Server Backups: Guide & Options
Backups preserve your data by making a copy of it locally and remotely (in the unlikely event that something happens to your server's software or hardware environment). Full backups, also called snapshots, offer comprehensive protection, capturing system states, applications, and data in one sweep. Maintaining two backup copies, diversifying backup locations, and creating backups of backups enhance data security and resilience.
Snapshot - this full system backup captures the entire image of your server, as you it was at the time of the backup. It provides complete coverage for data, ensuring robust (and nearly instant) recovery from data loss. ChartVPS offers Snapshots as a premium service to its VPS plans - see pricing below.
Incremental backups - incremental backups continuously update file changes, using less data and executing faster than full backups. However, multiple restore points can prolong recovery, and they do not create duplicate files like full backups. This is the sort of backup offered by cloud backup services such as OneDrive and Dropbox.
Differential backups - captures additions and alterations since the last full backup. Unlike incremental backups, it includes changes since the latest full backup, enabling faster data backup. These are more old-school, offered by desktop backup software.
Daily backups: These backups run once every 24 hours.
Weekly backups: These are scheduled to occur every seven days, four times a month.
Monthly backups: These are scheduled to run once a month.
Our Snapshot backup add-on service gives you the choice of frequency - it can be changed at any time by contacting us.
Discover the advantage of our enterprise-grade, daily Snapshot backup service - dependable, secure, and remarkably affordable! Higher plans have higher backup costs since they come with greater storage capacities. The price for a given plan is the same across all 3 frequencies.
Only a single snapshot (image) of your server is kept on our cloud storage servers - every time a new snapshot is taken, the prior one is deleted and replaced
If you are interested in adding backups to your ChartVPS subscription, either do so via Portal or talk to us
At present, our Snapshot backups are unavailable for dedicated servers. Nevertheless, you can set-up your own Snapshot, Incremental, or Differential backup system using Windows Server Backup. This involves saving the backup file onto a cloud server that is synchronized with your server. Here is a step-by-step guide to accomplish this:
Sign up for an account with a cloud storage provider that suits your needs. Popular options include Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3, or others.
Ensure you have sufficient storage space on your cloud account to accommodate the backup files.
On your Windows Server, open the Server Manager.
Navigate to the "Add roles and features" section and install the "Windows Server Backup" feature if it's not already installed.
Once installed, open the "Windows Server Backup" application from the Start menu.
In the "Windows Server Backup" application, click on "Backup Once" if you want to perform a one-time backup or click on "Backup Schedule" to set up a recurring backup schedule.
Select the items you want to back up, such as volumes, files, folders, or the entire system state (including registry settings).
Choose the destination where you want to save the backup files. If you would like it synced with your cloud provider (Dropbox, OneDrive, SpiderOak, etc.) choose its syncing directory on the drive.
Start the backup process by clicking "Backup" or "Schedule" depending on your chosen option in the previous step.
After the backup is complete, it will sync with your cloud provider, and also be available locally.
You can use the above process on a VPS running Windows Server as well
For more comprehensive details and step-by-step instructions on how to use the backup feature in Windows Server to back up and restore data, you can visit the official Microsoft documentation at the following link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/backup-and-storage/use-backup-feature-back-up-restore-data
If you just need to backup select files, you can skip Windows Server Backup altogether, and use your cloud backup provider for syncing select directories on the server with the cloud
Types of Backups
Snapshot - this full system backup captures the entire image of your server, as you it was at the time of the backup. It provides complete coverage for data, ensuring robust (and nearly instant) recovery from data loss. ChartVPS offers Snapshots as a premium service to its VPS plans - see pricing below.
Incremental backups - incremental backups continuously update file changes, using less data and executing faster than full backups. However, multiple restore points can prolong recovery, and they do not create duplicate files like full backups. This is the sort of backup offered by cloud backup services such as OneDrive and Dropbox.
Differential backups - captures additions and alterations since the last full backup. Unlike incremental backups, it includes changes since the latest full backup, enabling faster data backup. These are more old-school, offered by desktop backup software.
Backup Schedule
Daily backups: These backups run once every 24 hours.
Weekly backups: These are scheduled to occur every seven days, four times a month.
Monthly backups: These are scheduled to run once a month.
Our Snapshot backup add-on service gives you the choice of frequency - it can be changed at any time by contacting us.
VPS Backups via ChartVPS
Discover the advantage of our enterprise-grade, daily Snapshot backup service - dependable, secure, and remarkably affordable! Higher plans have higher backup costs since they come with greater storage capacities. The price for a given plan is the same across all 3 frequencies.
| Trader VPS | Day Trader VPS | Professional VPS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Snapshot | $15.00 USD/mo | $20.00 USD/mo | $30.00 USD/mo |
| Weekly Snapshot | $15.00 USD/mo | $20.00 USD/mo | $30.00 USD/mo |
| Monthly Snapshot | $15.00 USD/mo | $20.00 USD/mo | $30.00 USD/mo |
Only a single snapshot (image) of your server is kept on our cloud storage servers - every time a new snapshot is taken, the prior one is deleted and replaced
If you are interested in adding backups to your ChartVPS subscription, either do so via Portal or talk to us
Dedicated Server Backups
At present, our Snapshot backups are unavailable for dedicated servers. Nevertheless, you can set-up your own Snapshot, Incremental, or Differential backup system using Windows Server Backup. This involves saving the backup file onto a cloud server that is synchronized with your server. Here is a step-by-step guide to accomplish this:
Step 1: Prepare Your Cloud Storage Account
Sign up for an account with a cloud storage provider that suits your needs. Popular options include Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3, or others.
Ensure you have sufficient storage space on your cloud account to accommodate the backup files.
Step 2: Enable Windows Server Backup
On your Windows Server, open the Server Manager.
Navigate to the "Add roles and features" section and install the "Windows Server Backup" feature if it's not already installed.
Once installed, open the "Windows Server Backup" application from the Start menu.
Step 3: Configure Windows Server Backup
In the "Windows Server Backup" application, click on "Backup Once" if you want to perform a one-time backup or click on "Backup Schedule" to set up a recurring backup schedule.
Select the items you want to back up, such as volumes, files, folders, or the entire system state (including registry settings).
Choose the destination where you want to save the backup files. If you would like it synced with your cloud provider (Dropbox, OneDrive, SpiderOak, etc.) choose its syncing directory on the drive.
Step 4: Create Backup and Save to Cloud File Server
Start the backup process by clicking "Backup" or "Schedule" depending on your chosen option in the previous step.
After the backup is complete, it will sync with your cloud provider, and also be available locally.
You can use the above process on a VPS running Windows Server as well
For more comprehensive details and step-by-step instructions on how to use the backup feature in Windows Server to back up and restore data, you can visit the official Microsoft documentation at the following link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/backup-and-storage/use-backup-feature-back-up-restore-data
If you just need to backup select files, you can skip Windows Server Backup altogether, and use your cloud backup provider for syncing select directories on the server with the cloud
Updated on: 04/08/2023
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