Losing customer data is the fastest way to kill a hosting business. One unrecoverable server failure without backups means lost customers, refund demands, and permanent reputation damage. Here is how to prevent that.
Backup Strategy
The 3-2-1 Rule
This is the minimum standard:
- 3 copies of data (original + 2 backups)
- 2 different storage types (local NVMe + remote object storage)
- 1 off-site copy (different datacenter or cloud provider)
Backup Types
Full backups - Complete copy of all data. Large storage requirement. Run weekly.
Incremental backups - Only what changed since last backup. Fast and storage-efficient. Run daily.
Snapshot backups - Point-in-time filesystem snapshot. Near-instant. Run before risky operations.
Automated Backup Implementation
For Game Servers (Pterodactyl)
Pterodactyl supports automated backups through its panel:
- Configure backup limits per server (e.g., 3 backups per server)
- Schedule daily backups through cron jobs
- Set retention policies (keep last 7 daily, 4 weekly)
For VPS/Server-Level Backups
Use a backup tool like restic or borgbackup:
# Daily backup with restic
restic -r /backup/repository backup /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/ --exclude-caches
# Prune old backups (keep 7 daily, 4 weekly, 6 monthly)
restic -r /backup/repository forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --keep-monthly 6 --prune
Off-Site Storage
Store backups in a different location:
- Backblaze B2 - Cheap object storage (~€0.005/GB/month)
- Wasabi - S3-compatible, no egress fees
- Second VPS in different datacenter - rsync or rclone
Disaster Recovery Plan
Scenarios to Plan For
- Single server failure - Hardware issue on one node
- Data corruption - Filesystem or database corruption
- Accidental deletion - You or a customer deletes critical files
- Security breach - Ransomware or unauthorized access
- Complete datacenter failure - Extremely rare but plan for it
Recovery Procedures
Document step-by-step procedures for each scenario:
Single Server Recovery
- Identify the failure
- Provision replacement hardware/VPS
- Restore from most recent backup
- Update DNS/connection details if needed
- Notify affected customers
Data Corruption Recovery
- Stop the affected service immediately
- Identify the scope of corruption
- Restore specific files or full backup to a clean environment
- Verify data integrity before bringing service back online
Recovery Time Objectives
Define how fast you need to recover:
- Game servers: 1-4 hours (customers notice quickly)
- Billing/panel: 2-8 hours (less time-critical but important)
- Website: 4-12 hours (visible but not operationally critical)
Testing Backups
Backups that have never been tested are not backups. Schedule quarterly restore tests:
- Pick a random backup from last month
- Restore it to a test environment
- Verify the data is complete and functional
- Document the process and any issues found
Communication During Disasters
Have a communication plan ready:
- Status page updated immediately
- Discord announcement within 15 minutes
- Email to affected customers within 1 hour
- Post-mortem analysis shared within 48 hours
Customers forgive downtime if you communicate honestly and recover quickly. They don't forgive silence and data loss.
Cost of Not Having Backups
Calculate the real cost:
- Customer refunds for data loss
- Lost recurring revenue from customers who leave
- Reputation damage (negative reviews)
- Time spent on damage control instead of growing
Compare that to the cost of automated backup storage - usually €5-20/month for most small hosting operations.
Invest in backups before you need them. The day you need a backup and don't have one is the day your hosting business faces an existential crisis.
