Important Notice :: Hosting Backup Guidelines

[John]

Hello All,

As I'm sure some of you are painfully aware, there is some confusion over how we take backups, particularly with shared hosting. Please allow me to clarify a few things and also make some suggestions.

Do we make backups? Yes we do. However, sometimes MySQL content is copied with errors which can result in some clients website hostings not being properly restored from a backup. We have changed our backup process to help minimize the risk but there is still a small risk that some clients website hostings will not be properly backed up. This could be due to a technical problem or in some cases, human error. In some cases a poorly coded SQL Server table can cause a backup not to be completed properly.

If you are not quite sure how to make backups you may contact our support department and they will, on request, make the backup for you and tell you how to download it. Alternatively, you can request support to give you detailed instructions on how to backup your data. Additional backup space can be purchased from our sales department at a very low cost. This is not a necessity but it will speed the restore time up significantly. Alternatively, you can store your backups on your local workstation and upload them to the server if there is ever a problem. Of course, you can also opt to buy a backup service from another provider and we will assist in any way we can.

How often do you need to maintain backups? This is entirely down to your individual circumstances. If your website hosting content changes once a month, make a backup once a month. If your database content changes every day, make a backup every day or every few days. If you exclusively use webmail to receive your mail and therefore don't have a copy of your messages, you need to make frequent backups.

For our Virtuozzo VPS Hosting clients the risk is significantly reduced but it is still not totally eliminated. You are also encouraged to make regular full backups. Our support department can assist you in doing this and also provide you instructions.

We sincerely apologise for any data loss. We take every precaution but ultimately backups are your own responsibility to maintain and we strongly encourage you to do so.

[DPS Computing]

Thanks for the guide John - I am sure it will clear up the confusion regarding backups once and for all .

[Ben Stones]

Thanks for that John - was quite confused about it as well... this clarifies all!

[eUKhost]

A few pointers more.

The VPS Hosting team has a backup ready at all times. We have backups for the whole node. However when it comes to individual VPS Hosting', its not the case. This is something which the customers would have to take care of.

In the unlikely case of a complete node going down, we would be able to restore data for all the VPS Hosting' present on that particular node. This is done from the backups we take with the help of Virtuozzo. On the OpenVZ nodes, we actually take manual backups on remote servers.

The reason we cannot accept responsibility for backups of individual VPS Hosting' is the fact that breaking down the entire backup files of the whole node & locating the files for a particular VPS Hosting is not quite possible always. We do have them for sure - but it takes time to do it.

So if anything happens to the node, we would be able to restore all the data, but for individual VPS Hosting' it will take some time. However, we would be able to give a copy of the backup.

One of the main reasons why we are phasing out OpenVZ offerings is because of the backup limitations. Virtuozzo Power panel allows you to take a backup of your VPS Hosting very easily. (Not only that, it also allows you to restore, repair & reboot your VPS Hosting.)

If you do need some more information. please do contact the support team. They would be glad to help.

[eUK-Ron]

If you want more security & customization in backup (like daily backup) then you should consider our additional backup system.

For more details see http://www.eukhost.com/backup.php

or

contact our sales team through email or live chat

[DPS Computing]

I think this has definitely become a comprehensive guide now. No excuses anyone now!!

[Pandacoder]

Hi Ron,

I have just read the page you recommend. Would it be possible for you to post either step by step instructions (that would help everyone) for how to use Rsync with your backup facility, or, give us some pointers to where we can find these instructions.

I have just leased a dedicated Linux server from you and would like to do incremental daily backups.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

[eUK-Ron]

Hi Ron,

I have just read the page you recommend. Would it be possible for you to post either step by step instructions (that would help everyone) for how to use Rsync with your backup facility, or, give us some pointers to where we can find these instructions.

I have just leased a dedicated Linux server from you and would like to do incremental daily backups.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

If you go for any of our additional backup system we configure backup process for daily, weekly & monthly as per the your choice. You will get daily email notification on completion of backup.

If you have any query, please feel free to ask

[Pandacoder]

Thanks Ron,

I got 25Gb of backup along with the dedicated server. What do you need to set up the daily incremental? Shall I email you or open a ticket? It is really just the Mysql databases (dump files) that need to be backed up.

[eUKhost.com]

Thanks Ron,

I got 25Gb of backup along with the dedicated server. What do you need to set up the daily incremental? Shall I email you or open a ticket? It is really just the Mysql databases (dump files) that need to be backed up.

Please open a ticket for Dedicated server support team and mention how you wish to setup incremental backup for your server. include all details to avoid multiple tickets.

[Morledge]

If you want more security & customization in backup (like daily backup) then you should consider our additional backup system.

For more details see http://www.eukhost.com/backup.php

Would this backup service be suitable to backup a VPS Hosting and it's SQL2005 Express databases?

[eUKhost]

Yes it would. You just have to mention all the different data that you want to be backed up.

[Scothorse]

Thanks Ron,

I got 25Gb of backup along with the dedicated server. What do you need to set up the daily incremental? Shall I email you or open a ticket? It is really just the Mysql databases (dump files) that need to be backed up.

That is rather lucky for you, I only got 20GB!

[eUKhost.com]

That is rather lucky for you, I only got 20GB!

lol. you can contact our support team and ask them to raise disk space limit for your backup space

I can get that done for you if you PM your backup servers IP address and username.

[Scothorse]

Ok I got the 25Gb Thanks. Now one more question, as I have logged in the backup server. there already is a directory structure in there, is that the skeleton install and the base of your recommended backup plans? I am happy to go with your recommendations unless i have to specifically tell you what to backup?

besides could I change the whole thing? As I haven't got a backup strategy in place yet, all I am doing at the moment is mirroring between 2 servers. I would use the backup for extra safety.

[eUKhost.com]

Ok I got the 25Gb Thanks. Now one more question, as I have logged in the backup server. there already is a directory structure in there, is that the skeleton install and the base of your recommended backup plans? I am happy to go with your recommendations unless i have to specifically tell you what to backup?

besides could I change the whole thing? As I haven't got a backup strategy in place yet, all I am doing at the moment is mirroring between 2 servers. I would use the backup for extra safety.

don't change anything in your backup space. We have our backup scripts to send backups of respective week day in a specific folder. If you delete those then your backup will fail. All you need to do is check proper functioning of your backup data once in a month

[Scothorse]

Thanks.

I have checked recently and the folders look empty to me, how can I check the backups are running?

[Veer12]

Thanks for the guide John - I am sure it will clear up the confusion regarding backups once and for all .

[hunterme]

Thanks for the guide John