I was reminded again of the importance of file and data (Mysql) backups for websites after a recent, out of the ordinary situation occurred. On the same day several WordPress websites were hacked and the ISP had no choice but to take down the websites. Normally this is easily rectified, as the client can use the KonsoleH (Hetzner Africa cPanel) to restore the website again. Then the web developer should fix and update the site to plug the holes that were exploited.
However, in this case the Hetzner backup/restore tool was offline for maintenance. See the Hetzner Africa network notice below. The problem with the tool started 2016-04-28 and was resolved 2016-05-03. If the client had his/her own backup, all was fine. However, some clients did not have backups and didn’t have a website online for almost 6 days.
Clients who had their own web developers were in a better position since they could also use the hacked copy of the site to try and restore it.