Let just say this, if i start just backing up all of my clients sites, and for some reason they delete thier whole site. Would charging for a restore, since i only backup their sites if you add on backup to a hosting site in your monthly fee, be over the top, or would it be a violation for the customer

That's your choice. Some places choose to charge for restorations, others do it for free. Personally I say free is the way to go.

if i understand you correctly...you are saying you charge members monthly for a backup service if they want it?..but it's optional?...if that is the case i would feel like i was being double charged if I had to also pay a price to get a backup restored

I'm in the process of implementing nightly backups with incremental files (meaning nightly for the past week, then weekly for the past month etc).

This is a new feature being added, and plan prices aren't changing. But when a customer requires a restore, they are going to be billed for the time it takes to do a restore, half hour minimum. They'll be billed at our regular consultancy rates which vary from $75/hr up to $190/hr.

If you get the service it does not cost you to restore, but however if you dont then it does cost you to restore the site

yeah...there should be only two ways to manage this:

a) charge a one-time fee per restore
b) charge a monthly fee for "unlimited" restores

I personally like A :)

Well i am just starting my hosting company, and i am just throwing around the ideas, what to do with my backups, so this information is great, and will help me make my decisions with everything i need. Because backups do use resources, if you leave untapped resources when you need them, then they just go to waste.

Originally posted by dallasonline
Well i am just starting my hosting company, and i am just throwing around the ideas, what to do with my backups, so this information is great, and will help me make my decisions with everything i need. Because backups do use resources, if you leave untapped resources when you need them, then they just go to waste.

Backups do use resources, as well as taking care of support, managing your machine, bringing out new features, etc...

All of those costs should be put into your plans IMHO ;)

I agree totally, when you come up with a pricing plan you have to take everything in account.

We do free restores by the way.