I am not tech savvy so please be gentle. I am using DiskSync but want an extra layer of protection. I know there are services out there like DPS (data Protection Services) that can set up a nice backup system where your server information is backed up to several locations. Their 10 GB month deal is $89
I am looking for a way to do this cheaper.
I have about 20 sites all with valuable MySQL databases.
Is it possible to lease a separate small ftp server and set up your WHM to do the backup for you daily? Someone told me this was possible but I want to get all the facts first.
I am looking for an easy way I can restore data to my server in case I lose it or incase I mess something up myself. I prefer to be able to restore individual domains and databases.
I know nothing about where to begin. Can you lease a small ftp server reasonably or is it more cost effective to use a company like DPS?
Thank you
Glen V
Full Version: Using WHM for FTP server
We offer the NAS backup solution which will allow you to do just this. It is a shared NAS/FTP server which our customers can lease space on. The cost of our NAS solution is $1 per GB per month. The following information is available on our website concerning NAS:
Network Attached Storage (NAS) provides simple, flexible backup
The Planet's Network Backup option provides a simple, flexible and highly available location to store your backup data and ensure that it will be available in the event of disk failure or other catastrophic outage. Network Backup is a simple Network Attached Storage (NAS) array that can be directly accessed over Ethernet using standard IP protocols such as SAMBA/CIFS and FTP. Network Backup can be accessed from any of the servers you have hosted at The Planet.
NOTE: This service is provided as a network-attached backup storage media, and it is not intended for use as a live data storage device on your server.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) provides simple, flexible backup
The Planet's Network Backup option provides a simple, flexible and highly available location to store your backup data and ensure that it will be available in the event of disk failure or other catastrophic outage. Network Backup is a simple Network Attached Storage (NAS) array that can be directly accessed over Ethernet using standard IP protocols such as SAMBA/CIFS and FTP. Network Backup can be accessed from any of the servers you have hosted at The Planet.
NOTE: This service is provided as a network-attached backup storage media, and it is not intended for use as a live data storage device on your server.
If you have a second hdd, you can use whm to make an incremental backup to that hdd. Tt rsyncs, or copies, all your data to the backup location, copying only files that have changed, making it a lot lower resource intensive backup than the normal whm backup that gzips everything up, whether it's changed or not.
You can then in turn rsync that data easily to a third party service that rents backup space, such as acunett, for 50 cents or so per gigabyte of space you use. Bandwidth and resource usage on that is real low since you only transfer files that have changed. Depending on how your hdd is partitioned and how much data you have, you could possibly do this without a second hdd, just follow cpanel's advice and don't store the backup in /home.
I run such an rsync on a 15GB whm backup everyday, and it typically takes about six minutes to update the remote server.
You can then in turn rsync that data easily to a third party service that rents backup space, such as acunett, for 50 cents or so per gigabyte of space you use. Bandwidth and resource usage on that is real low since you only transfer files that have changed. Depending on how your hdd is partitioned and how much data you have, you could possibly do this without a second hdd, just follow cpanel's advice and don't store the backup in /home.
I run such an rsync on a 15GB whm backup everyday, and it typically takes about six minutes to update the remote server.
Thank you - are there fairly simple instructions for doing this including backing up my MySQL databases? I know little about restoring MySQL - can they be restored via FTP easily as well without all the importing stuff?
Where would I go from here to get this set up? I asked specifically about something like this on an open ticket and I was told ThePlanet has a strict policy about customer data manipulation. I understand that I would be responsible for managing it so ThePlanet is not liable for any data loss. All I want is guidance in getting it set up properly.
Where would I go from here to get this set up? I asked specifically about something like this on an open ticket and I was told ThePlanet has a strict policy about customer data manipulation. I understand that I would be responsible for managing it so ThePlanet is not liable for any data loss. All I want is guidance in getting it set up properly.
QUOTE (Chris Fortner @ Mar 26 2008, 12:36 PM) 
We offer the NAS backup solution which will allow you to do just this. It is a shared NAS/FTP server which our customers can lease space on. The cost of our NAS solution is $1 per GB per month. The following information is available on our website concerning NAS:
Network Attached Storage (NAS) provides simple, flexible backup
The Planet's Network Backup option provides a simple, flexible and highly available location to store your backup data and ensure that it will be available in the event of disk failure or other catastrophic outage. Network Backup is a simple Network Attached Storage (NAS) array that can be directly accessed over Ethernet using standard IP protocols such as SAMBA/CIFS and FTP. Network Backup can be accessed from any of the servers you have hosted at The Planet.
