Default backup availability per service

It’s a stressful realization: you need to restore your data, but you haven’t been keeping your own backups. Depending on the type of service you are using backups may be available.

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1. Dedicated Servers

On a dedicated server, you have total control, and manage the server under most cases. Since these are custom-built with root access, InterServer generally does not access or backup the data unless you are on a specific managed service plan.

• Default Recovery: Generally none if the hardware fails completely.
• Hardware Protection: Most servers are recommended to run RAID 1 (two drives mirroring each other). If one drive fails, your data remains accessible on the second.
• The Risk: If both disks fail in a short timeframe or the filesystem is corrupted, InterServer techs can attempt to copy the drive in our of our recovery systems however if that fails only a recovery service remains.

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2. VPS or Rapid Deploy Servers

Virtual Private Servers offer a bit more of a safety net through snapshots, though they are not a replacement for a true remote backup strategy.

• Manual Snapshots: KVM VPS and Rapid Deploy users can create snapshots manually through the control panel. Check which recovery points actually exist for your service before relying on them; do not assume a fixed automatic 24/48/72-hour schedule.
• Storage Limits: Users can also take manual backups in the my.interserver.net portal. These are stored on cloud storage for 45 days (for services up to 1TB) for rapid deploy or KVM based vps’s. HyperV does not have the ability at this time for these backups.
• The Catch: Snapshots do not usually survive a full failure of the underlying disk array. Furthermore, snapshots are disk images; to recover a single MySQL database, you must restore the entire server first to extract that specific data a more time consuming process.

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3. Shared Hosting (Standard or Boost)

Backups are included on shared hosting

• Standard Plans: InterServer uses JetBackup to store backups offsite. On standard hosting, these are typically performed weekly. This means if a failure occurs, your data might be up to 7 days old.
• Boost Plans (2, 4, and X): These plans offer more frequent daily backups at additional costs.
• Accessibility: Because JetBackup stores data offsite, these backups are resilient against local server hardware failures.

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4. Storage Hosting

Storage hosting—which initially designed to be a backup destination—does not run any backups.

• Redundancy: These systems use ZFS (RAID-Z2), which can handle the simultaneous loss of two drives in a vdev without losing data.
• The Risk: If three drives fail at once, all data is lost. While InterServer monitors for errors through weekly scrubs, it is still recommended to have a secondary copy of your most critical data elsewhere unless of course you are storing just backups there.

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Summary Comparison

Service Type	Backup Frequency	Remote Backup recommendation
Dedicated	None (User Managed)	Highly recommended
VPS	Manual snapshots; check available recovery points	Highly recommended
Shared	Weekly (Standard) / Daily (Boost)	Recommended if weekly backups are insufficiant
Storage	None (Hardware Redundancy Only)	Stongly recommended except for backup storage

Recovery planning: Keep a verified independent copy in protected off-server storage. Remote storage and snapshots reduce particular risks but do not ensure 100% data safety. Confirm coverage, retention and restore access for your actual service, and test recovery periodically.