2.16.1. General information about backups

Backup — a mechanism for saving and subsequent storage of hosting account data, designed so that if necessary (disruption of the site or its database for any reason, from accidental deletion of important data to hacking) the owner of the hosting account has the ability to return the data to the state in which they were at the time of backup.

⚠️ Backups don't save settings from the control panel, such as site settings, PHP settings, SSL settings, domain settings and others, as well as the contents of mailboxes, etc.

Backups are often remembered only when everything is already lost and without them the work of the site cannot be restored. For this reason, we provide not only the ability to create and store copies manually, but also the functionality of regular automatic backups.

Every day we copy files and databases of each hosting account to a special backup server. This is primarily in our own interest: in case an irreparable situation happens to our web or MySQL server, we will be able to restore your data from the copy no older than 24 hours. The exact time of automatic backups differs between hosting accounts and servers. File copies and database copies are not necessarily saved at the same time: for example, a file copy may be created at 2 AM and a database copy at 9 AM, or vice versa.

The next day the situation is repeated — we back up your data again, overwriting the old copies with the new ones. And so on every day. This backup is called a snapshot (file system snapshot).

In between snapshots, another copying process takes place — so-called regular backups are created. Their storage and overwriting cycle is longer than that of snapshots, which gives you more freedom of action, because you have a choice, albeit limited, of which day to restore data for.

Backups can not only be restored, but also downloaded to yourself as an archive without restoring or replacing the current contents of the site directory or its database.

• Hosting account and sites — backups are stored for the last 12 days (including the current day), as well as the 1st day of the current and previous month.
• Databases — backups are stored for the last 7 days (including the current day) as well as the 1st day of the current and previous month.

The history of creating and restoring backup operations is stored for the last 10 days.

Can I delete an automatic backup?

You cannot delete backups manually or through technical support. All backups can only be deleted automatically when the retention period of the backup expires.

What should I do if my site or database is backed up for a very long time?

There are situations when the backup server has a large queue of requests in progress, which can cause delays in processing new requests. If you urgently need a backup of the current version of the site and/or its database, in this case it is better to resort to downloading the site via file manager, using FTP client or via SSH. You can export a database using one of the import methods provided here.

Is it possible to get old backups of a site or database?

In the "Backups" section, when creating backups, a list of all available backups is displayed. If the copy for the desired date is not in the list, it means that it is not available on the hosting and you will not be able to get or restore it in any way. Two-, three-month, six-month, one-year, one-year, etc. old copies are not stored on the hosting.

Can I download a backup from an expired hosting account?

If your hosting account has expired but has not yet been deleted (less than 30 days have passed since the expiration date), it is available for creating and downloading backups.

If your hosting account has been deleted (more than 30 days have passed since the expiration date), check if it is in the deleted accounts list. If it is there, you need to restore it (for a fee) and download backups in the usual way.