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ozziegt · #1 01-28-2008, 01:23 AM

So the SQL database on my host's website melted somehow. I don't know how, because I just set up the site last week and all I had installed was Gallery. Anyway, their on-server backups seem to be corrupt so they are looking to see if a remote backup is available.

What is really bothering me is that they asked if I had any backups. When I said that was their job, they responded that usually the user is responsible for backups and their backups are meant for cases of server failure. This sounds like a load of crap to me, especially when I did not do anything which would cause the system to go down. Fortunately I had only uploaded a handful of photos. However I was fully expecting the size of the site to approach 1GB over time. Is it normal for users to be responsible for backing up their 1+GB web-sites?

**Chris_M** · #2 01-28-2008, 01:27 AM

A lot of hosts have something in their Terms of Service that says the client is responsible for backups. You should check the hosts TOS and see what it says.

Illustrious · #3 01-28-2008, 01:27 AM

Yes, you're supposed to have your own backups. It's common sense. Stuff happens. Hard drives fail, servers crash, etc. If you don't want to lose data, you keep your own backups.

ozziegt · #4 01-28-2008, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illustrious

Yes, you're supposed to have your own backups. It's common sense. Stuff happens. Hard drives fail, servers crash, etc. If you don't want to lose data, you keep your own backups.

Actually, common sense to me is a professional hosting service backing up their user's stuff. Maybe I am being a little naive in trusting the company to be properly protected in case of failure.

chenetwork · #5 01-28-2008, 01:35 AM

It is certainly a black eye to the hosting company to have had this happen. However, it is still ultimately your responsibility to have your own backups for cases like this. Many people assume it's not their responsibility, but if your data is that important, then it's best to have your own backups or use a third party backup service.

Many providers will put into their TOS that backups are the responsibility of the customer, even though they state that they backup their data! Asking exactly how your hosting provider backs up their data is a great question when looking for a host.

In your case, since you plan on having such a large database, you should look into replicating your database or doing a nightly synchronization of the data to another server. I would certainly start considering a different host since that's not a great start to your customer relationship!

ozziegt · #6 01-28-2008, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_M

A lot of hosts have something in their Terms of Service that says the client is responsible for backups. You should check the hosts TOS and see what it says.

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at a few hosts and see what they say.

ozziegt · #7 01-28-2008, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenetwork

In your case, since you plan on having such a large database, you should look into replicating your database or doing a nightly synchronization of the data to another server. I would certainly start considering a different host since that's not a great start to your customer relationship!

Is there any way to do this in an automated fashion? Are there back-up services available which can automatically connect to my hosted site and back up everything?

I have been using this host for many years, and I have a couple sites with them. I never had a problem like this. Now seems like the perfect time for me to consider moving to a larger host which will allow me to host multiple domains on one account for a reasonable price.

This wouldn't be such a bad problem except it's been around 7 hours and still no resolution...and they are very bad about keeping me in the loop. Unless I poke them they don't tell me what is going on.

steven99 · #8 01-28-2008, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozziegt

Is there any way to do this in an automated fashion? Are there back-up services available which can automatically connect to my hosted site and back up everything?

There are some that do this, for example http://bqbackup.com/ . It just depends on your access to the server. Some NAS systems have such features also.

Most hosts will have perfect backups, but essentially it comes down to the customer like others have said. Besides, as the old IT saying goes, you can never have to many backups.

Energizer Bunny · #9 01-28-2008, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozziegt

This wouldn't be such a bad problem except it's been around 7 hours and still no resolution...and they are very bad about keeping me in the loop. Unless I poke them they don't tell me what is going on.

Poke them with a sword maybe this time (if u can find a sword these days )

.

But most hosts have "Not responsible for user data" clause , as they have no real control over when the hdd will fail, how many of them will fail, or over a truck driving straight into their server etc etc. So, best option is to have your own backups

as the best solution.

chenetwork · #10 01-28-2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozziegt

Is there any way to do this in an automated fashion? Are there back-up services available which can automatically connect to my hosted site and back up everything?

Yes, there are automated ways to do this. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but with MySQL 5, you can setup replication on individual databases across many servers. I believe that in older versions of MySQL, you had to replicate all databases or none at all so it may now be easier to find a host that can do this for you.

Another method is to have a script that does a nightly database dump and copies it to another server.

bithost(NET) · #11 01-28-2008, 02:16 AM

Regarding the automated process -- it depends a bit upon what control panel you are using. Different control panels have different capabilities. As we don't know what host you are using, or which control panel they use, we can't really offer you anything more specific... for instance it would make no sense for us to give you cPanel advice if you're on a host using Plesk.

I understand totally how frustrating this must feel... I went through the same "awakening" early on in my internet days ... and I didn't enjoy it either!!

As others have said, it depends upon what the TOS says. What your host has told you, however, is pretty much standard handling for most hosts. Now you know, so now you can move forward accordingly.

Bailey

**Dan_EZPZ** · #12 01-28-2008, 02:37 AM

To be honest, i'm still fairly shocked that alot of hosts don't take their own backups.

I know it is extra expense, and for starting businesses it can seem like its not needed - but if they have a total server failure, how are they ever going to recover?

I'm sure their clients would just move elsewhere in a flash!

bithost(NET) · #13 01-28-2008, 02:45 AM

Dan, the OP stated the host did have backups, however, the database backup appears to be corrupt.

Bailey

ozziegt · #14 01-28-2008, 02:52 AM

They loaded their remote backups from the 25th and they are also corrupt. Which is very very strange since I was just using the site yesterday without any problems. Anyway at this point I am going to move on.

Chances are pretty good that my next host will have cPanel so any automated solutions for that would be appreciated.

bithost(NET) · #15 01-28-2008, 02:55 AM

ozziegt, if your host is using cPanel, corrupted MySQL database backups are not at all unheard of ... it's not that the original files were corrupt, it's that the backup process puked.

That, or they don't really have backups, and they're just telling you they were "corrupt."

I've seen both cases, during my time in the industry

impossible to say which is the case, as none of us has access to the raw files.

Bailey

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