Everything you need to know about DigitalOcean Backups

Everything you need to know about DigitalOcean Backups

DigitalOcean is one of the most popular cloud providers. It had an impressive growth in the last years by offering high-quality services, with a special focus on developer needs.

In this article, we will focus only on one of the many features offered by DigitalOcean: backups.

DigitalOcean Droplet Backups

DigitalOcean is using a snapshot-based backup system which creates a point-in-time image based on the current state of a Droplet.

Backups are automatically disabled and must be enabled for each Droplet. You will be charged 20% of the Droplet price.

Once enabled, DigitalOcean will automatically create one backup per week and will keep the last 4 backups. The backup is completed in the background and does not require to shut down the droplet.

DigitalOcean Volume Backups

DigitalOcean does not have support for Volume backups. Instead, You can create manual snapshots, but you will have to manage them. A snapshot uses the same system as a backup, with a few key differences:

  • you pay 0.05$/GB instead of 20% of the Droplet price
  • you must create and delete them manually
  • works for Droplets and Volumes

DigitalOcean Backups using Weap.io

Weap.io allows you to automatically create and manage your DigitalOcean backups for Droplets and Volumes. It uses the DigitalOcean API and all snapshots are securely stored inside DigitalOcean infrastructure.

Another nice feature offered by Weap.io is Region Replication. Basically, it allows you to automatically replicate your snapshots in multiple DigitalOcean data centers at no additional cost.