Backups - VPS and Dedicated
Contents
VPS Backup Information
Prior to January 27, 2016, nightly backups were included by default on our VPS's. VPS's ordered before this date will continue to have nightly backups, unless specifically requested otherwise by the account holder, in writing.
On and after January 27, 2016, VPS backups are now optional, but strongly recommended. We have simply reduced the price of the VPS servers by the cost of the backup, so with the nightly backup option selected, the ending price is back to what it was before making the backups optional.
Why the change? The change is simply to provide a more competitive price to our many developer customers that don't require nightly backups. We do suggest backups on all VPS's as a great safeguard.
What Backup Software is used?
We utilize CDP Backup by Idera/R1Soft. This product does a full initial backup with incremental backups thereafter, but at a block level rather than file level for faster backup and restore times.
How is it faster than most other backups?
The running agent interfaces with the OS to actually keep track of what changes and then just backs up those changes. If a server reboots, that tracking is lost and it has to do a full block scan. So the first backup after each reboot takes longer. After that, it is really very fast.
Additionally, with block level backups, it is less CPU and Ram intensive, allowing your applications to keep performing nicely during backups in most cases.
Backups Schedule and Level of Protection
- Backups are performed offsite for standard VPS Hosting. By standard we mean our default vps packages. If you have a high disk space customized package, the backup may be onsite due to the size of the backup requirements which may make it not feasible to do an offsite backup.
- An Offsite Backup is a backup of the server that is stored off site. For example, if your server is in our St. Louis location, the nightly backup would be encrypted and stored off site in our Dallas location.
- Nightly backup options range from 5 - 30 days (backup costs is really cheap insurance and can save hours worth of developer time when needed)
- As an additional measure of protection (disaster prevention & FAST bare metal restores) we also take snapshots of our VPS servers daily.
Restore Options
Complete flexibility. Many VPS providers only provide a system restore, in which it restores the entire VPS. With our backups, a complete bare metal restore can be done, or just a specific folder, or even down to a specific file.
Restoring Files
*IMPORTANT - Please Read* We can give you control to be able to do the restores, but we highly suggest you let us handle the restores for you instead. The reason is, and no offense meant, but if you don't know what you are doing with the backup/restore process, you can corrupt your backups and then there would be nothing to restore. By submitting a ticket and letting us handle the restore for you, that helps preserve your backup integrity.
If a restore is needed, request a restore and provide the following detail:
- Server Name
- File(s) or Directory to be restored
- Preferred Date & Closest time
Please allow ample time to restore, depending on the size of the files being restored it could take longer.