ZFS: cannot destroy snapshot, it has holds
Your zfs destroy fails with dataset is busy or dependent clones. Find the hold, release the tag, use deferred destroy, and promote a clone safely.
Backups
Backups you have actually restored from. What to copy, where to keep it, and how to prove the restore works before you need it.
Filtering by topic #backups · clear
Managed Postgres vs self-hosting on a VPS
Managed Postgres or your own VPS: the four jobs that transfer, backups, upgrades, failover and monitoring, and how to work out where the cost crosses over.
Where Nextcloud in Docker Stores Files
Find the Nextcloud data directory inside the container, the host path behind the volume, and everything else a restorable backup needs beyond user files.
Storage VPS vs regular VPS: what changes
A storage VPS trades NVMe speed and CPU for cheap terabytes. See which spec lines separate it from a standard VPS, and which workload each one fits.
Self-Host ERPNext on a VPS with Docker
Run ERPNext on your own VPS with Docker: sizing, the eleven container stack, TLS, outbound email, version pinning, and a restore you have tested.
Self-host Chatwoot on a VPS with Docker
Deploy Chatwoot on a VPS with Docker Compose and Traefik: pinned tags, SMTP that actually sends, Postgres and uploads backups, and safe upgrades.
VPS snapshots vs backups vs clones
A snapshot lives on your provider's infrastructure, so it is not a backup. What each one restores, and what to fix on a cloned VPS before it runs.
SQLite in production on a VPS
SQLite is the right production database for most small apps on one VPS. WAL mode, busy_timeout, Litestream replication, and the limits that break it.
Recover files deleted with rm -rf
You ran rm -rf on the wrong path. Stop writing to that disk now, then work through the recovery options that actually exist on ext4, in order.
Proxmox Backup Server on a VPS
Run Proxmox Backup Server on a VPS as an offsite target: datastore setup, namespaces per host, prune and garbage collection, encryption keys, restore tests.
Back up and restore Immich on a VPS
What an Immich backup must contain, why a live copy of the Postgres data directory is not a backup, and the restore mistake that leaves a timeline empty.
Self-host Actual Budget on your own VPS
Run Actual Budget on a VPS with Docker Compose: the data volume, why the browser needs HTTPS, your first budget file, bank imports, and backups.
Vaultwarden backup and restore on a VPS
Copy a live Vaultwarden vault with sqlite3 .backup, keep the attachments, config.json and rsa_key files, then prove the restore works before you need it.
Back up and upgrade a Docker Compose stack
Docker Compose deploy guides stop at the login screen. Here is the rest: what to dump, which volumes to capture, how to prove a restore, and how to upgrade.
Is self-hosted storage cheaper than Dropbox?
A three year cost model at 1 TB, 4 TB and five seats: a Dropbox subscription against a storage VPS, offsite backup, a domain and your own hours.
What to Do If Your VPS Is Hacked
Your VPS is compromised. Isolate it at the provider firewall, snapshot the disk as evidence, rotate every key it held, then rebuild from a clean image.
Restic vs BorgBackup: which one to run
Restic reaches S3 and object storage on its own. Borg wants its binary on the far end and pays that back with speed over SSH. How to pick, with commands.
Run Nextcloud on a VPS: Docker, TLS, backups
Run Nextcloud on your own VPS with Docker Compose, Postgres, Redis and a TLS reverse proxy, plus the backup and upgrade steps that keep your data recoverable.
Docker Compose volumes: bind vs named
Bind mounts and named volumes in Docker Compose: which to use for config and for data, the file permission traps, and how to inspect, back up and migrate.
Restic backups: get your VPS data off the box
Restic sends encrypted, deduplicated backups from your VPS to another server or object storage, on a nightly timer, with a restore drill that proves it.
ZFS on FreeBSD and Linux: the RAM trade-off
ZFS gives a server checksummed data, free snapshots, send/receive replication and cheap compression. The ARC also takes your RAM. How to judge that on a VPS.
Immich self-hosting: 6 GB RAM and safe upgrades
The honest RAM number, port 2283 behind HTTPS, the exit 137 memory kill, and why Immich v3 will not start on a pgvecto.rs database. Restore steps included.
Storage VPS or a managed storage box?
A managed storage box sells terabytes with no shell. A storage VPS sells root. Where the capability line falls, and what 19 % VAT does to the price.
EU storage VPS: data residency and cost
EU storage VPS pricing starts with one division: monthly price over usable terabytes. Then check the residency claim, the processing agreement and the disks.
What you take on when you rent a VPS
The provider keeps the hardware alive. Updates, the firewall, real backups, abuse mail, RODO paperwork and the VAT on the invoice are yours.
Choosing a storage VPS: a buying checklist
Run down a storage VPS offer before you order: disk class and IOPS, fair use traffic, snapshot quota, root or SFTP only, contract term, and the GDPR paperwork.
How much storage VPS do you actually need?
Size a storage VPS from your own data: photo library, Nextcloud share and a restic repository whose size follows retention, plus the euro per terabyte math.
Cheap terabytes: storage VPS or object storage
Several terabytes for a few euros a month: what a storage VPS, a block volume and object storage really cost in the EU, and which one restores fast.
Back up to two restic repositories
Add a second restic repository without doubling your risk: separate init and password, back up twice or use restic copy, split timers, tested restores.
How to Migrate a Server to a New VPS
Move a live server to a new VPS as a rehearsed cutover: inventory, rebuild instead of clone, dump the database, lower DNS TTL early, verify, then switch.
Use a VPS as your off-site backup target
A snapshot at your provider is not off-site. Put backups on a VPS you control with Proxmox Backup Server or restic, and price the retention first.
RAID 10 explained for VPS storage
What RAID 1, 5, 6 and 10 survive, what a rebuild costs, and why VPS hosts pick RAID 10 for NVMe. Plus how to read /proc/mdstat, and why RAID is not a backup.