Fasthosts

[James]

Had an e-mail from Fasthosts at the weekend explaining that they had had a major server catastrophe and I would have to upload my site again. It seems the problem was so bad that my site was lost, so I wonder if they actually back it up?

As it turns out, that's not a problem, and I can upload the site again.

My image gallery generates its own thumbnails and directories when I upload images so the version of the site on the server is always more up to date than on my local drive (I had planned to copy it back down every day in case Fasthosts were to do something screwy but I hadn't really thought they would actually do so!).

My questions are: David did you get a similar mail or was I unlucky? I wonder if there is anything in the contract to compensate me for a total loss like this. Like I say, no harm done this time though.

They were most apologetic blah blah and I still have faith in them as everything else they have done for me has been superb, but I was surprised there was no back up.

My SQL database was not lost, it was just the HTML files etc.

[David]

James - I did notice that your site was down but I assumed that it must be something you were doing. I am surprised that it was a Fashosts cock-up. I'm also surprised that there was no backup.

I didn't suffer the same. My site is "load-balanced" which means that it is hosted on more than one server. If a server goes down - no problem - the site stays up and no data is lost. I have a Business Pro account so load-balancing is included but you can add it to your account for £45 per year.

The database will have been unaffected by it because it lives on a different server. In truth, the database is more important than the html. Does Coppermine have an option to backup the database? With phpBB, I can backup and download the database to my local PC and that makes me feel easier.

As far as I am aware, there is no automatic compensation for this type of outage. I think it would be worth questioning them over backup policy, though.

[James]

My site appears down because I haven't got an index page up there at the moment, it's been like that for a couple of weeks, so that's not the result of the outage.

However, I had two huge folders - one with Coppermine, one with PHPBB - they will need replacing.

[David]

After any install of software on a hosting account, forum/CMS/image gallery, it's well worth downloading your entire htdocs folder to create a local backup. Shit happens!

Look at it this way, it was the perfect time for it to happen. Next time you'll be prepared.

[James]

Absolutely - I am going to do a manual daily back-up back to my hard drive.

Thanks.

[Tom]

I have not tried a dynamic website yet, but plan to. Isn't it possible to create the database on your own machine and then upload it?

[francis]

Oh absolutely. PHP, MySQL and Apache are available for download and install. For those on XP Pro, there's IIS as alternative to Apache, but you miss out on the goodness of .htaccess files and the like. Likewise, ASP is, I'm pretty sure, easily usable on all Windows machines. With Apache it's easy to configure a complete copy of your domain and have it running locally on your PC (http://www.mezzoblue.com/archives/2004/08/05/virtual_host/), which is what I do.

[David]

Originally posted by Tom Turner@Sep 7 2004, 7:20 pm
I have not tried a dynamic website yet, but plan to. Isn't it possible to create the database on your own machine and then upload it?

As Francis says, it is possible but most applications will automatically set-up the database for you using a schema to create and populate the tables. To be honest, it's just as easily done on the server and then you don't have the problem of getting the data from your local database to the remote one. You can do this using something like phpMyAdmin (http://www.phpmyadmin.net) but I'd recommend working on the server from the start.

James, you only need a single backup of your html/php files since they don't change but it is worth backing up the database on a regular basis. My phpBB database is now over 30MB - thank goodness for broadband!

I think it might be worth checking Fasthosts backup policy before commiting yourself to daily backups - could turn out to be a pain.

[francis]

You can't do it with Fasthosts, but I know of someone who setup a Cron job on his hosted account to automatically back up his DB every night and dump it into a dir on his part of the shared server.

[David]

Yes, it's a shame you can't run cron jobs a Fasthosts - I'm guessing that someone somewhere has a solution to this. Maybe this (http://www.dswsoft.com/mbw_features.php) is worth a look.

[francis]

I've just picked up a copy of this book (https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596003064/qid=1094594846/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-0820595-7909438) for work, but haven't had a chance to really go through it yet - there may well be a solution there

[James]

James, you only need a single backup of your html/php files since they don't change

Ah but they do change - Coppermine creates its own directories and thumbnails when you upload images - so I will have to back up those directories every time I have uploaded new stuff.

