How is the best way for me to make sure my backup drive is backing everything up?

Is there a simple feature in Web Hosting Manager or CPanel to see this?

Log in over SSH, then take a look at your backup drive's contents.

- Matt

Or download WinSCP3 and inspect your server just like in Norton (or Windows) Commander.

Create a test account with a database, make a backup and test if the restore works.
A backup test without a restore is not a test :)

Originally posted by Walter
Create a test account with a database, make a backup and test if the restore works.
A backup test without a restore is not a test :) Actually, if you manually run the backup script, it will display on the screen the output (tarring all the files, etc..). If your backups are running properly, you should have that included at the bottom of your daily upcp email from CPanel.

- Matt

So - I guess there's no easy way to just take a peek at what's sitting on the backup drive?

Originally posted by clasione
So - I guess there's no easy way to just take a peek at what's sitting on the backup drive?
There is a very easy way, I mentioned it before. Log onto your server via SSH, and if your backup drive is named "/backup", then type "cd /backup" and then you can keep changing directories until you get to the daily/weekly backups (the foldernames are self explanitory). Very easy.

- Matt

What the heck is SSH?

Originally posted by clasione
What the heck is SSH? Yikes... you're running a server and have no idea what SSH is? I hope you have a very managed server in that case. SSH is secure shell, and is used to access the command-line interface of your server. Check out http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239854 for a quick guide to SSH. I recommend using Putty ( http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html ) for SSH access. Just download the regular putty.exe file - It's a standalone file, and no installation is necessary.

Edit: I see that you're with Nocster - They're very good for management, but it really helps to know your way around the server. There's also a thread on the BurstNET forums that can help with SSH - http://forums.burst.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2206 .

-Josh