NOTE: This service is provided as a network-attached backup storage media, and it is not intended for use as a live data storage device on your server.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) provides simple, flexible backup
The Planet's Network Backup option provides a simple, flexible and highly available location to store your backup data and ensure that it will be available in the event of disk failure or other catastrophic outage. Network Backup is a simple Network Attached Storage (NAS) array that can be directly accessed over Ethernet using standard IP protocols such as SAMBA/CIFS and FTP. Network Backup can be accessed from any of the servers you have hosted at The Planet.
NOTE: This service is provided as a network-attached backup storage media, and it is not intended for use as a live data storage device on your server.
Hello Glen,
For MySQL, we try to encourage the use of best practices for backing up your databases. Unless you are using backup software which works directly with mysql, you will need to dump the databases to a plaintext file and back that file up.
Here are a couple of tools which come with mysql and allow you to do this:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqldump.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqlhotcopy.html
If you are using this in conjunction with a block level copy utility, such as rsync or Disksync, then you will want to make sure you are dumping the databases to the same file each time. This means you would need to empty the file prior to dumping your databases to it. This is completely optional of course, but block level utilities will only copy the modified blocks if you do this. Otherwise they will copy the entire file every time it is recreated. This can consume a considerable amount of space depending on how large your databases are.
Obviously, this wouldn't be necessary if you were using file level access utilities, like ftp. This should hopefully give you something to consider though.
For MySQL, we try to encourage the use of best practices for backing up your databases. Unless you are using backup software which works directly with mysql, you will need to dump the databases to a plaintext file and back that file up.
Here are a couple of tools which come with mysql and allow you to do this:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqldump.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqlhotcopy.html
If you are using this in conjunction with a block level copy utility, such as rsync or Disksync, then you will want to make sure you are dumping the databases to the same file each time. This means you would need to empty the file prior to dumping your databases to it. This is completely optional of course, but block level utilities will only copy the modified blocks if you do this. Otherwise they will copy the entire file every time it is recreated. This can consume a considerable amount of space depending on how large your databases are.
Obviously, this wouldn't be necessary if you were using file level access utilities, like ftp. This should hopefully give you something to consider though.
I am lost already - so the websites, htm etc can be handled FTP but the MySQL should be handled with a different set of software? Is there a piece of software available for WHM to handle the whold process automated / daily?
QUOTE (mmyers @ Mar 26 2008, 03:33 PM)
Hello Glen,
For MySQL, we try to encourage the use of best practices for backing up your databases. Unless you are using backup software which works directly with mysql, you will need to dump the databases to a plaintext file and back that file up.
Here are a couple of tools which come with mysql and allow you to do this:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqldump.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqlhotcopy.html
If you are using this in conjunction with a block level copy utility, such as rsync or Disksync, then you will want to make sure you are dumping the databases to the same file each time. This means you would need to empty the file prior to dumping your databases to it. This is completely optional of course, but block level utilities will only copy the modified blocks if you do this. Otherwise they will copy the entire file every time it is recreated. This can consume a considerable amount of space depending on how large your databases are.
Obviously, this wouldn't be necessary if you were using file level access utilities, like ftp. This should hopefully give you something to consider though.
For MySQL, we try to encourage the use of best practices for backing up your databases. Unless you are using backup software which works directly with mysql, you will need to dump the databases to a plaintext file and back that file up.
Here are a couple of tools which come with mysql and allow you to do this:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqldump.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/mysqlhotcopy.html
If you are using this in conjunction with a block level copy utility, such as rsync or Disksync, then you will want to make sure you are dumping the databases to the same file each time. This means you would need to empty the file prior to dumping your databases to it. This is completely optional of course, but block level utilities will only copy the modified blocks if you do this. Otherwise they will copy the entire file every time it is recreated. This can consume a considerable amount of space depending on how large your databases are.
Obviously, this wouldn't be necessary if you were using file level access utilities, like ftp. This should hopefully give you something to consider though.
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