Backups: Managed Backup Company, Or DIY With Dedicated Server
Apr 1, 2009
We have 2 servers which run our website. One for data (about 50gb) and one for databases (about 5gb)
We currently perform offsite backups but we want to improve upon these. Our main objectives are:
1) Be able to recover as much info as possible in the event of a disaster
2) Be able to rollback to a previous version should we not notice a problem until later (ie 30 day history?)
3) Be able to restore as quickly as possible
4) Be able to afford it!
The options we seem to have are:
A) Use a service such as backupdirect.net which specialise in offsite backup and have specialised software to handle this. Obviously we get support, the backups are encrypted, etc and probably will end up with a much more robust backup solution.
However, it will take time to restore, if our server goes down we still have to get that working then perform the restore
B) Buy another dedicated server, which we can run everything on (albeit slowly!) and keep a 'live backup' on this server. This means we could switch to it should our main servers die for any reason with minimal downtime. Downsites would mean we have less support, would have to be careful with encryption of the data flowing from one server to another and we would have a less formal backup solution (eg harder to restore back to a point in time)
As you can see I have questions. Until I saw and read some posts on this forum I thought I had some answers...
I was looking into a VPS with 1and1.com Seemed to have good stats, and is a fairly large company. The plans were nice, was going to start off on their VPS 2 package with 20GB/2000GB, 245MB ram burstable to 512MB. All was well, since their packages seemed to offer the most for the least, if you know what I mean. I also liked the ability to upgrade the package without interrupting my service.
I read some posts here, and looked into a VPS even more, and now Im not so sure about 1and1.com or the thought of even having a VPS.
I have no experience with a VPS. So running it would be all new. Im not computer illiterate and I have taken many network and network operating classes. So I have some experience with command line linux. I have messed with some IIS, and a LAMP. On the other side, it scares me that I could f**k something up and bring down the site.
Now, for my needs. The site when launched has a predicted demand of a few thousand users over the course of a month. This is a business site, so downtime, and a shared environment don't seem to make sense. The site is very mysql intensive, at least by my standards. Most pages have 3-6 queries, main pages can have 10+, and most user actions include a few queries. The most load I could fathom would be all 1,000-4,000 users hitting the site hard for 3-4 days. This is now, next 'season' could be twice that load. In between seasons seasons we were going back to shared until the site starts making more money, and we fill in the off season with some other money making service.
The reason why I thought VPS was budget, and just we wouldnt want to be on a shared hosting plan, and somehow our demand was larger than expected and they shut down the site. So do yall think that a VPS is the right way to go? We have the budget to go VPS($40-$80) a month for 3 months, before going back to shared.
About 1and1.com: I read a few threads, some recent, that seem to say they oversell even a VPS. This doesnt make much sense since its supposed to gaurente those resources to me. The company is so big, but even these few posts and accusations are keeping me from commiting. My main concern is that between when we launch it and when our first spike of demand hits is only 2 months, so I dont want to learn that 1and1.com sucks firsthand.
Ive seen other hosts that this forum sponsers, so I assume there is *some* prefernce to use them, but like jaguarpc.com VPS plans seem to be a little more $ for a little less (storage and bandwidth) when comparing to other deals.
I have 2 managed dedicated server with one of the big company in US. we have been with them for years, and the backup plan we purchase is using Veritas.
For years the backup space usage counted from the max/highest backup space taken each day in 1 month.
but suddenly in the last few months the billing department start to sum all days backup for 1 month that make us exceed our backup usage crazily.
how the backup plan counted on your managed dedicated server.
One of my clients needs a dedicated server. I already know SoftLayer is really good from personal experience, but he needs both a Managed box and a Backup Solution, neither of which SoftLayer offers. I know they offer a 1Gig lockbox, but it's your responsibility to make sure files are transferred daily.
