Every Fast Hive shared hosting account is protected by automatic nightly snapshots taken at server level. That safety net is there for genuine disasters. It is not a substitute for taking your own backup before you change anything important - and the backups you take yourself are the ones you can restore instantly, without waiting for anyone. This guide covers both.
Part 1 - Restoring from Fast Hive nightly snapshots
Snapshots are taken automatically every night at server level. Nothing needs to be configured, and they cost you no disk space.
What you can restore yourself from cPanel is any backup you generated (see Part 3). Rolling back to a particular night from the server-side snapshots is done by our engineers, because it involves data outside your account:
- Open a ticket with Technical Support at My Support Tickets.
- Tell us the domain, the date and approximate time you want to return to, and exactly what needs restoring - a single file, one folder, one database, one mailbox, or the whole account.
- Say explicitly whether existing data may be overwritten. We will not overwrite anything without confirmation.
- We restore it and confirm when it is done.
Part 2 - Creating your own full backup
A full backup packages your home directory, all databases, email accounts and forwarders into one archive. It cannot be restored from cPanel by you, but it is exactly what our support team needs to restore an account, and it is the file to keep off-site.
- In cPanel, open Files → Backup.
- Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup.
- Set Backup Destination to Home Directory.
- Enter an email address to be notified when the archive is ready.
- Click Generate Backup. Large accounts can take several minutes.
- When the notification arrives, return to Backup, find the
.tar.gzfile and download it to your computer. - Delete the archive from the server afterwards. It counts against your disk quota and contains everything, including database passwords.
Part 3 - Partial backups you can restore yourself
These are the ones you will use day to day, and unlike a full backup you can restore them without help.
Home directory (your files)
In Files → Backup, under Partial Backups, click Home Directory to download an archive of everything in your account's file space. To restore, use the Restore a Home Directory Backup box on the same page.
Databases
Under Download a MySQL Database Backup, click the database name to download a .sql.gz dump. Restore it with Restore a MySQL Database Backup, or import the .sql file through phpMyAdmin.
Email forwarders and filters
Downloadable separately in the same panel. Small files, worth grabbing whenever you reconfigure mail routing.
Part 4 - Backups over SSH
SSH is included on every Fast Hive shared plan, which makes scripted backups straightforward:
# Archive the document root
tar -czf ~/backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz -C ~ public_html
# Dump a database
mysqldump -u dbuser -p dbname > ~/dbname-$(date +%F).sql
# Pull both down to your own machine
scp cpaneluser@yourdomain.com:~/backup-*.tar.gz ./A backup routine that actually works
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Every night | Nothing. Fast Hive snapshots run automatically. |
| Before any update or config change | Partial backup of the home directory and the relevant database. |
| Monthly | Full account backup, downloaded and stored off-site. |
| Before migrating or cancelling | Full account backup, verified by opening the archive locally. |
| Twice a year | Test a restore. An untested backup is only a hope. |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Backup generation never finishes | The account is close to its disk ceiling, so there is no room for the archive. Clear old backups, logs and cache folders first. |
| Restore finished but the site still looks broken | You restored files but not the database, or the other way round. For a CMS the two must match. Restore both from the same date. |
| Database import fails on "table already exists" | Drop the existing tables in phpMyAdmin first, or use the cPanel restore tool, which handles the overwrite for you. |
| phpMyAdmin import hits a size limit | Use the cPanel Restore a MySQL Database Backup tool instead, which is not bound by the browser upload limit. |
| The date you need is older than the snapshots kept | Open a ticket with Technical Support straight away. The sooner you ask, the more options remain. |
| Site was hacked - which backup should I use? | Restoring alone is not enough; the vulnerability comes back with it. Restore to a date before the compromise, then immediately update every application, theme and plugin and rotate all passwords. |
Frequently asked questions
How often are Fast Hive backups taken?
Nightly, automatically, on every shared hosting account. They are held at server level, so restoring from one is done by our engineers via a support ticket rather than from your cPanel.
Do backups count against my disk space?
Our nightly snapshots do not. Archives that you generate and leave in your home directory do, which is why you should download and delete them.
Can I restore a single file rather than the whole account?
Yes, and you should. From your own partial backups you can restore just the home directory or just a database. From a nightly snapshot, name the exact file, folder, database or mailbox in your ticket and we will restore only that. A targeted restore is almost always the right choice.
Does the backup include my email?
Yes. A full account backup includes mailboxes, forwarders and filters, and the nightly snapshots cover them too - an individual mailbox can be restored on its own if you ask for it specifically.
Should I also use a plugin such as UpdraftPlus or Duplicator?
It does no harm and gives you a second, independent copy. Just point it at off-site storage rather than your own hosting account, or you are storing the backup in the same place as the thing being backed up.
