Web Hosting Without Backups Is Suicide

Today I browsed the HostGator website to take a look at what hosting options they offer. They look like extremely good deals. Lots of space and bandwidth, and very low, competitive prices. One thing bothered me, though: no mention of backups.

If you have a website, you know that the most valuable part is the data. If the data is gone, you’ve got nothing. So when you get web hosting, you must have a backup and restore plan in place for when the worst happens.

And it really is inevitable. Here’s my chat with HostGator:

Chat InformationPlease wait for a HostGator operator to respond.
Chat InformationWelcome to HostGator Live Chat! You are now chatting with ‘Teddy H’
Teddy H: Welcome to HostGator, how may I assist you?
Elliot: Do you backup the data on dedicated servers?
Teddy H: No we do not backup dedicated servers.
Teddy H: It is up to the end-user to back the dedicated server
Elliot: How are end-users expected to do this?
Elliot: Your servers do fail, right?
Teddy H: You can set up cron jobs to back up data
Teddy H: You can have cron jobs email you your data.
Teddy H: Or have your server setup for raid 1
Teddy H: Servers of any nature fail eventually
Teddy H: There is no such thing as a server that does not fail.
Teddy H: Hardware does not last forever.
Teddy H: It is up to the customer to decide how to backup there server.
Teddy H: Is there anything else I can help you with?
Teddy H: Ok, take care and have a great day!
Teddy H: Thank you for using HostGator Live Chat.  Your opinion is very important to us.  When closing the chat, please take a minute to fill out the brief survey that pops up so that we may continue to improve our customer service and support.
Chat InformationChat session has been terminated by the site operator.

As you can see, even “Teddy H” admits that hardware does not last forever. And yet the customer is forced to fend for themselves for backups. It’s not even an extra paid option if I had wanted it! (And I would definitely want it. And I would certainly be willing to pay for it.)

I can’t help but wonder: what do they do when their customers’ servers fail, and they inevitably go complaining to HostGator? How can they afford not to keep the customer covered?

My host, DreamHost, has a special offer going on right now. 500 GB disk storage, 5 TB monthly bandwidth, and all the usual features, for just $5.95/mo. Now that’s a good deal. And they’ve got a backup plan in place, too. DreamHost.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 12:22 am and is filed under Backups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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