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Automated backup solution option for Reseller?

schwim
Hi there everyone! I have what I guess is called a reseller's account on a VPS hosted by InMotion with about 30 accounts that I host for friends and family. Since I'm such a nice guy, I don't make any money doing this :) Manually backing up via the cPanel interface in any regular cycle is really not feasible with this many accounts so I've been searching on solutions. The issue I'm running into is that there are a mind numbingly huge number of offerings out there. As I search further, I just keep finding reviews of people that just light them up after bad happenings using their service. I thought I'd ask here. I'm hoping to find a service that's as inexpensive as possible since it will all be out of pocket. I also wouldn't like a software that would run locally on my PC and download the backups instead of storing on the web, if that's a possibility. Whole account backups would be nifty but I could manage with just web/db/mail/forwarders if that's a more feasible solution. Any suggestions and thoughts are welcome. Thanks for your time!

Comments

20 comments

Date Votes
  • Eminds
    Not sure if inmotion will allow you store the backups on their server itself as most shared hosted do not allow such things, however the best deal is to contact inmotion support itself and they will guide you accordingly for the backup. The free tools like Jetbackup can be used to store the backups on web.
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  • schwim
    Thanks for you help, Eminds! I've seen the Jetbackup site but it looks like it's about $50 annually if [url=https://www.jetapps.com/order]their pricing page is correct. Is there a free tier? InMotion does not allow the backups to be stored on the server so I would either have to figure out a way to get them to my PC or I would have to pay in addition to the backup service for space.
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  • schwim
    After a few more hours of searching, I found [url=https://marketplace.whmcs.com/product/1082]this WHMCS module which confuses me a bit. Is the module just the part you install after you pay for the Jetbackup service? In other words, do you need a license key to use the module or can I just have it installed by the host and use it for backups?
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  • Infopro
    do you need a license key

    Yes. The same for WHMCS, it is not free.
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  • schwim
    Since the thread is running incredibly light on suggestions, perhaps I can get some feedback on solutions I find through the hours of scanning search results. Has anyone used backup-smart.com? It seems to be software you install on your local PC to backup cPanel accounts. It shows a free trial period but I wanted to ask before potentially installing something malicious on my computer. It does state that it's mentioned in some capacity on the forums here but I can't find it anywhere. Thanks for your time!
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  • cPanelMichael
    Hello, I don't see any references to that application on our forums. Another option to consider is switching from a reseller account to a VPS. With a VPS, you'd get full root access to a server with the ability to configure automatic backups through Web Host Manager. Thank you.
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  • keat63
    Do you have access to WHM or just a user cpanel. In WHM, there's an option to create a backup on a scheduled cron job Once per week, I ftp this off my dedicated server to my office PC. You'll need root access or I guess psudo. The back up lives in home\backup\cpbackup. Creating a script to ftp it off automatically on a schedule shouldn't be too difficult, it would require your PC to be running though. edit: I read your thread again.. reseller, probably doesn't have root access.
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  • schwim
    Hi there all and thanks for your responses. All though I have access to WHM, it's a stripped down version of it and backup functions are not available in it. I do have access to the cPanel backup features, however. I'll continue my searching but have begun to realize that automation may simply be out of my reach.
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  • JetAppsClark
    Thanks for you help, Eminds! I've seen the Jetbackup site but it looks like it's about $50 annually if their pricing page is correct. Is there a free tier? InMotion does not allow the backups to be stored on the server so I would either have to figure out a way to get them to my PC or I would have to pay in addition to the backup service for space.

    Just to clarify, the yearly rate is $39.95/year, which is discounted compared to the normal monthly rate of $3.95/mo. We also do not currently provide a free tier for JetBackup. The JetBackup WHMCS Module is intended to allow people to resell backup services to their clients and manage your existing JetBackup install, so a license is required to use the module. We believe our pricing is much lower than our competitors, but wish you good luck in your search! :)
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  • schwim
    Just to clarify, the yearly rate is $39.95/year, which is discounted compared to the normal monthly rate of $3.95/mo. We also do not currently provide a free tier for JetBackup. The JetBackup WHMCS Module is intended to allow people to resell backup services to their clients and manage your existing JetBackup install, so a license is required to use the module. We believe our pricing is much lower than our competitors, but wish you good luck in your search! :)

