Backups

Safeguard your data by creating point-in-time backups of block storage volumes for disaster recovery and long-term protection.

What are Backups?

Backups are immutable, point-in-time copies of your volumes. They are ideal for disaster recovery and for preserving data over time. Unlike snapshots of instances, backups operate at the volume level and can be restored to new or existing volumes.

Key concepts

Volume backups — point-in-time copies of a block storage volume
Volume status — attached vs detached; bootable vs data volumes
Consistency — for attached volumes, instances may need to be stopped for consistent backups
Lifecycle — create, list, and delete backups

When to use it

Protect critical databases and stateful services
Meet compliance or retention needs with periodic backups
Prior to risky changes such as migrations or upgrades

Features

Create backups for any volume you own
Smart confirmations for in-use or boot volumes
Clear status indicators during creation and deletion
Manage backups from desktop and mobile views

UI behavior summary

If the selected volume is attached, you will be prompted to stop the instance to ensure data consistency.
If the volume is a boot volume, the UI will guide you to create a Snapshot instead (snapshots are for instances/boot volumes).
Backup statuses include: creating, available, deleting, error_deleting.
Actions include: Delete backup.

Pricing

Backups are billed based on the backup size stored. See your billing page for details.

Next: Step-by-step Guide

Looking for a hands-on walkthrough? See the guide:

Go to the Backups Guide → Create, manage, and delete backups