I just found out about an exchange that lost it's database, and the only good backup was from a few months ago. This is not good! So I thought it was a good time to remind all the owners out there to do backups! Here are some things to consider:
- Downloading your files via FTP is NOT backing up your MySQL database. Just the files.
- While many hosts will say they do backups for you, most will say they aren't responsible for keeping backups. Read the fine print.
- The backups need to be daily at a minimum.
- The backups need to be automated. If it's not automatic, it will get forgotten and statistically right before you need them.
- Once automated you should be checking that the backups are being saved regularly. Automated things stop working all the time!
- RAID is not enough.
You'll also want to be sure your backups are in multiple locations. For example, some servers have multiple drives on them. So your first thought is to have one backup drive, one live drive right? WRONG. Doing that is a good idea, but it still leaves one point of failure: the server. Ideally you should have multiple layers of protection:
- RAID 1, 5, or 10. This uses multiple drives with redundancy. If one of them dies the data is still there. I've never had a hard drive fail on me completely before, but I have had a server drive start warning me it was going to die. If that were to happen, you can rebuild your RAID array and have your data back as it was.
- On Site. Many server providers have storage available for backups. This is great because if you need to grab the backup, its in their network so it should be much faster to restore than uploading from outside the network.
- Remote Location. This is a must, you want a copy of your backups outside of your host's network. So if they really get knocked out you can restore it on another host. Remember when The Planet caught on fire and half the exchanges were offline for hours? What if a fire destroyed your server and the backup server on site? I use Amazon S3 because it's reliable and cheap.
- Your own office. Sometimes things can go wrong, and there is nothing better than having a copy locally. It also makes you feel alot better knowing you've got it right there with you.
So what do I do? Well I told you - Backup MySQL to Amazon S3 - but in addition I also have it FTP a copy to my office where I have a ReadyNAS Pro running 24/7 on a battery backup [UPS]. I can easily check the backups, open them up and make sure it's all good, and it's 100% automated. This unit itself has RAID so I'm covering my bases as much as possible. You really can't have too many backups in place!
{ 9 comments }
Great advice Tim and something that needs to be done often to remind traffic exchange owners to do complete daily backups. It can never be said to often. I’ve seen big traffic exchanges as well as medium and small exchanges lose their complete data base.
It doesn’t surprise me any more when a exchange goes down and has no backup. I have reminded owners in the past to do this in my newsletters and then a few months later be told they wish they had listened to me.
If I had to rate which Tim Linden blog entry is the most important entry this would be at the top of the list above everything else you have ever written about and I know this is not the first time you have mentioned it.
Some owners say they can’t afford to pay anyone to do the backups or buy online line storage but I say if they can’t afford this it’s time to shut down their exchange because they have no right to not do this. They are protecting both their info as well as protecting their members info that is trusting these owners to look after their info.
Thanks again Tim for posting this!
Tim, what do you think of doing backups (database as well as public html files) using cpanel and saving them to your computer? I would also say that most good hosts do regular backups, but maybe not as timely as one would imagine. If you have a high-powered exchange, there is no excuse for not making sure that daily backups are done.
Tim,
Well said!
I wanted to reply with more content regarding my own website, but I think this medium is too public!
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I don’t want to give any sensitive details away that could be used by an attacker.
I see regular evidence that someone has been trying to crash the site, or break into the database, or otherwise manipulate my TE.
As I said – maybe I’m just paranoid!
Regards,
John
Nope it happens to every server and it’s automated. That’s why having a good firewall with updated filters is crucial ;-)
Its sad that some can hack and ruin someones buisness the way he did but am glad he got his site back up again.
I have automated backups from the hosting and i also take personal backups and even downloading backups and burn them on cd, can never be to sure-)
Kjell Skogsoy
It seems to me that someone has it out for traffic exchanges, for whatever reason.
Yesterday I had a miserable day surfing. I was redirected constantly, going from yellow book to adult sites and so on. I usually surf 4-6 sites at a time, and it was bad.
My computer froze constantly and I spent more time rebooting and starting over, than I actually got to surf.
Somehow, someway, it has to get straightened out. There are a few te’s, and yes, I let them know, that I will not go back to for a few days until the problems are fixed.
Thank you for such an important reminder.
This reminds me of an incident that happened in 2008 when I try to run my own traffic exchange. The hosting company when bust without notice and the worst part was I didn’t have any back of my site database rendering me unable to start the same site!
That was one well learned lesson but being a newbie on the Internet who could have known things like this happens?
So, when I started my new site this year, I do back up both at my web host and to my computer.
And also, thank you for your post on How To Backup MySQL to Amazon S3. I will try to learn how to do it.
Great advice, Tim!
I am not planning to make my own Traffic Exchange, and I don’t even know how to, but I think it really helps to know this stuff if I wanted to.
I love your StartXChange site, though! I am visiting about 300 sites per day, I love it so much!
Easy to agree, easy to forget. That’s how it tends to be with setting up backups.
This advice doesn’t just apply to traffic exchanges, it applies to ALL websites. Just because you have some tiny little niche website or personal blog doesn’t mean you are safe from bad stuff, whether server issues or malicious visitors. You don’t need to be paranoid, but do take the time needed to cover your butt from at least the common sources of trouble.
Comments on this entry are closed.