Basically what he needs is the following
- Server 2003
- As fully managed as possible because I am not on hand 24/7
- A control panel to handle everything. Plesk and Helm work. I'd say Plesk since they now seem to own HELM
- A backup solution at the very least once a week, once a day is better
- 24/7 Technical support with a phone number to call (not just ticket) in case of emergency.
Please let me know any suggests of hosts you use that were good. I have used many hosts in my life but only really liked SoftLayer (lacking the 2 features said) and AxisHost (no live number) so really need some feed back on this.
I'm trying to find a reliable and established host (not a junior company that may close anytime) that offers a low end managed dedicated server.
My minimum requirements: 2.0 Ghz processor 1 GB RAM 100 GB disk 250 GB bandwidth Managed Good support Reliable and established host
I can't go with a VPS because the site I'm developing is growing very fast, there are some times where CPU usage is a bit too high. My current VPS host has asked me to move that site to a dedicated server, and they are right. With more CPU and memory the site will be alright, but I don't want to risk having to move again, so no VPS this time.
The reason I'm looking for a low end server is that the site is not self-supporting yet, so I can't afford to pay more that 150$/month.
If money wasn't an issue, I would already have picked Liquidweb, their current special allowed me to build a nice server for only 229$/month, but I'm not ready to commit that kind of money yet.
I am setting up a website that may generate a lot of traffic, though it is just starting out.
Since I'm not sure how easy the migration from a VPS to dedicated server will be (yes, I'm a newbie to all this!), I want to go with a dedicated server.
Since the site is going to be a revenue generator, I don't want to go low on quality - but don't want to spend over $150 pm.
I'm looking for something managed/with guaranteed uptime. A good bandwidth.
I will be running a MySQL database as well as the LAMP based website on the same server initially (later I may separate the database).
I'm thinking of adding Managed Dedicated Server in my services. I'm also currently looking for the right provider, so I can just simply resell his/her service.
But this is my first time to be involve on this service and I would like to ask some advise from the expert people of WHT.
-What are the important things that I need to consider if I offer the Managed Dedicated Server which is also offered by another provider? It's like reselling their service.
-What are the important things that I need to know for my possible clients? What are the usual requirements of many businesses when it comes of having managed dedicated server?
-What are the important/ideal security measures for a dedicated server?
i am currently on mydediserver with a quad core server which is at this moment down since the last 15 hours.
the server guys seems to be totally helpless and i am waiting to get access to the server so that i can get my latest backups.
i guess i really cannot survive with a company which take 8 hours to respond to a reboot request.
i need suggestions for dedicated managed directadmin server. my sites were apparently attacked by sql injection crapware and i am looking for a company which can help me protect the server from such attacks.
Are there any providers out there that can actually attest that they are fully PCI compliant? Meaning, they know the meaning of the phrase, have looked at the requirements, has their network/servers scanned by a 3rd party, etc.?
I looked at the following document and the only recognizable host I see is Rackspace:
[url]
Our e-commerce software platform, merchant gateway, and internal network is and will be PCI compliant. But now I'm down to finding a managed dedicated web host who is.
how to check if you host has made their job correct ?
We are looking into a PCI scan just because of the security, we do not need to be PCI compliant, but the security standard is what I believe the most reliable to stick to.
I wanted a completely fully managed server -- meaning everything is taken care of and I do not have to hire a server admin -- what would be the least expensive pricing from a reputable hosting provided?
1) What is the biggest dedicated server company ( who have more domain on their dedicated hostings?
2) What is the best dedicated server according to their offers. I need a company that offer incredable performance server like 8X quadcore etc. and they should offer rack service + server sale.
actually I have my dedicated server with ThePlanet since many years ago, where I'm really happy, but due to recent spanish laws, I need to move everything to a european dedicated server as ThePlanet isn't certificated at the "Safe Harbor directive".
What I'm looking for, is a serius company (no reseller company) with similar dedicated servers configurations. What I'm looking for is also a 1Gbps uplink connection. Bandwith is not so important, as my monthly bandwidth is only about 300Gb.
