My web host Dreamcode encountered what a staff described last week as “hardware issues” in the server where I upload my Web files. These “issues” resulted in server downtime and, much worse, the deletion of my database files.
As you know, blogs manage content through database-generating programs like PHP. Given that I failed to have a local backup of my posts from August 2005 to March 2007 – and there are over 100 of them! – the latter are now obliterated from cyberspace.
In other words, my erstwhile blog Solar Power is no longer in existence. (If you’ve typed “solarpower.dannyarao.com” on your browser’s address bar, this would explain why you’ve been redirected to this new subdomain.)
If it’s any consolation, all of my HTML, JPG, PDF and other non-database files are still intact. This means that Danny Arao online and (more importantly?) Danny & Joy: The Wedding Special were not affected by my web host’s server problems. I am also fortunate to have saved the widgets and plugins I installed on Solar Power which I obviously re-installed here. Some of them, of course, had to be re-generated to reflect the new subdomain name.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming my web host which still charges the one of the lowest rates for domain name registration and web hosting, and whose technical support remains efficient. In fact, I even admire the staff’s curt, apologetic and firm replies regarding the status of my erstwhile blog.
Much as I hate to admit it, it’s my fault that I failed to back up my PHP-generated files. Let this be a lesson learned to all you bloggers out there (as well as webmasters who maintain database files): Back up EVERYTHING!
By the way, please contact me as soon as possible if your website is not yet on my blogroll. Just like my posts, I did not have list of websites I included in Solar Power. As of today, I only have those that link to my former blog as reflected in Google “link” search.
Having said that, welcome to my new blog aptly called Rising Sun. Consider this not a fresh start but a forced one.
Sir, I’m very sorry for what happened. It’s really quite painful to have all your blog entries suddenly obliterated. I’ve been there at least twice already.
However, you can actually have some of your files back. Internet Archive has a few pages of your site. And because I read your blog through your feeds, I have a copy of some of your old blog entries. However, posts that have been stripped by the more tag are cut, and the oldest entries are only available in excerpts. But anyway, I’ve copy-pasted my feed reader in Frontpage so there are a lot of unnecessary tags in the file. You can download it here po. :)
Backup, backup! :D
Reply: Thanks for your comment and I really appreciate your help. Not that I’m making any excuses, but I was under the impression that my web host backs up all files in its servers. Obviously I was wrong. Either way, I wish you all the best and I hope you have a productive summer. You have the distinction of being the first to post a comment on this new blog. Cheers!
Kaya pala for days wala po ang blog ninyo – buti nakita ko ito, or naka-link ako sa inyo….
Dapat nga po lagi kayong naka-back-up :-) especially for a blog like yours that doubles as a reference. :-)
Reply: Thanks for the message. I think you were able to locate this new blog because I programmed the subdomain “solarpower” to redirect to “risingsun.” By the way, I will also add your blog to my links section. If you need to refer to old posts, I will make available soon a PDF file of some of my old posts, thanks to Shari who unlike me knows how to back up her files, including old RSS feeds from my old blog.