Web Backups - Backup Service or Malware Protection

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SolidShellSecur

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We all know web hosts offer backups. Some 2 or 3 locations. So now the question comes to mind. Are web hosts the new backup service for clients when it comes to accidental deletion or file mess ups?

From my take as a web host, we keep backups for clients in case their site gets hit and destroyed by malware. However, has anyone gotten one of those clients who keep coming back over and over again ask for backups because they lost or messed up a file? Do people no longer keep their own local backups even when it comes to site development?
 
We've always found ourselves being a backup source for clients. We have a number of web developers that will attempt to upgrade something, or modify something, mess it up and then need it restored.

It was something that was really common about 10 years ago, and most hosts just said "it's gone, we don't have backups" - so we took the other approach and made backups for users.

Now we make backups every hour (files & database), so even if a user deletes and email and they want to retrieve it, it can be done. The improvements with various backup software such as r1Soft/Idera, StorGrid and similar systems have made automated backup (and restoration) a very simple task for users.

Our clients love it, and we strongly advise that if you haven't already implemented it on your server that you look into it. You'll have a customer for life when you're able to restore their files and get their business or website back online.

As for users downloading local backups - most people don't do this task. They simply just take the risk and make their modification. Unfortunately a lot of times the client will come back and blame the hosting company for not having the backup as they don't want to blame themselves for their own mistake.
 
We started doing hourly backups as well. We have also have implemented services that allow users to restore their entire account. We had a client somehow actually delete their entire account so we sent them to cpanel, and they restored their own account. #happy.
 
Perfect - that's exactly the way to do it.

As you've seen in the past, people do make mistakes and sometimes they remove everything by accident - having that backup on hand is very helpful, especially in retaining that customer long into the future!
 
The majority of the clients are not tech-savvy. They just have a blog or a presentation website for their company / business or personal website. In this case, they have no idea about the importance of backups. That's why we perform daily backups and we also try to "train" our customers and make them aware of the importance of backing up their website on their local machine.
 
I think it's really important for clients to keep their own backups, in case hosts do not keep them. Also, hosts should have a fair policy for both host and client. Perhaps keep backups for 30 days after the client leaves the host in case they need them. But make these policies known when the client signs up so that there is no misunderstanding.
 
I think vps should not be used as backup, backup take too much io resources.
so you should update your TOS and write just that and it's should solve your problem.
 
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