I've seen very fast (connection) servers in Netherland but don't know how serious they are.
OVH (apparently) looks also fine, but I've read very bad reviews about them.
All I need is to host 20-40 GB of backups. I need full ssh access so I'm only interested in dedicated or vp servers. The best I could find today was celeron 1.3 ghz, 40 GB server for $27/mo. (paid quarterly).
This is first time i am writing about hostgator using there service since 4 years.
I have 3 dedicated servers purchased with them within last 6 months and orderd for 4th server on 31st Aug 08. And now as business is growing i will need more and more servers every 2- 3 month. But its seems hostgator is not interested in business as they had already grown now. Even they don't care of their loyal customers who are them with years.
On 3rd day of orderd they told me my server will be deliverd within next 24 hours and on 4th day i contact them serveral times they keep on repiting they will upate and then they said server is out of stock and will be available soon and today is 5th day still there is no reply from them and when i contact them they clearly have no idea about it. Some says will get it soon and when i show my ticket. they say its still out of stock . When i contact with theplant.com datacenter they told me the server is available to order and are never out of stock.
I dont know whats actual reason.
Please help me guys to find good manage dedicated server host so i can cancel my order with them and go to another good company.
Seeking to colocate several servers along with an FC based SAN with virtualized software, elsewhere Mysql clustering & combo master/slave setups and require a company you maybe able to suggest that could possibly be our SysAdmins, support & maintain the setup.
Additionally they will need to config sw load balancers & firewalls e.g ipcop
My client is looking for a company that can provide managed dedicated servers for use with SQL Server 2k5 and IIS. I believe the client is looking to have everything installed for them and then be handed the keys once complete.
I own two large hacking // gaming sites and host a few others. I need a company that can offer fully managed, secure,ddos protected, fast dedicated servers.
A big thing with me is if someone sends my hosting company a message saying, HEY your server is hosting hacks or illegal material, the company wont just go OH OK and shut down the server.
We were using Site Genie, but they received a DDoS attack that took down their entire datacenter, and in which our IP was one of the targets. They null-routed our IPs and told us they'd ship us the hardware we had in our boxes and we would need to find another host.
We had 2 servers with the following specs:
1.7Ghz AMD64 1TB of bandwidth/month 1GB of RAM 40GB drive And paying $60/month each
I have a website development business with about a dozen clients. We do a lot of e-commerce work and design work. I have about 3 different hosts that we work with depending on the site. (Some of the hosts specialize in different e-commerce systems.)
I would like to start hosting some of my clients myself. I would like the server to be linux and we will be doing most of development work in PHP and MySQL. We hope to double our client list in the next 12 months.
Is there anyone out there that has a business similar to mine that can recommend going with a Dedicated vs Managed vs VPS setup. I like the idea VPS because of the price, but I'm not sure if a Managed system might not allow me more time to focus on other things. (I priced out a managed system with Rackspace)
I've been working on the web for about 10 years, but haven't been doing a lot of server admin stuff in the last few. I would like a system that is fairly easy to set up, use and get rolling. I would also like to have a system with good support. I've looked at the VPS system Virtuozzo by SWSOFT. It looks pretty good.
I have a managed dedicated server at a co-location. While the service I pay for runs the Cpanel backup function, I feel I need to provide a better service to my customers by creating an exact duplicate(image) of the drive itself. I don’t want my customers to lose their databases and web site information.
I need help with creating a Plan B. The plan I thought might work, would be to get a workstation, download Acronis and make an image of my dedicated server on a scheduled basis.
The reasons I thought this was a good idea:
1) I would have the image in my hands(my control), should something happen to my main hosting server.
2) It would create a complete off-site back-up.
3) It seemed cost effective.
What if Scenario:
So my main hosting server gets taken away in a hurricane and the data center will not be up and running for 3 months. I have an image of the hard disk, now what do I do with it?
