Disaster Recovery and Data Accessibility at InstaWP

This document explains how InstaWP handles platform availability, hosted site accessibility, backup storage, and disaster recovery scenarios.

Understanding the Infrastructure

InstaWP is built as three independent layers, each isolated from the others:

• The dashboard (control panel): This is the interface you log into to create sites, run backups, manage plans, and trigger actions. It runs on its own application servers.
• The hosting servers: This is where your WordPress sites actually live and run. Your files, your database, and your visitor traffic are all handled here, on infrastructure that is separate from the dashboard.
• Backup storage: Your automated backups are written to separate, dedicated object-storage infrastructure (an S3-style bucket), isolated from the dashboard's application servers.

The reason this matters is simple: a problem in one layer does not automatically affect the others. The dashboard going down does not take your sites down, and it cannot touch your backups. Each layer can stand on its own.

What Happens During a Dashboard Outage?

A "dashboard outage" covers any situation where you cannot log into or use the control panel. For example:

• An infrastructure issue on the dashboard side
• A network problem preventing you from reaching the control panel
• Any scenario that stops you from logging in

In the unlikely event that the InstaWP application or dashboard becomes temporarily unavailable due to any outage, your existing live sites continue to operate normally, as long as the hosting infrastructure itself remains healthy. Visitors can keep accessing your website, and site functionality is unaffected. This is because your hosting runs on infrastructure that is separate from the dashboard.

This holds for outages measured in hours or days. A very prolonged control-plane outage could stall platform-run housekeeping such as automated SSL certificate renewal, so HTTPS on a site could eventually be affected if a certificate reaches its expiry date before the dashboard is restored.

What does pause during an outage are the operations that depend on the dashboard, including:

• Creating new sites
• Creating sites from snapshots
• Creating sites from templates
• Launching new WaaS instances
• Managing backups through the dashboard
• Accessing dashboard-based management tools

Once application availability is restored, these functions become available again. Everything that was already live keeps running throughout.

Accessing Live Sites During a Dashboard Outage

Because hosted sites operate independently from the InstaWP application, administrators can continue accessing their WordPress sites directly.

| Important: If you only ever log in to WordPress using the one-click login from the InstaWP dashboard, set and save a real WordPress admin password now. One-click login routes through the dashboard, so it will not work during a dashboard outage.

Without a standalone admin password set, you could be locked out of your own site at exactly the moment you need direct access. This takes two minutes today and is the single most effective step you can take.

For production sites, InstaWP recommends keeping the following information stored securely outside the dashboard:

• WordPress login URL
• WordPress administrator credentials (a real password, not one-click login)
• Domain management credentials
• DNS provider credentials
• Any SSH or SFTP credentials available for the site

Having these details available allows site owners to continue performing site-level administrative tasks even when the InstaWP application is temporarily unavailable.

Backup Storage Architecture

Automated backups created for InstaWP sites are stored on separate, dedicated object-storage infrastructure, isolated from the dashboard's application servers. Automated backups run on a rolling schedule (roughly weekly), with older copies rotated out over time. Backups created when a site is deleted are retained for approximately 14 days before they expire.

Backup data is kept within the same broad geographic area as the server running your site, so European data stays in Europe, US data stays in the US, and so on. For example, a site hosted in Germany has its backups stored in Frankfurt.

There is one current exception: UK sites have their backups stored in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, because the underlying storage provider does not offer a London region. UK backups therefore remain within the EU, but are not physically located in the UK.

It is worth being clear about what this separation does and does not give you. Keeping backups on separate object storage protects them from a dashboard or application-server problem. However, because this storage sits in the same provider region as your hosting, it is not a substitute for geographic disaster recovery.

A region-wide outage at the infrastructure provider could affect a site and its backups at the same time. For true geographic resilience, keep your own independent backup copy, as described in the best practices below.

Accessing Backups

Backup management, restoration, and backup downloads are currently performed through the InstaWP application. Under normal circumstances, users can:

• Browse available backups
• Download backup files
• Restore backups
• Create new sites from backups

If the InstaWP dashboard is temporarily unavailable, direct self-service access to backup downloads will also be unavailable during that period.

Emergency Backup Retrieval

In the event of a platform-level issue affecting dashboard availability, backup data remains available internally. If emergency recovery is required during such an incident, the InstaWP team can assist in providing your backup files when appropriate.

For business-critical workloads, InstaWP recommends maintaining additional independent backup copies as part of an overall disaster recovery strategy.

Recommended Disaster Recovery Best Practices

While InstaWP maintains automated backups and recovery systems, every production website should follow standard disaster recovery practices.

Recommended measures include:

• Set and save a real WordPress administrator password if you currently rely on one-click login, and store it securely outside the dashboard.
• Keep domain registrar and DNS access information readily available.
• Periodically download and archive important backups.
• Maintain at least one independent backup copy stored outside InstaWP's infrastructure for business-critical sites. Because automated backups live in the same provider region as your hosting, an independent copy is what protects you against a region-wide provider outage.
• Document recovery procedures for client projects.
• Ensure key team members know how to access the site directly without relying on the dashboard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my live site go down if the InstaWP dashboard is unavailable? 

No. The InstaWP application and hosting infrastructure operate independently. A dashboard outage does not automatically impact live site availability.  For very prolonged outages, automated SSL certificate renewal could be delayed, so HTTPS could eventually be affected if a certificate expires before service is restored.

Can I still log in to my WordPress site during a dashboard outage? 

Yes, provided you have a real WordPress admin password set and saved. If you only ever use one-click login from the dashboard, that route will be unavailable during an outage, so set a standalone password in advance.

Can I download backups while the dashboard is unavailable? 

No. Backup downloads are currently managed through the InstaWP application.

Are backups stored separately from the dashboard? 

Yes. Automated backups are written to separate, dedicated object-storage infrastructure, isolated from the dashboard's application servers. Note that this storage sits in the same broad geographic area as your hosting, so it protects you against a dashboard problem, but it is not a substitute for keeping your own independent, geographically separate backup copy.

Where are my backups physically stored? 

Within the same broad geographic area as your site's server. A Germany site backs up to Frankfurt, for example. UK sites are the exception: their backups are stored in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, since there is no London storage region. UK data stays within the EU.

Can InstaWP provide my backup if the dashboard is unavailable? 

Yes. In emergency situations, the InstaWP team can assist with backup retrieval when required.

What functionality is unavailable during a dashboard outage? 

Provisioning and dashboard-based workflows such as creating new sites, launching templates, creating WaaS instances, and managing backups may be temporarily unavailable until application access is restored.