By r180 on

I have zero anxiety about my non-CMS websites in regard to data loss. If an HTML page is lost, I just upload it again from my hard drive.

BUT... I have clients that want CMS. I had some of them on a hosted Wordpress installation. (WPMU)... the database corrupted and I lost everything. I did restore the database from backup, but it didn't seem to work correctly.

Here's the obvious question: If I develop a site for a client using Drupal... and lets say they add thousands of posts and other types of data over the next few years. Can I have zero anxiety that I'll ever lose that data? What's the 'slam dunk', very simple method of backup AND restoration?

I had a bad experience with Wordpress... though I'm sure I could have done something differently.

Also, what scares me further is that I believe the WP installation was compromised well previous to the final failure... though not catastrophically... BUT, later on when it did corrupt and fail entirely, I could only restore to the previously semi-corrupt installation. Meaning, I wouldn't know how to start from scratch, resolve my installation issues and restore everything.

OH... and here's the kicker... here's why I couldn't restore all my backed up data... my server would only allow 8mb of data to be uploaded. I heard this can be tweaked via php.ini, but I couldn't figure it out.

So, do you see why I'm nervous? Can anybody alleviate my fears? I don't want any upset clients!

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

nevets’s picture

nevets commented

Can you have zero anxiety that I'll ever lose that data? Honesty no, but I think you can get close. Start by never doing development type work, including new modules on the test site, always use a test site for development. If your hosting package allows you can create a database instance that you periodically overwrite with the live sites data giving you a fast way to restore data if needed. Also many hosting companies provides automatic backup of both your files and database. And when making an export of the database for off site storage always compress the exported copy to save space.

styro’s picture

styro commented

its more to do with your confidence with managing databases and your confidence in the skills and desire of your host to help you out if you strike trouble.

Yes a database backed site is an extra thing to worry about and it is more complex than static files. But a well managed system should not have many problems at all.

I've run the same company Drupal site continuously for about 5 yrs now through 4 or 5 major versions of Drupal, 2 server migrations and never experienced a corrupt database. I often migrate (via dump/restore) the data to a test server without any problems. This is on our own server though, not shared hosting.

And this is using MySQL with MyISAM tables which is far more prone to potential corruption than InnoDB tables or using PostgreSQL would be.

If you are under customer pressure to start using systems like Wordpress or Drupal etc, I would look into (before you commit to your customers) stuff like:

* Finding someone with good sysadmin skills you can call on for help when needed. I think everyone in the web industry should have a loose network of designers/coders/sysadmins they can team up with for skills they don't have themselves when required.

* Practicing / honing your own skills with databases. Find an old PC and install Linux (eg Ubuntu) and MySQL on it and see how many ways you can break and fix it.

* Finding good hosts that you can trust your customers with, and that you can form a good working relationship with. You need them to assure you about their backup/restore procedures etc. Be prepared to convince your customers that they need to pay more for this than they would for low end mass market hosting.

I think though in the long run you will need to either learn how best to deal with database driven websites, or at least partner with others to do so - eg you provide design and theming skills (I'm just guessing that is where your talents lie) while they provide coding and/or sysadmin skills etc.

But you don't have to jump in right away - you can start bit by bit trying to make connections and improve your own skills to the point where you are confident about your (possibly collective) capabilities.

--
Anton

joe4’s picture

joe4 commented

Can I have zero anxiety that I'll ever lose that data?
Sure, just don't think about it :-)

What's the 'slam dunk', very simple method of backup AND restoration?
My host uses r1soft for backup so I can backup and restore via the control panel. Backup on the database is every 4 hours and every 24 on the web directory.

r180’s picture

r180 commented

I'm with 1and1.com now. Who's the best of the best? Who will be there when I need help with my files and database? Who backups up continually? I'd love to hear.

Also, not sure if this is a concern or not, but 1and1.com's database limit is 100mb. Is this too little? Actual disk space is massive.

knieveltech’s picture

knieveltech commented

It's hard to say if the db limit is going to be problematic without having some idea of what you plan on doing with the CMS. A high traffic social networking site that's generating a lot of content can eat through 100M in less than a year unless you're deleting old content. A run-of-the-mill blog with comments isn't likely to hit the threshold any time soon.

grrajeshkumar’s picture

grrajeshkumar commented

Every hosting provider has its own hidden agenda.. as mentioned in the thread.. I guess the best approach would be to frequently backup the data atleast twice in a month. You can write a script to do that as well.

My 2 cents :-)

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G R R - Drupal Die-hard Fan

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walkeroukor’s picture

walkeroukor commented

You must be on xanax lol

juan_g’s picture

juan_g commented

For easy database backups -manual or scheduled-, there is for example the quite well-known Drupal module Backup and Migrate (see some reviews).