DigitalOcean is a cloud IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) provider that offers affordable cloud hosting solutions. It uses Droplets, which are essentially Linux-based VMs (virtual machines) that are layered atop virtualized hardware.
Think of each Droplet as a new server, which can work discretely, or as part of a larger infrastructure. Creating backups on DigitalOcean is very important to secure your data, and the company refers to each backup as a “snapshot”.
In this article, we’re going to talk about how long each DigitalOcean snapshot takes.
What are Snapshots?
DigitalOcean refers to snapshots as on-demand backups or disk images of Droplets and all associated volumes that are saved to your account. You can use these to replicate new volumes or create a new Droplet using similar content, and there’s no limit to the number of snapshots you can take.
How Long Does Each DigitalOcean Snapshot Take?
In general, each DigitalOcean snapshot takes between one and three minutes for each GB of disk space used on the Droplet. To put this into perspective, a Droplet that uses 5 GB of disk space will take between 5-15 minutes.
Therefore, the more disk space your server uses, the longer each snapshot’s going to take. Ideally, you’ll want to make sure that you regularly back up your Droplets. You can create snapshots from the control panel or with the API, and they become available for viewing immediately.
Keep in mind that there are going to be some instances where the snapshots may take longer, primarily depending on the volume of data, the disk space, and the load on each server. For instance, if the write load on your server is high, the Snapshots will take longer.
If you’re using RunCloud, you can back up your data pertaining to all web applications and databases (for further information about this, read our article on how to properly back up your website for disaster recovery).
You can also automate DigitalOcean Droplet snapshots using SimpleBackups, a third-party tool that creates backups and automates Droplet and Volume snapshots.
After Action Report — Backing Up Your Servers is Critically Important
The last thing you want is to lose any important data due to an oversight. That’s the reason why DigitalOcean snapshots can make it easy for you to back up your Droplets and volumes.
And if you have any important files, you can easily replicate them by creating additional Droplets.Are you backing up your servers frequently? Let us know the frequency you prefer, and any tips you think are essential in managing disaster recovery effectively by joining in the conversation in the comments (or by Tweeting @RunCloud_io). 💬
