New backup system coming for VPS

[Quags]

A new backup system is coming. It will be available first to KVM (openvz later), and I am looking for suggestions clients may have on the backup system.

The basic requirements I had in designing this backup system, was that it is done on the fly with out downtime to the VM.

The backup system will operate as follows:
1) on demand backup (create an image of your VPS). The backup is done using LVM snapshots with out downtime . You will have a url the image can be downloaded. The backup will be a tar / gzip of all files, so the size depends on the amount of files you have not the space usage you have purchased.

2) Scheduled backup - similar to above, but daily / weekly / monthly is kept

I plan in the future to have these images be re-deployable on another VPS as a new install or the same VPS as a reinstall.

OpenVZ is a work in progress because it does not use LVM, another method will be used to ensure it can be down with out time down.

 

[Quags]

For openvz, currently there is a method but it has a small amount of downtime (suspend / resume using chkpnt ) at the final backup sync to ensure a consistent file.

 

[Quags]

Our initial backup system is done. Currently the option is in system management on the VPS information page under BACKUP VPS

You can create a single backup to our central backup system now. As explained on the backup page it is zero downtime for KVM systems. Openvz however has a downtime for a final sync on any files that changed since the backup process started. This is because LVM is not used on openvz so snapshots can not be done.

A completed backup can be restored, however the restore is in beta. This is the restore VPS option.

In the future a way to automate daily/weekly/monthly backups will be possible in addition to the on demand backups.

 

[Syed M. Ali]

I need backup system and now I use it for my VPSes. Thanks admin.

 

[Quags]

Currently it is on demand only, but we will be adding the daily/weekly/monthly.

The backup system is best on KVM.

 

[Navid]

Now can we use it on Openvz vps and how much time the VPS will be down?

 

[Quags]

Now can we use it on Openvz vps and how much time the VPS will be down?

No downtime on KVM. But on openvz the vps gets suspended for a final sync on files that may have changed during the initial backup process. So the downtime is shortened but its not possible to give an exact time frame. The more data/files, the longer the downtime.

 

[Quags]

Next to add is

- Storing multiple backups
- Downloading the backup (it is a tar/gzip in the end)

 

[kohler]

Right now it appears that only 4 backups can be created on OpenVZ. If I create a new backup and 4 already exists the system warns that a maximum of 4 backups have been reached. If I enter the name of a prior backup for my new backup the system will overwrite it. I usually put the date of the backup in the name so I know when the backup was created and I know which one is the most recent.

It would be a nice feature to be able to delete or rename previous backups so the date part of the name can be changed.

Johnny Harris
Harris-Dev LLC

 

[Quags]

A new feature has been added so backups can now be downloaded (click the floppy icon)

 

[Quags]

Old backups can also be deleted in the download backup section

 

[orlando curtis]

So does it has more feature or it still the same?

 

[Joe Huss]

Any suggestions or requests on features to add or incorporate into our backup system?

 

[Ryan Maxey]

Maybe like backing up a specific folder and downloading it from interserver.net? Backing up SQL databases? Not sure if it's possible.

 

[Quags]

Standard set up no

The backup system uses swift openstack, so I do plan I replacing the current backup in my.interserver.net section (for purchasing backups) to become swift. At that point using the API it would be possible to backup specific directories.

From the hostnode backup its the entire vps only.

 

[Jobayer Alam]

1.This is the most important and essential feature: auto schedule backup. please add this option so that we can take nightly backup automatically.

2. feedback: you can add backup time stat like required time to complete backup, % back done %of remain
these stats are very helpfull to understand how much time required to complete the process and when the back up will complete also easily we will be able to understand the backup system is working

 

[Quags]

Hello,
Autobackup is on the roadmap for the future.

For the actual backup we do now email a log file when completed. As far as percentage done, that is an interesting idea and we'll see if anything can be implemented.

 

[zalan.reilly]

A new backup system is coming. It will be available first to KVM (openvz later), and I am looking for suggestions clients may have on the backup system.

The basic requirements I had in designing this backup system, was that it is done on the fly with out downtime to the VM.

The backup system will operate as follows:
1) on demand backup (create an image of your VPS). The backup is done using LVM snapshots with out downtime . You will have a url the image can be downloaded. Nox Vidmate VLC The backup will be a tar / gzip of all files, so the size depends on the amount of files you have not the space usage you have purchased.

2) Scheduled backup - similar to above, but daily / weekly / monthly is kept

I plan in the future to have these images be re-deployable on another VPS as a new install or the same VPS as a reinstall.

OpenVZ is a work in progress because it does not use LVM, another method will be used to ensure it can be down with out time down.

I enter the name of a prior backup for my new backup the system will overwrite it. I usually put the date of the backup in the name so I know when the backup was created and I know which one is the most recent.

 

[Quags]

To prevent any overwrites, we append the date and a random 4 digits number when creating the backup.

 

[jessewalter375]

Tips For Backing Up Your VPS:-

1. Decide What Needs to Be Backed Up and Where
2. Decide on Your Backup Solutions
3. Automate Backups Wherever Possible
4. Diversify Your Backup Locations
5. Test Server Backups Before You Need Them
Hope this helps you.