Last week we had to deal with a classic “no backup” horror story…
An ex-client’s hosting account was deleted at their request. But 48 hours later, it became apparent they’d been using it for other things – and hadn’t backed anything up.
And then a “perfect storm” ensued…
We lodged a request with the hosting provider to restore the account from backup. However, due to a combination of server upgrades and extremely bad timing, the hosting provider was unable to retrieve a full backup of the account.
The host’s stated policy on backups is:
We do take account backups for disaster recovery purposes. These backups are generally available in the unlikely event that you do require them, however, there is a small fee involved in their restoral.
It should be noted that these backups should not be relied upon, and you should be taking and storing your own backups on a remote host or locally on your computer.
As a website developer, we are engaged to deliver a solution. From the point of delivery, the client owns that solution. Ongoing management is optional – and in this case, the client had chosen not to engage us further.
What went wrong?
- The client had never backed up their own website, despite being provided with instructions on how to do so.
- The client had not engaged us (or anybody else) to manage the site on their behalf.
- The hosting provider’s backup process failed.
- Our last backup was from the day the project was delivered.
The takeaway?
No matter which hosting provider you use – and no matter how reliable they claim to be – when technology and people are involved, things can go wrong. It’s in your best interests to minimise risk wherever possible.
If you’d like help making sure your website is properly backed up, please contact us.
