VPS backups — 3-2-1 strategy and snapshots
The 3-2-1 rule is the industry standard for backups:
- 3 copies of your data (original + 2 backups)
- 2 different types of media (e.g. local disk + cloud)
- 1 off-site copy, geographically isolated
Snapshots vs full backups
| Criterion | Snapshot | Full backup |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | 5-10% of total volume | 100% of volume |
| Creation time | 2-5 minutes | 30-60 minutes |
| Restoration | Fast point-in-time | Independent, portable |
| Cost | Low | High (storage) |
| Recommended use | Before deployments, daily | Monthly archive, compliance |
Recommended frequencies
| Server type | Snapshot | Full backup | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production web VPS | Every 6h | Weekly | 14d snapshots / 3 months full |
| Database VPS | Every 4h | Daily | 7d snapshots / 30d full |
| Development VPS | Daily | Monthly | 7d / 3 months |
Creating a WebTic snapshot
- Client area → My Services → Select your VPS
- Snapshots tab → "Create a snapshot"
- Name the snapshot (e.g.
before-migration-2026-04-08) - The snapshot is available within 5-10 minutes
Automatic local backup (rsync)
# Daily backup to NAS storage 0 2 * * * rsync -av --delete /var/www/ /mnt/backup/www/ 0 3 * * * mysqldump -u root -p your_db | gzip > /mnt/backup/db/$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz
Restoration test (mandatory monthly)
An untested backup is not a backup. Procedure:
- Select a random snapshot (not the latest)
- Restore it in an isolated environment (VPS clone)
- Check: database integrity, services starting, application working
- Document the restoration time (target RTO: < 4h for standard production)
Recovery objectives (internal benchmarks)
These values are indicative internal objectives, to be adapted to your business: they are neither a guarantee nor a contractual commitment.
- Critical production RTO: < 1 hour
- Standard production RTO: < 4 hours
- RPO (maximum data loss): < 6 hours (with snapshots every 6h)
