Hey man, awesome advice and something we should all be doing! Most hosting packages allow you to download backups of your data, do it today and don't hesitate.

All of my sites are backed up every day to a dedicated server that is in a differant location,its added expense but i see it as my business insurance if you own a car or a house you have that insured as this is my business and main source of revenue my sites cannot be down for long.

Most people dont do backup thinking it will never happen to them but they are the 1st to moan when somethink happens.At least i can sleep at night

Great advice, I've been meaning to do that, making a note right now