Backups, RAID, and Data Protection

Three separate things protect data on a NoBull Networks server, and they are often confused: RAID on the host, the backup included with your plan, and the backups you make yourself. Only the last one is truly under your control, and our Terms of Service are blunt that the responsibility for your data is yours. This guide explains what each layer does so you can build a strategy that lets you sleep.

RAID is not a backup#

Every host node stores customer data on RAID arrays (RAID-1 or RAID-10, NVMe on the Performance line and hardware RAID-10 SSD on the Foundational line). RAID mirrors data across drives, so a single failed drive is a non-event: the array keeps serving and we swap the disk. It does nothing about the things that actually lose data day to day: an accidental rm -rf, a bad migration, ransomware, or a bug that corrupts a database. Those get mirrored faithfully to every disk.

The included off-node backup#

Every VPS plan includes one free backup, stored off the host node so that a failure of the machine your server runs on does not take the backup with it. Think of it as a safety net for the whole-server disaster case. Backups are managed from the Backups tab of your server in the cloud portal.

• What it holds: a copy of the server's disk, not the portal-side settings. One included backup means one slot: treat it as a point-in-time image rather than a versioned history, with a newer backup rotating out the older one.
• Schedule: where your plan includes scheduled backups, open Schedule settings on the Backups tab, choose how often and when, and Save Changes. Use Create Backup for an on-demand copy where the button is offered.
• Restore: on the Backups tab, open the menu (the arrow icon) next to the backup and choose Restore. Restoring rolls the entire server back to that point; everything written since is lost. On some storage formats a restore also discards the server's snapshots.
• If your plan does not expose the control you need, open a ticket and an engineer will restore for you.

Snapshots#

The cloud portal also offers snapshots: near-instant point-in-time copies stored on the same host as the server, ideal as an undo button before an upgrade or a risky change, and unsuitable as your only copy. They are covered in Snapshots: Create, Revert, and Delete.

Backups you control#

A good strategy has a copy off the server, a history of versions, and a restore you have actually tested. On a Linux VPS the tooling is free and mature:

restic or BorgBackup

Encrypted, deduplicated, versioned backups to another server, an S3-compatible bucket, or Backblaze B2. Run nightly from cron or a systemd timer. This is the recommended default for most servers.

rsync

Simple file mirroring to another machine you control. No versioning by itself, but easy to reason about; pair it with dated directories or a snapshotting filesystem on the destination.

Database dumps

Back up databases with their own tools (mysqldump, pg_dump) rather than copying live data files, then include the dumps in the file backup.

Application-level backups

Nextcloud, WordPress plugins, and control panels such as cPanel and DirectAdmin ship their own backup features. Use them, and still send the output off the server.

A minimal restic example that backs up to another host over SSH:

export RESTIC_REPOSITORY=sftp:[email protected]:/srv/restic/web1
export RESTIC_PASSWORD_FILE=/root/.restic-pass
restic init                                    # once
restic backup /etc /home /var/www /var/backups # nightly
restic forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --keep-monthly 6 --prune

Test the restore#

A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a plan. Once a quarter, restore a file (or a whole directory) somewhere harmless and confirm it is what you expect. Write down how long a full restore takes; that number is your real recovery time.

Game servers#

Game servers use the panel's own backup system, which supports manual and scheduled backups and needs free space in your allocation to complete. See Game Server Backups and Schedules.

Before you cancel or reinstall#

Cancellation and reinstalls destroy the data on the server. Take a final backup, verify it, and only then proceed. See Cancel a Service and Reinstall Your VPS Operating System.