VPS backups on InstantNode: schedules, restores, downloads

The most expensive part of a server failure is never the server - it is the data. Every InstantNode vServer therefore ships with a built-in backup system: full snapshots of your disk, stored on separate storage on the host, restorable with one click. Here is exactly how it behaves.

Scheduled or manual

In the Backups card of your server you set a daily schedule: pick the hour (UTC) and how many snapshots to keep - up to 3. The scheduler runs your backup at the chosen hour every day and prunes the oldest one beyond your keep limit. Prefer control? Hit Run backup now before every risky change; manual runs have a 30-minute cooldown so a stuck script cannot pile up snapshots.

Restore and download

Restoring rolls your entire server back to the snapshot - it is the big hammer, perfect for "the upgrade broke everything" moments. Restores stop the server, replace the disk and boot the snapshot state. You can also download any backup as an archive, which quietly enables the 3-2-1 rule: a copy of your server on your own disk, outside the datacenter entirely. All of this also works over the API - list, run, schedule.

What backups are deleted with

Transparency on lifecycle: backups belong to the server. When a server expires or is terminated, its backups are purged with it - that is a privacy feature as much as a housekeeping one. If you cancel a server (by disabling auto-renew), download the backups you care about before the period ends.

What this does not replace

Snapshots are whole-disk and point-in-time. For a database under constant writes, add an application-level dump (pg_dump, mysqldump) on a cron next to the disk snapshots; for irreplaceable files, keep an off-server copy - a storage VPS or your own machine. Backups you have never test-restored are hopes, not backups: restore once, on purpose, on a quiet afternoon.