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Backup & Snapshots

Protect your data and ensure business continuity with Lineserve's comprehensive backup and snapshot solutions. Create point-in-time backups of your VPS instances and block storage volumes.

Overview​

Lineserve provides multiple backup options:

  • VPS Snapshots: Complete system backups of your virtual servers
  • Volume Snapshots: Point-in-time backups of block storage volumes
  • Automated Backups: Scheduled backups with retention policies
  • Cross-Region Replication: Disaster recovery across data centers

VPS Snapshots​

What are VPS Snapshots?​

VPS snapshots capture the complete state of your virtual server, including:

  • Operating system and all installed software
  • Application data and configurations
  • System settings and user accounts
  • Network configurations

Creating VPS Snapshots​

Via Dashboard​

  1. Navigate to Compute > VPS Instances
  2. Select your VPS instance
  3. Click Actions > Create Snapshot
  4. Enter snapshot name and description
  5. Click Create Snapshot

Via CLI​

# Create a snapshot of VPS instance
lineserve compute create-snapshot \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --name "production-backup-2024-01-15" \
  --description "Pre-deployment backup"

# List all snapshots
lineserve compute list-snapshots

# Create snapshot with power-off (recommended for consistency)
lineserve compute create-snapshot \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --name "consistent-backup" \
  --power-off

Via API​

curl -X POST \
  https://api.lineserve.com/v1/compute/snapshots \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "instance_id": "vps-12345678",
    "name": "api-backup",
    "description": "Backup created via API",
    "power_off": false
  }'

Restoring from VPS Snapshots​

Create New VPS from Snapshot​

# Launch new VPS from snapshot
lineserve compute create-instance \
  --snapshot-id snap-87654321 \
  --plan standard-2 \
  --name "restored-server" \
  --region us-east-1

Restore Existing VPS​

# Restore VPS to previous snapshot state
lineserve compute restore-instance \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --snapshot-id snap-87654321 \
  --confirm

Volume Snapshots​

Creating Volume Snapshots​

# Create snapshot of block storage volume
lineserve compute create-volume-snapshot \
  --volume-id vol-12345678 \
  --name "database-backup-2024-01-15"

# Create snapshot with metadata
lineserve compute create-volume-snapshot \
  --volume-id vol-12345678 \
  --name "pre-upgrade-backup" \
  --tags "environment=production,type=database"

Restoring Volume Snapshots​

# Create new volume from snapshot
lineserve compute create-volume \
  --snapshot-id volsnap-87654321 \
  --name "restored-database" \
  --size 100

# Restore existing volume (destructive operation)
lineserve compute restore-volume \
  --volume-id vol-12345678 \
  --snapshot-id volsnap-87654321 \
  --confirm

Automated Backups​

Setting Up Automated Backups​

VPS Automated Backups​

# Enable daily backups with 7-day retention
lineserve compute enable-auto-backup \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --frequency daily \
  --retention 7 \
  --time "02:00"

# Enable weekly backups
lineserve compute enable-auto-backup \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --frequency weekly \
  --retention 4 \
  --day sunday \
  --time "03:00"

Volume Automated Backups​

# Schedule volume snapshots
lineserve compute schedule-volume-snapshots \
  --volume-id vol-12345678 \
  --frequency daily \
  --retention 14 \
  --time "01:00"

Backup Policies​

{
  "name": "production-backup-policy",
  "schedule": {
    "frequency": "daily",
    "time": "02:00",
    "timezone": "UTC"
  },
  "retention": {
    "daily": 7,
    "weekly": 4,
    "monthly": 12
  },
  "options": {
    "power_off": false,
    "consistent": true,
    "compress": true
  }
}

Cross-Region Replication​

Setting Up Cross-Region Backups​

# Replicate snapshots to another region
lineserve compute replicate-snapshot \
  --snapshot-id snap-12345678 \
  --target-region eu-west-1 \
  --name "dr-backup-eu"

# Enable automatic cross-region replication
lineserve compute enable-cross-region-backup \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --target-region eu-west-1 \
  --frequency daily

Backup Best Practices​

🔄 Regular Backup Schedule​

  • Critical Systems: Daily backups with 30-day retention
  • Development: Weekly backups with 4-week retention
  • Archives: Monthly backups with 1-year retention

📊 Testing Backup Integrity​

# Test restore process regularly
lineserve compute test-restore \
  --snapshot-id snap-12345678 \
  --instance-type test-small \
  --auto-terminate 1h