    Thanks very much for the clarification, Clark! I very much appreciate it. If I were making more than negative hundreds annually with the server, I'd be all over another subscription based service but as it stands, something like the backup smart linked above better suits my needs and better fits my finances (one time fee and no additional costs for cloud storage). If I can get it installed and working, which is proving to be a challenge :-)
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  • RadWebHosting
    This is all moot if access is limited to reseller. I doubt inmotion will allow resellers to install WHM plugins on their server.
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  • webhostuk
    Remote backup is the best option for same server backup, as there are chances to lose data if the drive is corrupted or crashed.
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  • schwim
    Hi there guys, and thanks for your continued interest in helping me out :) While a lot doesn't apply, the potential solution I posted(backup-smart.com/) is not moot and would fit my needs perfectly if I could get it installed. The author did respond once to my question concerning whether it was actively developed to reply in the affirmative but has chosen not to respond once I forwarded my install error. If I could find something in that vein that worked, it would be perfect for me being relatively inexpensive and offering backup storage on my PC, which is much cheaper than any remote storage options offered by the other services.
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  • Infopro
    You might want to speak with your Hosting Provider about this to see what they might be able to offer you.
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  • WHMBackupSolutions
    Hi, This may be a bit of a self plug but you can use the free opensource script I've developed called WHM Backup Solutions that will allow you to automate the backups. All you need is an FTP or SSH server to allow the backups to be deposited onto. You could always just setup FTP server on your home computer to save costs?
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  • schwim
    Hi, This may be a bit of a self plug but you can use the free opensource script I've developed called WHM Backup Solutions that will allow you to automate the backups. All you need is an FTP or SSH server to allow the backups to be deposited onto. You could always just setup FTP server on your home computer to save costs?

    Thanks very much for your suggestion. Unfortunately, I sit behind an ISP firewall that uses a blanket IP. I've not figured out a way to successfully set up an outward facing FTP server that works when you don't have your own IP address. I've still not figured a solution out. I did not test backup-smart.com 's offering simply because the app triggered AV warnings, the site hosting the download triggered browser warnings and it just began to feel like a really sketchy application. The hunt continues so for now I manually backup all the sites like a 21st century luddite.
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  • WHMBackupSolutions
    Thanks very much for your suggestion. Unfortunately, I sit behind an ISP firewall that uses a blanket IP. I've not figured out a way to successfully set up an outward facing FTP server that works when you don't have your own IP address. I've still not figured a solution out. I did not test backup-smart.com 's offering simply because the app triggered AV warnings, the site hosting the download triggered browser warnings and it just began to feel like a really sketchy application. The hunt continues so for now I manually backup all the sites like a 21st century luddite.

    Where do you backup your websites too currently? Another option would be to buy a small VPS/Dedi for only a few pounds per month e.g. kimsufi. Then just configure SCP transfer. This would then also give you options to run web apps, and provide storage for other data e.g. your personal stuff.
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  • schwim
    Where do you backup your websites too currently? Another option would be to buy a small VPS/Dedi for only a few pounds per month e.g. kimsufi. Then just configure SCP transfer. This would then also give you options to run web apps, and provide storage for other data e.g. your personal stuff.

    I currently download them to my local machine and store them on two machines on the premises. I've tried a few times to pay for a second location to manage backups but the three accounts I set up were all closed by the hosts due to storing backup files, stating that was not the purpose of a web host. None mentioned this during signup, however. I finally gave up pursuing that solution.
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  • WHMBackupSolutions
    Most shared web hosts do mention in their terms and conditions and fair use policies about not using the storage for backup purposes, mainly because most hosts oversell storage in order to make a profit. However if people are using the storage for holding backups they're more likely to use all the storage space allocated to them reducing the amount the host can oversell. It's why I'd recommend getting either a VPS or dedicated server as you can then have full reigns of what you store.
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  • schwim
    Most shared web hosts do mention in their terms and conditions and fair use policies about not using the storage for backup purposes, mainly because most hosts oversell storage in order to make a profit. However if people are using the storage for holding backups they're more likely to use all the storage space allocated to them reducing the amount the host can oversell. It's why I'd recommend getting either a VPS or dedicated server as you can then have full reigns of what you store.

    Thanks a bunch for your help. If Kimsufi's least expensive dedi ever becomes available again, I'll grab it and give your script a shot. Thanks for everything!
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