Fortunately with broadband it's no problem. I move house soon and am going to have a 1MB connection, 512KB is so slow! ;)

[francis]

The FTP client I use (Voyager) has a scheduler facility and in the newsletter that I get from them, they've just published a method to get the package to backup files from a remote server to a local PC on a regular basis. More info on scheduling here (http://www.ftpvoyager.com/scheduler.asp) and the newsletter here (http://www.rhinosoft.com/newsletter/NewsL2004-09-08.asp). Dunno if that's any use?

[Tom]

Is there a way of finding out whether an ISP runs fast or slow servers before signing up with them?

[David]

Do you mean "ISP" or do you really mean "web host"?

There's no easy way to get a definitive measurement on web host speed. I usually ask hosts I'm considering for the name of 2-3 sites hosted by them and check them out. It's also worth looking for recommendations from the various forums around the web.

I should point out that speed is not the only criterion you should consider. Reliability (uptime) is also really important (perhaps more so). No point having a very fast host service if the site is unavailable. You should also be aware of bandwidth limits.

The actual speed will vary but is a function of:

1. Speed of the server - disk sub-system and processor/RAM.
2. How densely populated the server is. Some hosts limit the number of accounts per server, others don't. Some hosts load balance their servers, others don't.
3. Speed of the hosts internal network.
4. Speed/bandwidth of the internet backbone that connects the host to the outside world.

By and large, you get what you pay for. I have two hosting accounts, a reseller account with Clook which provides an excellent service with reasonable uptime and average to good speed. This forum is hosted at Clook and the server is in New York. It's a good value for money "good enough" service and I use it for all my client websites (including Bentley School). I also have an account at Fasthosts specifically for CADTutor. I pay a little over the odds for this and the site is "load balanced". It is noticably faster than the sites at Clook. Additionally, there is no bandwidth limit at Fasthosts and this is ideal for CADTutor. I'd pay much more to host the site elsewhere (most hosts have a bandwidth cap and charge through the nose if you go above that).

Are you considering moving gardenvisit.com?

[Tom]

Many thanks for the detailed reply. The question was on behalf of Henry! But I do wonder about plucking up my courage for a move.

[James]

As you know my site is on Fasthosts. Since the problem at the start of this thread there have been no further problems.

I think my site works pretty fast and I am on the whole delighted with Fasthosts and would recommend them.

[James]

Problem with Fasthosts today - David I would be interested to know if you're experiencing problems too.

I upload files via FTP and the files appear on the remote server. However, the files have a file size of 0KB and do not function.

I have logged a call with technical support (they are open 24/7) and they say their engineers will get back to me, usually within 24 hours.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[James]

Well they didn't get back to me but the problem has gone away. I wonder if they actually did anything? I shall wait for their contact.

[James Glasheen]

I'm rather worried this morning as my site has disappeared!

The only work on it yesterday was to upload a new folder with a form and two PDFs in it. Neither are linked to the rest of the site.

The error points to include/init.inc.php and an error on line 200 which is a PHP require function linking to include/config.inc.php.

With both files existing on the server and no changes made to either file (one contains the gallery DB connection scripts) I'm not sure what to do?

James or David, have you every had the same problem?

JG

[David]

From your description it sounds as though include/config.inc.php may be corrupt. I assume you have a backup of your files. I would replace the affected files with backup copies and see what happens. Also check that your CHMOD values have not somehow been changed.

[James Glasheen]

Will do, thanks David.

It's weird that the problem seems to have occured when I did that new folder upload yesterday? I'll have a go with the config file and see what happens.

Interestingly, I was notified by a directory that I placed my site on. Of course having forgotten the name of it I can't even get it from the link I've placed on my homepage!

JG

[James Glasheen]

Very strange - it's back!

Must be a problem with Fasthosts again - anyone else have a problem?

By the way the directory site I mentioned above is this one (http://www.seekon.net/).