16px\"><div class=\"onethird-callout__head\"><span class=\"onethird-callout__icon\"><svg viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path fill=\"none\" stroke=\"#384048\" stroke-width=\"2\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"M2 10h4v12H2V10zm20 1c0-1.1-.9-2-2-2h-6.31l.95-4.57.02-.2c0-.26-.11-.5-.29-.68L13.17 2 7.59 7.59C7.22 7.95 7 8.45 7 9v11c0 1.1.9 2 2 2h8c.82 0 1.54-.5 1.84-1.22l3.02-7.05c.09-.23.14-.47.14-.73v-2z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><div class=\"onethird-callout__title\">Early Access<\/div><\/div><div class=\"onethird-callout__body\">Automatic daily backup with 1-day retention is available in early access for all One Box accounts. Restore requests can be submitted directly from the panel. Flex Box and Prime Box plans &#8211; including 7-day retention will be available in a future release<\/div><\/div><div class=\"onethird-callout__separator\" style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","manualknowledgebasecat":[10,42],"manual_kb_tag":[4214,807,4135,4136,4137,4138,4139,4140,4141,4142],"class_list":["post-109","manual_kb","type-manual_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","manualknowledgebasecat-safety","manualknowledgebasecat-miscellaneous","manual_kb_tag-3-2-1-backup-rule","manual_kb_tag-data-backup","manual_kb_tag-backup-strategy","manual_kb_tag-backup-best-practices","manual_kb_tag-cloud-backup","manual_kb_tag-offsite-backup","manual_kb_tag-external-hard-drive","manual_kb_tag-network-drive","manual_kb_tag-backup-verification","manual_kb_tag-backup-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/manual_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4875,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/109\/revisions\/4875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"manualknowledgebasecat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manualknowledgebasecat?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"manual_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb_tag?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}