KNOWNHOST KNOWLEDGE BASE

Hosting Question? Find the Solution - Browse our Guides, Articles, and How-To's

Information about Backups and Restorations

We often get asked about the backups that we have on our various services such as VPS’s, Cloud Servers, Shared/Reseller Hosting other various services, things such as “how long do you keep them” or “how often are they taken”. The information composed here should answer all of your questions in regards to our backups.

However, if you feel like something wasn’t answered, feel free to reach out to us — we don’t bite. 🙂

VPS Backups (NVMe/SSD)

  • We backup each VPS on our network every other day.
  • Our backups do not count against your disk quota.
  • The following folders are not included in our backups:
    • /backup/
    • /backups
    • /cpbackup
    • /home/backup
    • /home/cprestore
    • /tmp
  • We generally have backups as old as at least 7-14 days. Often times we’ll have older backups available though this is not guaranteed.

These backups are available in two formats, Full or Partial VPS Restorations — both which we go into detail below:

Full VPS Restorations

Our Full VPS Restorations for our main VPS line and NVMe are provided for free.

  • To have your full VPS restored, simply open a ticket requesting it. We’ll provide a list of available restore points in which you can choose from.
  • Your VPS will be offline during a full restoration
  • The time it takes for your VPS to restore will depend on the overall size of your VPS (think GB) and the number of inodes (individual files) it contains. VPS’s with larger number of inodes (500,000+) will affect the restoration speed.
  • Partial VPS Restorations

    We can restore certain files, folders and databases as necessary. The restoration fee invoiced depends on the type of request.

    * Files/Folders = $10
    * Files/Folders & Databases = $20
    * Databases = $20

    This covers the initial restore request. Multiple files/folders/databases can be restored in a single request, all files/folders/databases must be provided at the time of the request.

    However, additional requests after the initial request will be subject to additional restoration fees based on restoration type required.

  • cPanel/DirectAdmin accounts that have been deleted cannot be restored.
  • We can however restore information which may have been deleted from an account such as emails or files. If an email account itself was deleted though, this account would need to be recreated via cPanel/DirectAdmin and we could then put the email files back in it. If you have any questions about this please ask us via a support ticket.
  • Cloud(KVM) Backups

    Much like their VPS counterpart, we maintain the same robust backup system for our Cloud(KVM) servers.

    • We backup each Cloud(KVM) server on our network every other day.
    • These backups are as old as at least 7-14 days. Often an older backup may be available, however, this isn’t guaranteed.
    • These do not omit any file paths like their VPS counterpart due to their virtualization.
    Full Cloud(KVM) Restorations

    Cloud(KVM) Restorations are provided for free.

  • To have your Cloud KVM server restored, simply open a ticket requesting it. We’ll provide a list of available restore points in which you can choose from.
  • Your Cloud(KVM) server will be offline during a full restoration
  • Partial Cloud(KVM) Restorations

    We can restore certain files and folders as necessary for a $20 fee. This covers the initial restore request of that specific file/folder. Multiple files/folders can be restored in a single request, all files/folders must be provided.

    However, additional requests after the initial request will be subject to additional restoration fees.

  • MySQL databases using the InnoDB engine cannot be restored unless ALL databases are restored (all of /var/lib/mysql).
  • cPanel/DirectAdmin accounts that have been deleted cannot be restored.
  • We can however restore information which may have been deleted from an account such as emails or files. If an email account itself was deleted though, this account would need to be recreated via cPanel/DirectAdmin and we could then put the email files back in it. If you have any questions about this please ask us via a support ticket.
  • Shared/Reseller/Semi-Dedicated Backups

    We create backups of your account(s) each day and retain two daily copies and one weekly copy as part of our complimentary Standard backups.

    Upgraded backups are available with our Professional or Premium backup options available to all shared and reseller packages detailed below. These packages offer greater retention and/or backup frequency than Standard backups.

    StandardProfessionalPremium
    Backup FrequencyDaily / WeeklyDaily12-Hour
    # of Backups Retained2 daily / 1 weekly3060


    Restoration requests for Shared/Reseller accounts are provided for free whether it’s a full account restoration or you simply need a specific file! We utilize Jetbackup on our Shared/Reseller/Semi-Dedicated network which allows us to provide a thorough and redundant backup solution.

    Simply open a ticket through the Support Portal regarding your restore request and our staff will handle the rest barring a few questions as necessary. 🙂

    What about unmanaged VPS/Cloud servers?

    Unmanaged VPS/NVMe and Cloud servers do have Full Restoration capability available.

    Backups as old as 7-14 days are generally available on request.

    Unmanaged server restoration requests are available at $35 per full restoration request.

    No partial restorations are available for unmanaged services. It’s recommended that you maintain your own separate backups in need of emergencies such as utilizing Jetbackup and our Remote Backup space.

    Hold on! What about Dedicated Servers?

    Managed Dedicated Servers come deployed with a 1TB secondary drive for backups specifically unless otherwise configured by the customer. This drive is intended to be used with the cPanel or DirectAdmin built-in backup systems.

    During our deployment of a Managed Dedicated Server, should the secondary drive be configured then during provisioning for whichever panel you utilize a default backup rotation is deployed in order to ensure that backups are operational!

    However, our Support department is available to assist you with creating and maintaining a robust retention plan to ensure proper coverage beyond what’s initially set — we recommend you contact us!

    Consider adding Jetbackup or Remote Backup space for additional backup consistency and redundancy. 🙂

    KnownHost VPS/Cloud backup images

    • Our backup files or images are not available for download nor can we make them available.