Pausing your hosting: how to keep your data if you don't need the service for a while

Sometimes a website is not needed for a while: a seasonal business, a project on hold, a redesign in progress. We are often asked to "freeze the hosting for free and keep the data until we come back". This article explains why we cannot do that, and how you can keep all your data anyway – without paying while you are away.

Why we don't store data for free

A hosting account is disk space on a server, daily backups, security updates and monitoring. All of this keeps running for a "paused" account exactly as it does for an active one. Storing it for free would mean other clients pay for it, so we do not offer a free pause.

Important: when a hosting service is cancelled, all its data (website files, databases, mailboxes) is deleted from our servers. We cannot restore it afterwards. Please make your backup before cancelling.

Recommended: make a full backup to your own storage, then cancel

You can export a complete copy of your hosting account from Plesk and keep it yourself. When you come back, you order hosting again and restore the copy – everything returns as it was: files, databases, mailboxes with all e-mails, domain settings.

Step 1. Prepare a place to store the backup

Backups that you create yourself in Plesk Backup Manager cannot be kept on our servers – server-side backups are handled by GARMTECH Rollback, which keeps snapshots of disk, mail and databases for more than a year and can restore anything down to a single file or a single e-mail, but only for active services. For your own copy Plesk needs a remote storage. In Backup Manager → Remote Storage Settings you can connect:

• FTP(S) or SFTP – for example your own NAS or home server (make sure it is reachable from the internet – port forwarding on your router), or any hosting with FTP/SFTP access;
• Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox – the easiest option if you already use one of these;
• Amazon S3 and other S3-compatible services.

For FTP/SFTP use a dedicated username and a strong password.

Step 2. Connect the storage in Plesk

1. Log in to My.GARMTECH, open your hosting service and click the button to log in to Plesk.
2. In Plesk open Websites & Domains → Backup Manager → Remote Storage Settings.
3. Choose the storage type. For FTP(S)/SFTP enter hostname, port, directory, username and password. For Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox click the link and sign in to your account. Save.

Detailed instructions: Schedule automatic backups in Plesk (and store them in remote FTP storage).

Step 3. Create the backup

1. In Backup Manager click Back Up.
2. Backup type: Full.
3. Content: Domain configuration and content – this includes website files, databases and mail (mailboxes with messages).
4. Store in: your remote storage.
5. Click OK and wait until the task finishes. For large accounts this can take a while.

Then check your storage: the backup file (.tar) should be there and its size should roughly match the size of your website and mail. If the backup failed, the reason is usually a wrong password or a storage that is not reachable from the internet.

Alternative if you cannot set up remote storage: you can back up manually – download the website files via FTP and export the database from phpMyAdmin. See Manual website backup in Plesk: download files and export the database. Note that this method does not include mailboxes – download important e-mails with your mail program (IMAP) first.

Step 4. Cancel the hosting

In My.GARMTECH open the service and request cancellation. Domain names are not affected – see below.

What is included in the backup and what is not

• Included: website files, databases, mailboxes with all e-mails, domain and DNS settings in Plesk.
• Not included: the domain name itself (it is a separate service and must be renewed separately) and the SSL certificate (we issue a new one when you come back).

Keep the domain

If you want to keep your domain name while the hosting is cancelled, simply continue renewing the domain in My.GARMTECH. The domain is independent from hosting. When you come back, the domain is connected to the new hosting in a few minutes.

Option: switch to a smaller plan instead of cancelling

If you want to keep the e-mail working and skip the backup/restore procedure, you can switch to the smallest hosting plan, or to a business e-mail plan if you only need the mail. Current plans and prices are on garmtech.com. This only works if your data fits into the smaller plan's disk space – check your disk usage in Plesk first. If it does not fit, use the backup option above.

When you come back

1. Order hosting at garmtech.com or in My.GARMTECH.
2. In Plesk of the new hosting open Backup Manager → Remote Storage Settings and connect the same storage, or use Upload Files to Server Repository to upload your .tar file.
3. Click Restore next to the backup and confirm.

Detailed instructions: Create and restore backups in Plesk (Backup Manager).

If anything goes wrong during backup or restore, contact our technical support – we will help.

In short

• There is no free pause; after cancellation the data is deleted.
• Make a full backup from Plesk to your own remote storage before cancelling.
• Keep renewing the domain if you want to keep the name.
• When you return, order hosting and restore the backup – everything comes back as it was.