HE makes backups on it's own.
Right ?
So where are backups from last year ???
Mine are on a PC but under no circumstances would I load any more than a couple of weeks old as I'm always changing things.
How many do you expect a device like the HE hub to store? It's a device that cannot compare to a $30K server.
Your hub obviously had an issue and because of that you now have backups that aren't older than 5 days ago.
Again, a device like this does not have infinite storage. Allot of other hubs don't even provide any type of backup. So, I don't get what you're complaint is here.
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It does state clearly that 5 days of backups are stored and also recommends you download a backup. Sorry you missed reading this.
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You are acting like a spoilt child which is not helping anyone help you.
For someone who seems knowledgeable about IT systems and is running a remote Home Automation system, you didn't check how many backups are stored on the device itself or use the option to download one to store elsewhere? I make hard copy backups for my hub on my PC (and from there to cloud storage) every time I change something significant on my hub and I live in the place where my hub is. To not do so when you are remote is asking for trouble IMO.
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Limited resources on the hub. It is up to you to setup a procedure to offload backups, same with any other system.
This does bring up an opportunity to improve the backup/restore experience. An option could be added to mark a backup as read-only which would not be overwritten. It would be up to you to flag it. I have no idea if they would even consider implementing something like this. I'll submit a feature request. Another option would be to also include a 30 day backup in the schedule. Where would it end? Ultimately it is up to you to keep copies of your backups.
sucks to see that happened to you. This community is here whenever you are ready for help. We are also interested in why your hub failed. Let us know when you are ready. Cheers.
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So if you are not here to actually get help and support from the community, why are you spending time here?
I don't work for HE, I'm here spending personal time to help people others. But I'm (we are) not punching bags for anyone. If you don't want productive constructive help from the community, with a constructive attitude, please do what you said you are going to do.
Or a much better route would be to change the attitude and realize a bunch of neighbors are here to help you through these problems and see whats up while you also work with support.
Your choice, and as @Navat604 eloquently said, we as a community are here when you are ready for help.
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Seems to me that some sort of HW failure occurred that caused a factory reset of some kind. If I was planning on being gone for months at a time, I would have multiple redundant systems in place as well as an UPS (which I have as well as the OP). They should give the Hubitat staff an opportunity to root cause the problem)
I manually make backups to my PC when I make changes. But this thread did prompt me to look at the hub's auto-backup history. I did notice that the backup file size grows day-by-day. Do backups include log files as well? That's the only thing I can think of that would cause the file to grow daily.
So.
Let's go from beginning :
If I were someone who is taking care of software platform, I would make such control that explicitly asks user/admin if the backup is to be made and old one overwritten.
However, I can agree that I should be wiser to make backup on my local pc and restore it if antyhing goes wrong.
However...
I am not complaining about anything in particular, but situation that box lost it's database on it's own is something that needs to be taken care of. Mine might be faulty, (and that is perfectly ok, I can give credit that some part in it is not at it's best), and that is something I haven't taken in consideration.
I may agree on one that I am acting as spoiled child who's toy is not functioning well or at all, but if You were me, and where You made something that is supposed to be "bulletproof" with all features, would You be acting like me?
I trust You would.
I am not sure of hardware platform of that one, but my solution would be simple and cheap MC slot where all settings could be stored and today we are whitnessing all these cards for, literally, peanuts. If that would mean few dollars more in final price, so be it.
Else than this,
There is no record of older backups, I have scrolled through log, and that one is, also, a week ago.
My frustration is on me personally, I really do not need to vent it out. However, since that is really cheap platform in comparison to others, (4 to 6 or even more, times HE's price), I will do my own sollution.
On that note, I already have set up my alternative ecosystem, and have decided not to go with HE anymore.
However,
It will remain as experimental platform to work on where I will try to figure out what happend in this situation and share it, as well as will try to make my own improvements on this one, (weather it is software of hardware requirement)
Yet, agian,
the box in this stage of development is NOT RELIABLE, having this experience.
Why I am considering this
Here is why in short,
Something that has to manage one's house regarding light, heating, cooling, and safety/security, should be far more buletproof than it is now.
