I joined mastodon.xyz a few years ago and never had any problems. Then today I tried to sign on and couldn’t. The server simply isn’t reachable. I can (and have) created a new instanceuaccount on a new server, but losing all my data has me concerned. What should I do with my new account so I don’t lose everything if this instance also disappears someday?
You don’t even have to host your own yourself. There are several companies in the market which will host your personal instance for you for just a few $/€. Like a Webhoster. You have your own instance, but of course you don’t have full access to the server and data. Only the admin interface, just like simple Webhosting. The benefit: you don’t have to care about maintenance.