What happens is there is a hardware crash?

bloggerbee · #1 (**permalink**) 02-02-09, 13:09

If you have a dedicated server and are hosting several sites on it, what happens in the event of some sort of hardware malfunction or crash? Would all sites be down at the same time until the problem was fixed?

BodShane · #2 (**permalink**) 02-02-09, 19:36

Hello,

Thanks for posting in our forum.

If there are any Hardware Faults such as issues with Fan, processor, RAM etc., it can be fixed immediately and downtime is minimal. With us, we guarantee Hardware Replacement on all our servers without any charges.

However, if there is a Hard Drive Crash, you better be having a backup of your files or your websites won't up soon. Normally, we always advice our clients to opt for RAID Configurations or backup drive in order to make sure there are no problem in terms of restoration in Crash Crisis.

Regards,

Shane Phillips

Bodhost-Andy · #3 (**permalink**) 02-02-09, 19:38

Hello,

We offer fully managed Dedicated Servers with 24 X 7 monitoring because we can understand our customers each and every minute is costly

our mongering systems are continuously running but as per your question if any hardware crash we will instantly fix that problem. You'll get a very small downtime and we faced that problem very rarely because we use only branded and new hardware for all our servers.

" Quality support and prompt service " is motto of our business "

carl owen · #4 (**permalink**) 02-02-09, 19:59

Hardware crashes does not take place often and this problem arises only once or twice in years. If the Hardware fails then it will be replaced as soon as possible and you won't face much downtime if you have the backup for your data. This is the reason that you are suggested to have a backup plan for your data. As you are looking for a Dedicated server I would suggest you to go for a RAID setup as all your data will be secured and even if 1 Hardrive fails the other one will replace it and the site won't face any downtime.

Joseph · #5 (**permalink**) 02-03-09, 17:53

Carl is right. You should always have a backup for the data of the server you have as you never know when a problem arises. If you have a backup for the data, you can be rest assured as you will not face any problem even if the server has an hardware failure.

All the hardware failures are repaired as soon as possible by the datacenter, and your site won't face downtime for long. But if the hardrive fails then your website may face downtime for long and this is the reason that you should have backup for the data. If you have RAID then your website won't face downtime for long as the other hardrive will replace the first one in case the first one fails. If not RAID, then you should atleast have a backup plan for your server.

Sean · #6 (**permalink**) 02-04-09, 12:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloggerbee

If you have a dedicated server and are hosting several sites on it, what happens in the event of some sort of hardware malfunction or crash? Would all sites be down at the same time until the problem was fixed?

Hello,

Generally you won't face any downtime however, if you need 100% UPTIME then you can consider mirrored server. Bodhost set-up 2 same specs servers in 2 different racks out of which one dedicated server is the master server and other is the slave server. Once the mirroring is implemented on these 2 servers and if for any reason, the master server fails then slave server can immediately take its place without any downtime.

HappyNerd · #7 (**permalink**) 02-04-09, 13:55

Although uptime is excellent at BodHost, you should do back-ups just in case. I would go with the mirrored server thing so that your websites can continue performing, if there ever is a crash.

bloggerbee · #8 (**permalink**) 02-05-09, 14:30

Okay, this is probably going to sound incredibly dumb but how do you back your data up for the entire sites, especially when you are dealing with multiple domains and stuff? Especially with the separate databases and stuff.

BodShane · #9 (**permalink**) 02-05-09, 16:43

Setup of linux as well as windows mirrored dedicated servers, load balancer clusters are completely different. For e.g. on a windows dedicated server, if you need a cluster setup, you can always have SAN - Storage Area Network which will store your data and it will not be stored on the servers.

When one server is active, it will retrieve data from SAN and when server1 goes down and switches over to server2 retrieving data from the same SAN. In simple language, centralized data storage and in this case, you will need to backup SAN which is normally not required. Plesk does not support cluster setup in this case. However, we have figured out a solution where plesk can run from both the servers.

With linux mirrored dedicated server hosting solutions, replication of data between two servers is not a problem at all and can easily be syncd with scripts running between both the servers and Rsync for backup. That's just a basic about them. If you have cPanel - WHM installed on the servers, you can take backup from the servers easily.

However, if terms of data backup to a remote location. This can be done through Rsync technology which will automatically take backups at regular intervals as per your requirement.

Please be advised that it is possible to take manual backups from the server. However, if you are new to the server management, i would suggest that you should contact your hosting provider to assist you with the backup and restoration process.

Regards,

Shane Phillips