RAID · weekly NAS · offsite

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

Hard drives fail. Updates break things. Someone deletes the wrong folder. It happens on every hosting platform, so we plan for it.

Our hosting plans use 3 levels of protection: hardware RAID on the live server, a weekly encrypted backup to our NAS, and copies kept at our remote disaster recovery location. This covers shared, VPS and dedicated hosting, although the exact setup can differ from plan to plan.

This page explains how it works. It is not an SLA. Your hosting terms still apply, and you should still keep your own backups.

Three Layers of Protection

Level 1

Hardware RAID on production storage

Your live data sits on hardware RAID. Our shared servers use RAID 5.

If one drive fails, the server keeps working off the other drives while we swap the bad one out.

RAID is not a backup. A deleted file or a hacked site gets written to every disk straight away.

Level 2

Scheduled backups and NAS backup

Every week, our servers send an encrypted backup to our NAS (network-attached storage).

The transfer doesn't need much processing power, so it adds very little load.

You get a copy of your account that lives off the live server.

Level 3

Offsite / remote disaster-recovery copies

We also back up to our remote disaster recovery location, away from the main servers.

If something happens to the server, or the site where it sits, there's still a copy somewhere else.

Applies where it's part of your plan.

What business continuity and disaster recovery mean

Business continuity means keeping your website and email running when something small goes wrong. Say a single disk dies. RAID takes over, and the server usually keeps running while we replace the drive.

Disaster recovery is for the bigger problems, when the live server or its storage can't be saved. In that case we restore from a backup we already have: the NAS copy, or the offsite copy if your plan includes it.

That's why we keep more than one copy of your data. One live disk isn't enough.

How often we back up

The NAS backup runs weekly. That's the schedule on our product pages, and it's the one we stand behind here.

How long a restore takes, and how far back it can go, depends on what broke and when the last good copy was made. We look at each case first.

To see what your plan includes, check its product page (Shared, VPS, Dedicated) or your client area.

What we protect against — and what we don't

What this helps with

  • A dead hard drive on the live server
  • A server or storage failure where we need to bring your account back from an earlier copy
  • A problem at the main server site, where the offsite copy is the one we fall back on

What it doesn't cover

It isn't a promise of zero downtime or zero data loss. It won't undo every change inside WordPress or another CMS. A bad plugin update is often quicker to fix from inside the app.

It doesn't back up your laptop, office PCs or phones. And it doesn't replace your own backups.

Your responsibility: keep your own backups

As our product pages say, it is still your responsibility to keep your own backups. Our copies work like an insurance policy. We can't guarantee that every backup is perfect, or that every file will come back exactly as you left it.

A few habits help a lot:

  • Download your files and export your databases regularly. If your site changes every day, back up more often.
  • Keep those copies off the server: on your PC, an external drive or cloud storage.
  • Open one of your backups now and then to check it actually works.

cPanel has a built-in Backup tool for this. See our Help article: How to Backup from your cPanel Account.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery?

Continuity is about staying up through small problems, like a failed disk. Disaster recovery is about getting you back from a backup after a big one. RAID handles the first. The NAS and offsite copies handle the second.

Does Cid Hosting use RAID?

Yes, hardware RAID on our live servers. It covers you if a drive fails. On its own it isn't a backup.

How often is my account backed up to the NAS?

Once a week. The backup is encrypted before it leaves the server.

Do shared, VPS and dedicated plans get the same backups?

They all follow the same 3-level approach, but the details can differ by plan. Your product page or client area shows what's included.

Why keep an offsite copy if you already have the NAS?

The NAS sits close to the main servers. If something affects that whole location, the offsite copy is the one we'd restore from.

Can you guarantee I'll never lose data?

No. No host can honestly promise that, and we won't. Backups lower the risk a lot, but they don't remove it. That's why we ask you to keep your own copy too.

How do I ask for a restore?

Log in to the client area and open a support ticket. Tell us the domain and roughly when things were last working.

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We use 3 levels of protection: RAID on the live server, a weekly encrypted NAS backup, and a copy at our remote disaster recovery location. Keep your own backup too. That's the best way to stay covered.Cid Team

Need help with a restore?

Log in to your client area and open a support ticket. Include your domain and roughly when the site was last working.

Go to Client AreaHelp Articles