Backup File Size Discrepancy

[Web4business]

Good morning

I have a question regarding backup file size discrepancy please. I have a number of clients whose website I manually backup using the BACKUP functionality (not the backup wizard). However, I have noticed that the filesize of the backup can vary greatly from month to month.

For example I backed up a client's website and noticed the size of her public_html is 1.138 GB

When I downloaded the backup files the numbers didn't add up. I assumed that the files were zipped and hence smaller in size.

Account Backup - 661,761KB
Partial Backup - 652,039KB
MYSQL Databases - 2,290KB & 662KB
Email Forwarders - 1KB

But then later in the day I decided to run another backup and the numbers were as follows

Account Backup - 340,369KB
Partial Backup - 302,623KB
MYSQL Databases - 2,310KB & 662KB
Email Forwarders - 1KB

24 hours later I ran the backup again and these are the numbers I got

Account Backup - 1,099,866
Partial Backup - 1,099,466
MYSQL Databases - 2,463KB & 662KB
Email Forwarders - 1KB

So now I'm worried that the backups that I have been doing have not been complete.

In the past whenever there was a network failure, the file would say Unconfirmed xxxxxx.crdownload. And so I would just redo it, but the files look like they have been fully downloaded.

So I am wondering what would be the reason for this discrepancy?

My internet speed is pretty slow at the moment and I am wondering if I get disconnected from the CPANEL after a certain period or if there are any settings that I need to ask my hosting company to adjust.

 

[cPanelLauren]

Hello,

What are the partial backups you're referencing? If you're referencing partial backups it as in from cPanel>>Files>>Backup where you've only included specific sit's hard to know which of those you've excluded from backups.

The backup you create through cPanel is a compressed backup, furthermore, email and databases are not stored within the public_html so just looking at the public_html size would not account for all the data on each account.

It'd be hard to tell you the cause for the discrepancy in file size for backups, without actually seeing the files. Since you don't have root access to the system you won't be able to see any errors should any have occurred. In order to troubleshoot this issue further/confirm that there is not an issue, you should contact your provider.