Backup Often
I was trying to create a new database and accompanying site for a side project on my server. I mistakenly deleted the database that powers Sheehan Graphic Design’s news section – partly because I wasn’t paying full attention and partly because the “control panel” provided by the hosting company is a total piece of crap.
I have to say, it’s amazing to me that people buy hosting from certain hosting companies. Some of them do it right, but some are just garbage…I mean, it’s pretty bad when someone that knows what they are doing (I’d like to think of my self as one of those people) has a hard time with their crappy admin control panel. I can’t imagine how confusing and overwhelming it is to someone who hasn’t a clue.
Anyway, I called tech support after submitting a trouble ticket to which I received no response – not even a “we got your email and we’re looking into it” response. So I called, spent 10-15 minutes on hold before speaking with someone. I told them I mistakenly deleted the database and was hoping to get it restored. I was polite and as calm as I could be while in a rather frustrating situation. The tech support person put me back on hold while he asked if it could be done. 10 more minutes on hold and he asks when it was deleted… I say about 20 minutes ago. On hold for another 10 minutes… he comes back and says that they can restore it, but it’s going to cost $75. He said they’d have it restored within the hour… meanwhile, I’ve been on hold for 40+ minutes at this point. I agree, justifying the expense as an hour that I don’t have to spend trying to recover all of the data I lost… Another 15 minutes on hold, during which time I get an email from the hosting company saying that they’ve charged my credit card for the $75, and he comes back to tell me it will be done within 24 hours. Seriously?! You’re kidding, right? I’ve been on hold for an hour, you’ve charged my credit card already and now it’s going to take 23 more hours than you said it would? Yeah, right.
So, after politely telling the tech person to refund the charge on my card and “thanks.” I spent the next hour reinstalling the database and recovering most of the entries using Google’s excellent caching feature. Cut and paste.
I guess my point (there is one inside this little rant), is that you get what you pay for and you need to research what you’re getting. A lot of people either think hosting is all the same, or the cheaper is better. It’s not. They all talk about customer service as their #1. It should be – it’s the backbone of the business. The scary thing is that so many of them have very weak customer service and give you the impression that they don’t know what they’re talking about (i.e. a tech support guy that can’t answer a question within 30 minutes by himself, then can’t get it right within an hour), or they simply make you feel like you’re bothering them. My advice is – take some time and do a little research. Find out about DNS control, Domain registration features, hosting space, email, and customer/tech support. Trust me, when you’re site goes down (and it probably will at some point for some reason or another), it’s good to know that you’ve got someone to rely on. Otherwise, it’s an extremely frustrating situation.
I set up this hosting account 5 years ago and haven’t spent the time to switch it off of this server. It hasn’t been necessary to this point, but I will be doing so in the near future.
Oh yeah, back up your files!