Comments on: Backup Your Websites

By: Kenny

Kenny — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:13:47 +0000

I once lost 15 of my minisites that were producing around $500 per month. It happened because of the host. I was lucky enough to recover the content using Google cache and rebuild them but it took some precious time. Also, in the time they were down, they lost some positions in ranking so the revenue was down too for the next months. I then looked for a website backup solution and found Site-Vault which does all the backup process automatically. It was the best money I ever spent.

By: Accurate Name

Accurate Name — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:01:05 +0000

Hi Patrick-

a very important lesson indeed – I learnt it the hard way a few years back- luckily I only lost a couple of small minisites… One thing I would say to anyone who has lost sites is to use archive.org to retrieve files as google cache doesn’t stick around for long…

By: Sameh

Sameh — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:18:36 +0000

I totally agree with your advice.

I lost one of my biggest websites back in 2005 for the exact same reason.

Now, I take backups on weekly/monthly basis and save it on my laptop and my own desktop PC. I even lately started to make additional backup to all my business files on USB stick (just in case).

By: GoodKarma

GoodKarma — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:00:24 +0000

That why get a host in your local area with live tech support, you know where they are at and have lunch with them

stay away from outside USA or those who have only email support esp DreamHost aka deathhost or dyinghost.
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4130047&posted=1#post4130047

My host is in the city I live in, I know the people and best of all, supporting the local economy.

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:01:15 +0000

The host company went out of business and did not let anyone know ahead of time. So make sure you make back ups and choose a hosting company that is well known, even though they may cost a bit more.

By: Chef Patrick

Chef Patrick — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:55:34 +0000

Thanks for pointing out the broken link. Fixed

By: dmi

dmi — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:50:46 +0000

Great post, Chef, indeed. The moment I read it, I went ahead and backed up all my sites. It took me about an hour, but it’s time well spent.

Thanks for reminding us.

dmi

PS. The “Contact” link in the footer doesn’t work. You might want to change the permalink from ‘contact-us’ to ‘contact’.

By: Terra Andersen

Terra Andersen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:37:15 +0000

Unfortunately, I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. I think after it happens once, you tend to be a paranoid and are more likely to regularly back-up sites.

By: Brian Freed

Brian Freed — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:04:51 +0000

Thanks Chef: This is a great reminder

By: DNUnderground.com

DNUnderground.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:42:12 +0000

Ross – was it client (meaning you) error, or server error? I know I am negotiating with my hosting company, did you do the same? And I will see if there willing to settle for anything. Hopefully I will get something out of them…