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Online Website Backup Options?
pdcull writes "I can't be the only person on the planet who has this problem: I have a couple of websites, with around 2 GB of space in use on my hosting provider, plus a few MySQL databases. I need to keep up-to-date backups, as my host provides only a minimal backup function. However, with a Net connection that only gets to 150 Kbps on a good day, there is no way I can guarantee a decent backup on my home PC using FTP. So my question is: does anybody provide an online service where I can feed them a URL, an FTP password, and some money, and they will post me DVDs with my websites on them? If such services do exist (the closest I found was a site that promised to send CDs and had a special deal for customers that had expired in June!), has anybody had experience with them which they could share? Any recommendations of services to use or to avoid?"
After looking at the available options, I decided that there was nothing which met my criteria for convenience, efficiency, and security. So I decided to create my own.
I'm looking for beta testers: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2008-05-06-tarsnap-beta-testing.html
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
Similarly, I'm not using DVDs etc. for my server backup. A few years back, seeing how much my provider would charge me for a decent amount of backup space, I opted to get an additional server instead; the second server now provides
secondary DNS, secondary MX to my regular system, but also has all data for a cold-standby ( I would still need to change addresses in DNS manually in case of a disaster, and bring up services, but pretty much all the data is in place).
The data is synchronised between both servers several times a day - first backed up locally to a second disk on the same machine, then rsynced between the two...
The solution was cheaper than the cost of the backup, and gives me extra flexibility in terms of what I can do. The only 'cost' is that both machines sacrificed disk space to be back-up for the other (since both machines have >400GB in disk space, giving up even half the disk space of each machine isn't a big limitation - at least, not for *my* needs. YMMV).
OK, I keep hearing "use rsync" or other software. What about those of us who use shared web hosting, and don't get a unix shell, but only a control panel? Or who have a shell, but uncaring or incompetent admins who won't or can't install rsync? I know the standard slashdot response is "get a new host that does" but there are dozens of legitimate reasons that someone could be saddled with this kind of web host.
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