Regarding the Windows VPS with IIS and SQL Server Express.
After being burned by a VPS service in the past (complete system crash), I am hoping that technology has improved.
Do any of the VPS hosting providers provide a full backup and restore service, including data and operating system, at a reasonable price on low-end VPS packages?
I need to be able to perform ad-hoc backups of the entire system so that I can restore from them if the entire machine crashes and I lose my VPS.
Most VPS hosts have some sort of local backup system (even if it is not advertised), and it can be very useful for performing a quick restoral after accidentally deleting data. However, I would strongly advise you to first set up an external system that is offsite, automated, frequent, and independent of the host.
A host-provided backup will not help you if the host goes out of business unexpectedly (which has happened twice to me) or if there is a backup power problem, router or cable problem at the data center (several times), fire or theft (one of each), human error (several times), DoS attack, and so on.
