The possibilities for using this component are just too many. Some indicative uses might be:

• Security backups. Taking a snapshot of your site should your server fail, or a hacker exploit some security hole to deface or compromise your site. You think this is not going to happen? Remember the Joomla! 1.5.7 "too-late-before-they-upgraded" incidents! Furthermore, use SiteDiff to compare your backup archives and detect suspiciously modified or added files – common indications of a hacker having installed a "back door" on your site.
• Remote backups, without a browser. Use the Akeeba Remote Control application to remotely backup your site and download the backup file, without the need to open a browser. The application can be installed as a portable application, so all you need to backup your sites is your USB flash disk and any random computer.
• Automatic backups. You can setup the backup jobs to run on a schedule. Either using the front-end backup mode of the Core edition, or the ultimately advanced command line backup interface of Professional, all you have to do is simply setup the CRON job on your host's control panel. Alternatively, you can use the Akeeba Remote Control application to fully automate the backup process and download of the backup archive to your PC from your local PC (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X supported).
• Backup from your cell-phone! Using Akeeba Backup's Light Mode you can backup your site from any web-enabled cell phone. Tested on Windows Mobile, Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices, it should work with all post-2007 web-enabled cell-phones as well, as long as they support Javascript.
• Template sites. Web professionals have used Akeeba Backup in order to create "template sites". This means that you can build a site on a local server, install every component you usually do on most clients' sites and back it up. You now have a canned site that can serve as a great template for future clients. Using the same method you can have a snapshot of all the sites you have built for your clients, without the need to have them installed on your local server.
• Build a site off-line, upload the finished site easily. Web professionals can build a complete site offline on a local server and when done take a snapshot with Akeeba Backup, then restore it on the production site. This is what we did for this site!
• Testing upgrades locally, without risking breaking the on-line site. Joomla!™ updates have the potential of breaking things, especially in complex or badly written components and modules. Web masters use Akeeba Backup to get a site snapshot, restore it on a local test server, perform the upgrade there and test for any problems without the live site being at risk.
• Debugging locally. Almost the same as above, web professionals have used Akeeba Backup to take a snapshot of a client's Joomla!™ site in order to perform bug hunting. Using Akeeba Backup again, they can upload the fixed site back on the live server.
• Relocating a site to a new host. Web masters who want to take their site to a new host have found Akeeba Backup to be their saviour. Just backup the original site - probably using the DirectFTP to directly "clone" the files to your new host - and restore on the new host; presto, your site is relocated with virtually no effort at all.

Akeeba Backup can save you hours of your time. This is what hundreds of our users tell us. Moreover, this invaluable tool comes to you at no or low cost. Akeeba Backup Core is completely free of charge (and you can donate to keep it forever like that), whereas Akeeba Backup Professional is available on an extremely low cost subscription. Both editions are licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 3 or any later version, you can freely modify them and install them on an unlimited number of domains, without any restriction.