Backup Policy, Do You Provide Backups?
HostGator Automatic Backups
HostGator's automatic backup service runs once a week on a random day, and each run overwrites any previous backups. Only one week of backups is kept at a time. The terms of our backup policy vary depending on the type of hosting account.
Customers with critical business information or important data are STRONGLY encouraged to seek a third-party backup service, such as CodeGuard, to protect against unforeseen circumstances. Such services provide more fine-grained control over backup and restore operations, allowing the service to be tailored to specific requirements.
Here are the backup policies per hosting plan.
- Shared Hosting Plan ⤵
- VPS Hosting Plan ⤵
- Linux Dedicated Hosting Plan ⤵
- Windows Dedicated Hosting Plan ⤵
- Large Backups for Shared Hosting Plans ⤵
- Backups FAQs ⤵
Shared Hosting Plan
For non-specialized shared plans, HostGator creates daily, weekly, and monthly backups based on cycles set within the server for accounts under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes. Please note that given what day the server cycles run, the weekly and monthly backup(s) could be the same as the daily backup.
For WordPress hosting, HostGator creates weekly backups of shared servers for accounts that are under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes.
VPS Hosting Plan
Our VPS servers were upgraded to the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) platform. Upon signup, VPS plans have backups enabled to daily/weekly/monthly. With this type of hosting, you will need to manage your own backups.
To reconfigure your backups, please reference the article, Preferred Backup Configurations for Dedicated and VPS Systems.
Linux Dedicated Hosting Plan
HostGator does not create backups for Dedicated servers. By default, new servers are set up with RAID 1, which mirrors data on two hard drives; however, this is not a solution for backups. Although HostGator does not make backups of Dedicated servers, there are many options available for making your own backups. Upon signup, Dedicated servers have backups enabled to daily/weekly/monthly.
To reconfigure your backups, please visit the article, Preferred Backup Configurations for Dedicated and VPS Systems. for the instructions.
Windows Dedicated Hosting Plan
By default, Windows Dedicated Servers are configured with daily incremental backups of the primary disk (C:\). Because only the primary disk is being backed up, we strongly recommend against storing content on the secondary disk. Additionally, the servers are set up with RAID 1, which mirrors data on two hard drives, which will protect against data loss from drive failure. For information regarding how you may create full server backups on Windows dedicated servers, please reference the following article:
Large Backups for Shared Hosting Plans
You may only create manual backups via cPanel of 10 GB or 150,000 inodes or less. If your backup is larger than 10 GB or over 150,000 inodes, you should contact us via phone or chat for assistance.
HostGator cannot create full backups of accounts that are larger than 20 GB. Other limitations may also apply. Only one cPanel backup file may be stored in any Shared account. Please see our Terms of Service for additional information.
| Size (up to) | Allowed to be saved on the server? | Will automatic backups be made? | Manual backups can be made? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 GB Space | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by you or us |
| 10 GB Space | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 20 GB Space | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 50 GB Space | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| 100,000 inodes | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ Yes, by you or us |
| 150,000 inodes | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 250,000 inodes | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ Yes, by us |
| 300,000 inodes | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
Backups FAQs
The following are commonly asked questions about HostGator's backup policy.
What if my account was suspended?
If your account is suspended less than one week before we run backups, your account will still be backed up.
If you have been suspended for more than a week when we run backups, your old backup will be erased, and your account will not be included in the new backups. We will thus have no backups for your account.
Am I able to download a copy of the backup on my own?
If you have CodeGuard in your account, you can easily access and download a copy whenever you need it, no matter your hosting plan. Plus, your cPanel also provides a built-in backup solution. To learn more about creating and downloading your own backup, check out this helpful article.
How do I restore my own backup?
A partial backup, such as a MySQL database or home directory, can be restored with the Backup icon within cPanel (the same place where the user has generated the backup).
The root user must restore a full backup for the server. To request the restoration of your content from a backup file, contact us. Please clearly indicate what content you want to be restored and anything you do not wish to restore.
- HostGator requires a one-time fee of $49.00 to complete a restore request or provide a copy of the courtesy backup. For more information, please visit HostGator - What is a Paid Restore Service?
- To learn more about HostGator's backup policy, please check out our Terms of Service.