🏷️ Backup Naming Convention​

# Use consistent naming patterns
BACKUP_NAME="prod-web-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)"
lineserve compute create-snapshot \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --name "$BACKUP_NAME"

🔐 Security Considerations​

  • Enable encryption for sensitive data
  • Use IAM policies to control backup access
  • Regular audit of backup permissions
  • Secure backup storage locations

Monitoring & Alerts​

Backup Monitoring​

# Monitor backup status
lineserve compute list-snapshots \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --status failed

# Set up backup failure alerts
lineserve monitoring create-alert \
  --type backup-failure \
  --notification email:admin@company.com \
  --notification slack:ops-channel

Backup Metrics​

  • Backup success/failure rates
  • Backup duration and size
  • Storage usage and costs
  • Recovery time objectives (RTO)

Disaster Recovery​

Creating a DR Plan​

1. Identify Critical Systems​

# Tag critical instances
lineserve compute tag-instance \
  --instance-id vps-12345678 \
  --tags "criticality=high,backup-priority=1"

2. Set Recovery Objectives​

  • RTO (Recovery Time Objective): Maximum downtime
  • RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Maximum data loss
  • RTA (Recovery Time Actual): Actual recovery time

3. Automate Recovery Process​

#!/bin/bash
# Disaster recovery script
SNAPSHOT_ID="snap-latest-prod"
DR_REGION="eu-west-1"

# Launch recovery instance
lineserve compute create-instance \
  --snapshot-id $SNAPSHOT_ID \
  --plan standard-4 \
  --region $DR_REGION \
  --name "dr-recovery-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

Backup Pricing​

VPS Snapshots​

Snapshot SizePrice per GB/month
First 10 GBFree
10-100 GB$0.05
100GB+$0.03

Volume Snapshots​

Storage TypePrice per GB/month
Standard$0.05
High Performance$0.08
Archive$0.02

Cross-Region Replication​

  • Data transfer: $0.09 per GB
  • Storage in target region: Standard rates apply

Backup Automation Scripts​

Daily Backup Script​

#!/bin/bash
# daily-backup.sh

INSTANCE_ID="vps-12345678"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)
BACKUP_NAME="daily-backup-$DATE"

# Create snapshot
SNAPSHOT_ID=$(lineserve compute create-snapshot \
  --instance-id $INSTANCE_ID \
  --name $BACKUP_NAME \
  --output json | jq -r '.snapshot_id')

# Wait for completion
lineserve compute wait-snapshot-complete --snapshot-id $SNAPSHOT_ID

# Clean up old backups (keep last 7)
lineserve compute delete-old-snapshots \
  --instance-id $INSTANCE_ID \
  --keep 7 \
  --pattern "daily-backup-*"

echo "Backup completed: $SNAPSHOT_ID"

Database Backup Integration​

#!/bin/bash
# database-backup.sh

# Stop database writes (optional)
sudo systemctl stop postgresql

# Create consistent snapshot
lineserve compute create-snapshot \
  --instance-id vps-database \
  --name "db-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)" \
  --power-off false

# Restart database
sudo systemctl start postgresql

# Export database separately
pg_dump myapp | gzip > /tmp/db-export-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

# Upload to object storage
lineserve storage upload /tmp/db-export-*.sql.gz s3://backups/database/

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Snapshot Creation Fails

  • Check available storage quota
  • Verify instance is running
  • Review system logs for errors

Slow Backup Performance

  • Consider power-off snapshots for consistency
  • Check system I/O during backup
  • Use incremental backups when available

Restore Failures

  • Verify snapshot integrity
  • Check target region availability
  • Ensure sufficient resources

Recovery Testing​

# Regular recovery testing
lineserve compute test-recovery \
  --snapshot-id snap-12345678 \
  --test-plan basic \
  --notify-results admin@company.com

API Reference​

Snapshot Management​

Create Snapshot​

POST /v1/compute/snapshots
{
  "instance_id": "vps-12345678",
  "name": "backup-name",
  "description": "Backup description",
  "power_off": false
}

List Snapshots​

GET /v1/compute/snapshots?instance_id=vps-12345678

Delete Snapshot​

DELETE /v1/compute/snapshots/{snapshot-id}

Automated Backup​

Enable Auto-Backup​

POST /v1/compute/instances/{instance-id}/auto-backup
{
  "frequency": "daily",
  "retention": 7,
  "time": "02:00"
}

Next Steps​