Why do posts like this go unanswered: "How do you manage backups?"

[ats-tech]

One thing that has me curious around here, why do some posts like this go unanswered by those that have been in the business for a significant amount of time?

[Chicken]

This was regarding this thread: http://hosthideout.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4692

I was actually keeping an eye on that thread to gauge the current state of the forum, where we are, where we need to go. Of course, some threads aren't discussed simply because others don't feel like discussing them (which is perfectly fine). However, the question, "How do you manage backups?" -seems to be one of those top 10 questions which would generate replies. It took a bit to get going (and post above was the first reply, 18 days later), but sometimes the best threads 'stew a bit' ...

Note: Please discuss managing backups in that thread, why such topics might go unanswered here.

[alex042]

I've wondered this about some of the questions I've posted that sometimes go unanswered. It seems like with as many hosts that are here, someone would surely be able to answer my questions especially since there are bound to be others with the same questions, but it seems some are holding off on me. :(

[DizixCom]

I can't count the number of times that I've attempted to reply but couldn't put my thoughts into words. Sometimes complex issues, such as backups, cannot be explained easily without a glossary of sorts.

Sometimes I wish there was an easy way to "wiki"fy forums like this so some terms were automatically turned into links that open a page describing the term (and allowing the community to update).

[Karen]

For me personally, alot of these topics are out of my league. I have a support team in place, that I trust, that handles these types of things. I simply don't reply because I am not knowledgeble enough in the topic area.

Karen

[Robert]

It's time to face reality and realize that most hosts do not do backups. At least 85% of hosts who have servers @ RackShack don't do backups.

But it is the users responsbility to keep a copy of their website on their computer.

[Chicken]

Robert, that's probably true in many cases, though I would have thought that maybe people would have stated that. Some questions are quite complex, and answering them requires more thought and time than people are willing to put out at the moment.

alex042, maybe we just don't have quite enough of a base of members yet, but other than that, it's been my experience that hosting service providers and end users of hosting are a very communicative bunch. They spend a great deal of time on forums disscussing issue related to the industry and offering advice and help to anyone and everyone (for the most part). Some are even willing to log into other's machines to troubleshoot.

Maybe it was the way the question was worded or the timing of your threads (we were/are just too small at the time).

[IdologicJeff]

Well (hangs his head in shame) I didn't post a reply because I've been too busy to read HHO. I'm sorry.

Here goes.

All of our servers have two disks of equal size and we have a back up server.

We therefore rsync disk to disk on each machine meaning if a drive crashes we can honour 5 min down times for catstrophic losses, and we have a back up server loaded with disks which means we have incremental backups off server.

This is one of the reasons we are more expensive than many.

Having said that, I think most people read the forums and peck and choose the posts that interest them. Therefore if the "subject line" is poorly written or indescript the question can go unnoticed.

Cheers
Jeff

[tranz]

Thats one of the hardest things we have found, educating the host or client about Business Continuity Solutions and Disaster Recovery.

A lot of small time guys that have servers at say RS dont do any type of backup, for their own clients much less themselves.

The question that we pose to them is what is your business and clients data worth to you?

The education has been the hardest thing to do.