Loss of files and account suspension

Today I read a post of someone who broke 4 different rules in the Terms of Service.
(http://www.000webhost.com/includes/tos.php)

He said because his account was suspended and all files were lost that he wanted free premium hosting for 2 years or he would take legal action.

This guy made several mistakes!

*1 He would not face the fact that his scripts were for gaming and mass mailing and he used a cracked VBulletin.

*2 Didn’t read the ToS properly it says about losing data - This is also a lisence which stops people like this.

*3 Tried to get something while he was on free hosting although it clearly states that it’s your own fault if you get suspended.

This is not to put you off joining what I still think (and always will) is the world’s best free host, but meerly a warning for those,who may get the urge (or unknowingly) break the rules.

Hello,

I completely agree with account suspension for someone, like mentioned above, who knowingly breaks the rules and with nefarious purposes. Make Sure you read the “Terms of Service” posted here: http://www.000webhost.com/includes/tos.php They provide all the warnings, disclaimers, and legal protection for the hosting service. Oh, and there is one other note that also indicates that account suspension reasons or rational are not debated or discussed due to security reasons. Basically, this provides a shield for the host to delete / remove / suspend accounts for no reason or justification (because they don’t have to).

My account suspension was different. I did not break the rules, I was hosting a simple WordPress site. I requested backups and was unable to obtain a backup from the ControlPanel (false advertising). I requested file support because the server had errors with poorly named files that I didn’t put on the server. The suggested ‘fix’ was to reset the account and re-upload all the content (files). Even after a support request, I was unable to get the back ups to work.

I received no warning, nor was there a way to recover files that were removed, without paying for the upgraded service. My Account was [COLOR=“Red”]suspended without warning[/COLOR], files were [COLOR=“red”]DELETED[/COLOR] and without a way to correct it. I lost all files and content.

[COLOR=“Yellow”]----[/COLOR][COLOR=“DarkOrange”]====[/COLOR][COLOR=“Red”]<<<<[/COLOR] [COLOR=“Navy”]HOST here AT YOUR OWN RISK / PERIL[/COLOR] [COLOR=“Red”]>>>>[/COLOR][COLOR=“DarkOrange”]=====[/COLOR][COLOR=“Yellow”]-----[/COLOR]

While I can also appreciate the ‘free’ aspect of this service and the limited help and resources that are available to assist thousands of accounts for no payment, the forced ‘upgrade’ path to a paid server leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Why would anyone want to upgrade to paid services when the ‘free’ service is unfriendly and unhelpful? Does paying a fee suddenly make service folks friendly? I doubt it.

The old adage certainly applies here: “you get what you pay for.” I now have since moved ALL my content and Domains to a paid server with multiple domains and everything just works. (… and it’s not HOSTING24!) Service tickets that I’ve put in are dealt with quickly, efficiently, CORRECTLY and with regular polite communication. I won’t even get into the server performance, uptime, availability, and email server functionality. That’s just another effort in disfunctionality.

For all you considering this service, make sure you keep your own backups via FTP and any SQL dumps from your DB; and keep them regularly. Ensure that your content is ‘throw-away’ because it’s certainly a possibility. Oh, and make sure it’s not important for internet folks to read your content. it may or may not serve up when it’s requested.

I’ve used several ‘professional’ hosts over the years and can definitely say that only a fool relies on the hosting provider to take and keep the back-ups.

This is not a gripe or slur against the long suffering server herders here but the sad fact that humans do occasional make errors and more than one junior tech has at some point inserted the wrong backup tape. Sadly that is just the tip of the iceberg for hiccups.

At least two server farms I know of suffered serious flooding with water three feet deep, fire is also more common than I previously believed as well. Thefts from server farms are a little harder to pin down, but if it unscrews somebodys probably thought about how to get them out and there are several reports of systems being carried off. Again less well advertised is the fact that Police on both sides of the atlantic have siezed entire farms, both multi-million installations and large home built set-ups.

For all webmasters and developers the three rules of backup should be a daily mantra.
**
Three copies of the data** - 1 at the host, 1 in the office, 1 in the email etc
Two different kinds of media - HDD, DVD/CD, Flash drive
One to be kept offsite - away from server & workstation

**Sogo7: **Completely agree with your philosophy. I was doing my best to create my own backups but the process was incredibly manual. The control panel had a backup functionality, but it didn’t work; AND when I asked about getting it fixed or corrected, the help ticket was denied / steered in the wrong direction. My last request for assistance was a very rude reply to a definite server issue. I couldn’t even get the manual process to work (i.e. my FTP program would quit halfway through the job due to a severed connection [from THEIR end]).

Could you let me know your ticket ID(s) so I can look into this?

lobrc: #601477

I apologise for the way you may have been dealt but there’s nothing that can be done. The only way to get your account unsuspended is to upgrade.

lobrc:

Thank you for taking the time to look into it. I appreciate your time. I only wish I could have known what the offending process was [I have my hunches]. I also would have appreciated a warning and the opportunity to correct it. The user experience on this end was unacceptable.

Perhaps for other folks in the future?

All I know is:

Account theaustringer.com has been automatically suspended for violating 20%+ CPU usage limit for more than 1000 times.

Unfortunately I cant be more exact as we don’t log that type of thing on free hosting.