Online help
The web host accessible to all
Procédure
Your shared web hosting benefits from daily automatic backups covering your web files, MySQL databases (if applicable), and your emails. Backups are systematically performed for all plans — what varies according to your service level is the ability to restore these backups yourself from your LWS Panel. There are two levels: Free Basic Backups (self-service restoration up to 1 month, hosting up to 20 GB) and Business Option (self-service restoration up to 3 months, no size limit). For your emails, self-service restoration requires the Business Option or at least one Mail Pro address linked to your service: with Free Basic Backups only, it must be handled by a managed services intervention. Beyond these conditions, a managed services intervention remains possible.
Automatic backups are performed continuously for all our hosting plans, regardless of your service level. They are designed to allow you to revert to a previous state in the event of an error, accidental deletion, hacking, or software failure.
The technical features are the same for all customers:
The content of the backups depends on what exists on your hosting account:
| Plan | Web files | MySQL databases | Emails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain Plan | Yes | — (no database on this plan) |
Yes |
| Personal Hosting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Starter Hosting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Standard Hosting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Performance Hosting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The backup policy is the same for the Personal, Starter, Standard and Performance plans.
The frequency and retention are also the same for all customers:
So at any time you have about a dozen versions over 1 month, and even up to around twenty over 3 months depending on your restoration service level (see next section).
Since the backups are the same for everyone, the difference between Free Basic Backups and the Business Option lies in the ability to restore these backups yourself.
| Free Basic Backups | Business Option | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Included with your hosting | Subscribed through the customer area |
| Self-service restoration from the LWS Panel | Up to 1 month (daily + weekly) | Up to 3 months (daily + weekly) |
| Self-service email restoration | Not included (managed services intervention), unless at least one Mail Pro address is linked to your service: then it is included up to 3 months | Included, up to 3 months |
| Size limit for self-service | Hosting up to 20 GB | No size limit |
| Versions accessible in self-service | About 10 versions over 1 month | About 19 versions over 3 months |
| Beyond these conditions | Restoration possible via managed services intervention from your customer area | |
Activating the Business Option is retroactive: if you activate it today, your existing backups are kept for up to 3 months from their creation date, with no additional action required from you.
If your hosting exceeds 20 GB, self-service restoration via the LWS Panel is not available with Free Basic Backups — the backups are then reserved for internal LWS use. You can still trigger a restoration through managed services intervention from your customer area. To benefit from self-service restoration with no size limit, we recommend subscribing to the Business Option.
After termination of your hosting, backups are retained in accordance with the regulations in force (European GDPR and French legal obligations, including the ability to respond to judicial requests). For details, see our Terms and Conditions — data retention section.
Three restoration methods are available depending on your needs:
Available depending on your service level (up to 1 month with Free Basic, up to 3 months with Business Option). The procedure varies according to the type of data to restore:
To find out, service by service, what you can restore yourself, see the help article Which backup level should I choose for my web hosting?
The average restoration time is a few minutes. It can extend to several hours depending on the volume to process and the number of simultaneous restorations in the queue.
Before any major change, we recommend making a manual backup of your data:
To restore a backup beyond the self-service conditions (longer retention, hosting over 20 GB in Basic, searching for a specific backup, complex partial restoration…), you can trigger a managed services intervention from your customer area by choosing the “Backup search” service (€49 excl. VAT). This also applies to restoring your emails without the Business Option or a Mail Pro address. Our technical team will assist you: see How do I open a managed services request for the shared hosting and mail service?
Yes. Automatic backups are performed continuously for all our shared hosting plans (Domain Plan, Personal, Starter, Standard, Performance). What varies depending on your service level is the ability to restore these backups yourself from the LWS Panel.
At least once a day. Your web files can be backed up several times in the same day: the “Web Backups” tab of the “Backup Restorations” page in the LWS Panel can therefore display several backups on the same date, each with its own time. Your MySQL databases are backed up once a day, at night (“MySQL Backups” tab, one line per database per day). Your emails are backed up every day.
Up to 1 month with Free Basic Backups (the last 7 daily backups and 1 weekly backup). Up to 3 months with the Business Option. Beyond that, restoration remains possible via a managed services intervention. For emails, see the next question.
No, unless at least one Mail Pro address is linked to your service. Your emails are indeed backed up every day, but self-service restoration from the LWS Panel (“Email Backups” tab) requires the Business Option or a Mail Pro address; in both cases, it is possible for up to 3 months. Otherwise, a technician restores them as part of a “Backup search” managed services intervention (€49 excl. VAT). See the email restoration procedure.
Your web files and emails on all plans. Your MySQL databases on the plans that include them (Personal, Starter, Standard, Performance — not the Domain Plan, which contains no database). What is backed up is not always restorable in self-service: this is the case for emails without the Business Option or a Mail Pro address.
Backups are still performed, but self-service restoration via the LWS Panel is no longer available with Free Basic Backups. You can trigger a managed services intervention from your customer area, or subscribe to the Business Option to keep self-service without any size limit.
Activation is done from your LWS Panel customer area, in the backup section of your hosting plan.
Yes. Activating the Business Option is retroactive: all your existing backups are kept for up to 3 months from their creation date, with no additional action required from you.
Yes. Identify the date before the hack, then restore your web files and MySQL database from the LWS Panel. See the procedure.
Yes for a full restoration: all changes made after the backup date are replaced. To preserve changes, use targeted restoration file by file or directory by directory.
A few minutes on average. Depending on the volume to process and the number of simultaneous restorations, the delay can reach several hours.
Yes, from the LWS Panel you can generate a download link to retrieve a backup on your computer. See the procedure.
Yes, the entire document root is backed up, including hidden files.
Yes. The storage infrastructure is entirely in RAID. Our technical team replaces failed disks without interruption or data loss.
Backups are retained in accordance with the regulations in force (GDPR and French legal obligations, including the ability to respond to judicial requests). For details, see our Terms and Conditions.
Ask the LWS team and the community. Answers are published after moderation.
About LWS :
LWS is a 100% French web hosting company that focuses on quality and innovation and offers a responsive and competent technical service at affordable prices.
Yes
No