A simple 3-2-1 backup strategy that actually works

A backup you’ve never restored is a hope, not a backup. The 3-2-1 rule is the simplest way to make sure you can actually recover.

The rule

3 copies of your data (the live one + two backups).
2 different storage types/locations.
1 copy offsite — somewhere a server fire, a bad deploy, or a ransomware hit can’t reach.

Applying it with OrbixPanel

OrbixPanel’s backups use restic, which makes encrypted, offsite snapshots to object storage (S3-compatible) or another target — that’s your critical “1 offsite” copy.

Set a destination. Point backups at an offsite bucket/repository. Because restic encrypts before upload, the provider never sees your data.
Schedule it. Daily is a sensible default for an active site; more often for busy databases.
Set retention. Keep, say, 7 daily + 4 weekly + 6 monthly snapshots. Restic prunes the rest so storage doesn’t grow forever.
Back up both files and databases. A site is its files plus its database — you need both to restore.

See Backups & restore for the step-by-step.

The part everyone skips: test a restore

Once a month, restore a snapshot to a test location and confirm the site comes up. This catches the nasty surprises — a missing database, an incomplete backup, a wrong path — while it’s a drill, not an emergency.

Rule of thumb: if you can’t name where your offsite copy is and when you last restored it, you don’t really have a backup yet.

Running OrbixPanel? Encrypted offsite backups are built in. OrbixPanel.com → — the free, self-hosted, AI-powered hosting control panel.