So here is to designer / software engineer,
Please, make note of these, and try to fix these flows, (and i trust it is possible).
Cheers to all here,
I have no will to discuss this further on, until I arrive home and check what happend
Whoever claimed Hubitat (or any piece of home electronics) was "bulletproof"?
I think your expectations are totally unrealistic.
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I have them archived on my NAS.
So if you really don’t care, why post and complain about it? Move on and enjoy something else. Life is short.
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Do you honestly believe what you wrote? Do you seriously consider electronic devices to be "bulletproof"? Also, where does Hubitat say or guaranty anything about it's hubs being "bulletproof"?
In your opinion, due to an unforeseen circumstance after which a)you haven't reached out to support for help, b)you clearly have given up on. Hubitat is not in business to put out "unreliable" devices and, since you are on these forums, can clearly see that there are many, many people using Hubitat hubs without issue.
You, for some reason, have unrealistic expectations. Do you truly believe that a SmartThings or Vera hub cannot or will not fail? You came on here expecting something by posting. What that is, at this point, I do not know. What I do know, is that your assessment of the product is off base and one "bad" experience will not put Hubitat out of business nor stop others from using Hubitat products.
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What you said is uneralistic, and that is main reason we came to "spending mentality".
However,
I gave it chance and it failed, on two main reasons.
My ignorance to make my own backup, (I must admit it),
And on failproofnes what was main drive to make this topic.
However as I said,
it will remain as experimental platform, and other one is going to take it's place.
@Bago. I hope You are not one of commercial software developpers for this platform. If You were, this all thread is on Your acocunt !
What on earth are you talking about? I suggest you take a break for 60 minutes and relax, you are just ranting.
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I'm getting ready to break out some popcorn!!! 
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I almost totally agree with you. Problems can occur (and in your case you can eliminate the power outage) but it's not normal.
I say almost because your statement "Device should not reset it's database under any condition" is an ideal.
In real world, failures can occur. And watch the net to see how many failures happened for reasons, independant of the price. When you see a proton rocket destroyed for a gyroscope malfunction or an Ariane rocket destroyed for a software error, you can imagine for a device of 65$ value...
That said, you have rights. If the problem is hardware, you have a warranty and I'm sure HE team is not against you and willing to solve your problem.
That's sad of course, Everybody wants a running device without problems, but 100% success is theorical. We live in a real world with failures.
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Well, that is some good idea.
I am going to sleep.
I cannot make any influence on what is now given state.
As I said,
I will go through all after I come home, which is 20 days away now.
On anything I find, I will post here so all here will be awared of what happend in hope to make life easier to others.
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I totally agree with You.
Still, I have no will to change my box, whatsoever.
First, it would take to much time and hassle to have it back with some extra expenses, (really does not matter how much but in this case it might not be justifed).
However, something like this, (and I am one who used to make some hardware in my past), should have "minimum operationability" in such cases. Someone here said, it has limited ammount of memory. That is my point too.
Instead of integrating memory in it, one could put SD card reader/writer on board, and I trust it would not cost far more than it is now, and user can "tuck" any SD card in it to have as many backups and all others as much as the card size is!
Arianne, is complex project where, virtualy, anything can go badly wrong.
However, this is one small project, and some wisdomness could be very useful !
It could be a solution. But it opens new problems too. SD cards are prone to failures too. High levels of read/write. More physical devices leads to more risks. The SD memory could be corrupted, the reading/writing system could be damaged too, etc.
There are different grades on SD cards: industrial grades, military grades (prices up), sdcards for dashcams (lots of writing in real time), etc. There is no solution with no failures possibilities.
You, as an user, need to be smarter than the devices, and backups are clearly a good (cheap) solution. Have 2 units is maybe another solution in case of very important tasks involved.
And I don't speak about HE here. For everything. You need to identify the risks in case of a failure to minimize them.
I have 2 bilge pumps (1 spare) for my pond because I don't want to kill my fishes because of a failure. My pump is running well, but my failure tolerance is 1 day (lack of oxygen for the fishes in summer time). I purchased then a second unit and now I'm happy to have that backup.
Same story for things you find important. Your life will be easier.
Have a nice sleep !
Mike
