| tr> | | | | faster then a remote backup. But unlike a remote |
| What kind of backup recovery strategy should a | | | | backup, if your dedicated server or the datacenter |
| company have for its dedicated server? Web hosting | | | | are down, then you cannot access the backup. For |
| companies have been debating this architecture since | | | | most small web hosting companies this is not a |
| their existence began. It is really a question pondered | | | | problem. If their entire server or datacenter are |
| by the whole IT community. There are many right | | | | down, they have larger issues to worry about. We |
| solutions, dependent on your company’s ability | | | | recommend this as a complimentary option with a |
| to handle downtime. The correct solution for you will | | | | remote backup. |
| factor in the amount of redundant protection you | | | | Next, a web hosting company can use mirrored RAID |
| need against the overall cost. | | | | drives. This option will cost $50-$80/month more, but |
| Before we discuss the different options for backing | | | | it provides the fastest possible recovery in case of a |
| up and recovering your dedicated server, we should | | | | hard drive crash. You can just reboot using the |
| mention that the server hardware, data center, and | | | | mirrored drive, and you are back in business. The |
| fiber connection are all critical to reliability. This article | | | | cost is a little higher, but this is a nice luxury. The |
| is specifically focused on strategies to backup and | | | | downside of this option is that if your server is |
| recover your server’s data. | | | | unavailable, then you still cannot reach your data. |
| At a minimum, you can create a partition in your hard | | | | Additionally, if the hard drive becomes corrupted it |
| drive and backup your server weekly or monthly. | | | | will also corrupt your backup. This is why we |
| There is no cost to this kind of solution, but the | | | | recommend mirrored drives as part of a larger |
| downsides are obvious. If your hard drive crashes, | | | | solution that includes other backup systems. |
| you will lose your backup as well. This kind of solution | | | | Finally, there are mirrored servers. This entails the |
| is only recommended if you can afford to lose all of | | | | largest cost and is really not necessary, except for |
| your data, which most web hosting companies | | | | those web hosting companies that can tolerate no |
| cannot. | | | | downtime at all. In this scenario, if the server itself |
| Next, you can contract a remote backup service to | | | | dies you can have another server ready to take the |
| set up offsite backups. These backups can be run | | | | load. In fact, if your company is large enough, you |
| daily, weekly, or monthly. The cost of this solution is | | | | might already need this kind of solution for |
| around $30-$50/month depending on the web hosting | | | | performance. Some websites require multiple servers |
| provider. This option gives you a solid backup in case | | | | to handle the performance, and it is load balanced |
| your hard drive crashes. The downside is that | | | | across them. In this case, if a server dies the system |
| recovery time will take 6-12 hours or more depending | | | | still runs. This is the best solution but it is not always |
| on how much data you have. The data has to be | | | | necessary. And, of course it is costly. |
| manually copied over, and this is a slow process. If | | | | We recommend a weekly remote backup to provide |
| you can afford the cost, this solution is part of an | | | | you with a fail safe version. Even if the datacenter |
| overall backup system, but it is not recommended as | | | | burns down, you will have a copy of your data. To |
| your only solution. | | | | this we would add either mirrored RAID drives or a |
| The next backup option is to have a second hard | | | | second hard drive, depending on your hosting |
| drive installed on your server and have it set up to | | | | company’s needs. If you are more worried |
| do daily, weekly, or monthly backups. Most web | | | | about recovery time from hard drive crashes, which |
| hosting companies that provide dedicated servers will | | | | is the most frequent hardware problem with |
| charge between $15-$30 for a second hard drive. | | | | dedicated servers, then go with the RAID drives. If |
| This is a nice compliment to the previous solution if | | | | you are more worried about the hard drive getting |
| you have the budget for both. The recovery time is | | | | corrupted, go with the second hard drive. |