I was wondering if anybody could answer my question. You look over to the left and you see that i'm a newbie at all this hosting jazz.

But anyways, I'm wondering the following: If I were to host my web site with say... 3 full mysql databases... lots of graphics and a lot of important text files, on some host's server say.... fakehosting or some company. and someday fakehosting's server crashed and they lost all my files, and i received an email from them with something along the lines of...

"Due to a hardware failure in the server your web site was hosted on, we have moved your web site to a new server. Please login to the new server using the information provided below and reupload your files as soon as possible, there where no files that could be saved at our end. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will assist you with this transition."

Would that mean that I'd only have to update all of my graphics and text files? or would that mean that i'd have to reupload everything, including my 3 full mysql databases?

This is the part I don't get. A lot of hosting companies say that they do a daily tape backup. But doesn't that mean that they would restore all the files for me? Again.... look over to the left and you'll see that i'm a newbie.

I also have another question: When people say that I'm responsible for backing up my own important files, does that mean that I have to back up EVERYTHING? including my 3 full databases? that's a whole lot of work.

i mean if I had a site that was rapidly changing and the databases were updated frequently.... say with a heavily trafficked forum.... then if I had to reupload my database, I'd be bound to lose data. Even if I was so diligent that i backed up my database like every hour.

help me out guys.
:confused:

:wavey:

everything,

If they didn't backup your files (which are easier to backup)

don't expect to backup your mysql databases for sure.

Originally posted by CLEARVERT
everything,

If they didn't backup your files (which are easier to backup)

don't expect to backup your mysql databases for sure.

sheesh are you serious?
man that bytes. :eek:

So what does it mean when they say "daily tape backup"?

I think you can work out with your ISP and pay them a little extra for backuping up your data.

yeah i could do that. I'd probably have to pay them an arm and a leg to have that done though.

It's the database that's the issue. I'm not worried about the graphics or files because those wouldn't change all that much. It's the database which would would be changing most of all, and I don't want to have a site that would crash and then all the chats and posts logged in the database would be lost.

Backuping database is easy. The only problem is when the database is over 50MB and you only have 56K connection. :mad:

How much is an "arm and a leg" compared to the value of the data to your site? It should cost all that much for your host to backup your data as well. And if it's crucial to the running of your site, how can you put a price on it?

NTL, even with daily backups the ultimate responsibility is with you the customer to make sure you have backups of all your html, graphics, PHP/SSI etc files.

You have to consider what is good enough for your needs. Truthfully, even if you pay a host to backup your files, I'd take responsibility to back up anything important *yourself* and *not* rely on anyone else to do it. The saying...

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.."

Alternatively, you might want to consider options like RAID (mirrored HD's so that if one takes a flogging, there is a backup). You'd have to ask the host if they can put you on a server that has this feature, and they may not use it.

This won't help if your database is corrupted however, as it would make a copy of the corrupted database (DOH!).

Depending on what your doing, you could consider mirroring the data to another service.

Also what Chicken said was correct. if the data has that high of a value that you can not live without it then you should invest in the proper backup solution.

-Michael

You should ALWAYS back up your own data. If a hosting company goes under, they could take your data (and any of their backups) with them.

--Tina

k, thanks everyone for your advice.

lots to think about i guess. :laugh: