Backup system

[AndrewT]

Just one more question on this ... until the servers are upgraded, is the old configuration still in place, with the backups nightly (or weekly, I forget!)

Yes.

[reviewum.com]

Okay, so a few questions before I send in a ticket to go for the backups.

1) Has anyone asked for a restore from these backups to verify the integrity of the data / databases?

2) So, even if my 2gb account is only using 700 mb I still have to pay for 2gb of storage for the basic plan?

3) I'm glad to hear that you guys will restore these backups in case of failure of problems on your side. But, will you be willing to restore one of these backups if something is our fault?

4) Are the backups in one big file or is it a folder mirroring our accounts with subfolders, files, etc? Can they be compressed to one folder for downloading?

5) Are these backups proprietary... can I use them at other hosts to restore a copy of my sites?

Sorry for all the questions, but I think the answers will be helpful to many of those who's servers will be upgraded shortly.

Thanks in advance!

[Jonathan]

I will try to answer best I can....

1) I haven't

2) You must buy the number of GB's as your plan as.

3) I'm assuming so, not entirely sure.

4) I've FTP'd to it on few occusions to get some
files myself (before I realized support would restore it for me)
and it basicly mirrored the account in terms of folders etc.

5) No idea.

[KyleC]

5) no, it is simply a copy of ur site, you could copy it anywhere

[reviewum.com]

Thanks guys, so that leaves:

1) (Andrew can answer this one) Has anyone asked for a restore from these backups to verify the integrity of the data / databases?

3) Will you be willing to restore one of these backups if something is our fault?

4) Is there a way to compress the files / site for quicker downloading?

5) So, it is a mirror of the site files, where would I get backups of the MySQL databases?

Thanks again!

[AndrewT]

1. You can access your backups through FTP. They are perfectly fine and you can easily confirm this.

3. Depends on the situation, if this repeatedly happens, no, we will charge for it.

4. Now.

5. MySQL databases are available as well.

[Pedja]

Which backup system will save whm and cpanel configuration data including DNS zones?

I can manage backuping site contents as it is accessible by me, but whenewer I needed backup yet, was to restore account configuration, not site contents.

[Detonator]

Yes, the backups should include things like DNS Zones in the future. With 40-50 custom zones every servermove/crash is an EXTREME pain in the ass. I'm on cPanel34 (was cPanel02, cPanel07) and this happened 4 times in one year. I rather don't have it happened again, it's pretty silly and timeconsuming. I keep printed copies of all my DNS Zones at hand, which is a big pile of paper. This is unneccessary if you would just include the Zones in the backup, which should be a 10-minute finger excercise.

The rest of the backupsystem is pretty ok, I'm satisfied with it and would recommend it.

If you want your backups to be 1 big file, you can always login to the backupserver via SSH and zip your backuptree from there.

[Pedja]

Well, I suffered cpanel account crash only once and it was realy painfull since it was hardly customized. I would not like to go through all that again.

How do you get exact contents of DNS zones? I thought aboutprinting it or saving in any other manner but could not get complete and detailed DNS zone configuration.

[Detonator]

To Andrew: Thanks for adding DNS Zones to the backups.

To Pedja: You could start a 2nd DNS Server yourself (elsewhere), make it a slaveserver for the domains. It will then automatically download the complete zonefiles from the primary nameserver here at Dathorn.. But then restoring them would still be somewhat impossible after a crash. But gladly, Zones are now included in the automatic backups, so this isn't an issue anymore.

To everyone else: You're nuts if you don't take the new backupsystem. In general, servers averagely crash pretty often (once every 2-3 years), and you'll lose everything in such case.. The time to get backups is NOW; not when it's too late.

[openbox]

In general, servers averagely crash pretty often (once every 2-3 years), and you'll lose everything in such case.

What servers are you talking about I work with a lot of big servers on a daily basis and we don't have any problems every 2-3 years...as long PMIs are performed timely and properly. We have old hardware that has been around for the last 10 years without so much as a hickup. Minor software tweaks/patches every-so-often and we're good.

[Detonator]

What servers are you talking about I work with a lot of big servers on a daily basis and we don't have any problems every 2-3 years...as long PMIs are performed timely and properly. We have old hardware that has been around for the last 10 years without so much as a hickup. Minor software tweaks/patches every-so-often and we're good.

True, I have one machine running for almost 8 years now (24/7, average uptime 90-100 days). But old crap was designed to last, that stuff is unbreakable.. Shared hosting servers running 500+ domains, 200+ people having shell access, and running a quasi-buggy system like cPanel is a different thing. Especially since many servers around the globe aren't really servers, but simply home-PCs in a 19" rackmount. Dathorn has fair equipment, so perhaps I was too pessimistic here.

It only takes one securityissue, and one evil Dathorn-hater to exploit it. A clever dude using some 0-day exploit can wipe all Dathorn harddrives within the hour.. Over the next decades, securityproblems will increase exponentially (more computerusers, more hackers, more software, complexer software). Without backups you're doomed, sooner or later.