Does Winhost provide automatic backups of web sites I deploy? What about backups of my SQL Server database (which accompanies my site)? If the answer is "yes," how often do such backups occur?
We do have backups, usually for the last few days (3-5) and they happen nightly. These are primarily for emergency situations, as there is a fee to retrieve backups. If you do require a backup, contact support and they'll be able to tell you which days are available.
Are there step by step instructions as to how to do a backup using the tool you mentioned? I'm not a computer geek and in short order you can lose me with jargon, so if you could answer in non-tech verbiage, I'd appreciate it!
You might want to see this article http://support.Winhost.com/KB/a1045/how-do-i-generate-or-restore-a-backup-of-my-ms-sql-database.aspx
That's helpful, thanks. I went to make a backup and it failed because there is a file with the same name in the /App_data ditectory. Where do I find the /App_data directory so I can change the name of that old backup?
Simply FTP into the site and navigate to /App_data dir. See these links for more info; I would recommend Filezilla as FTP client http://filezilla-project.org/ http://support.Winhost.com/KB/a660/configuring-filezilla-to-access-your-web-site.aspx
Yeow! I think I did it. Thanks for the help! I downloaded a boatloat of files - is there a way I can 100% be assured that if the data on Winhost crashed, that I have what I need to put the site back up?
Just make sure that when you FTP in, that it places you in the root of the account. You then download all the files from the root, including the database backup you made.
Could you change the backup file to include the current date/time stamp? Otherwise to have multiple backups I have to first FTP to the site, rename the previous backup file, then return to the web interface and backup the database. Ultimately if you could allow for scheduled daily backups, that would be best to avoid manually backing up the database EVERY day! Thanks!
you can backup the sql database manually everyday but not automated. for your site, you can download a copy using ftp but you should have a backup already if you are developing the site on your own computer and uploading the changes.
That really misses the point. When running any type of CMS then the content is generated online. I can restore a blank database from a backup but I want my current content backed up. This should be easier to do. I see there are may threads on the topic but no actions taken. I did just find I can kick off the backup but the new backup is not copied to the App_Data folder unless using the web interface.
