Platform.sh User Documentation

Dedicated backup and restores

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Backups are retained for different periods depending on various factors. These processes can be either manual or automated.

Dedicated Generation 2 Backups Anchor to this heading

Platform.sh takes a byte-for-byte snapshot of Dedicated Gen 2 production environments every 6 hours. Backups are retained for different durations depending on when they were taken. 

Backup retention period Retention # of backups from time period available
1–3 days ago Every backup taken in that period 6 (1 day) to 18 (3 days)
4-6 days ago One backup per day in that period 1 (4 days) to 3 (6 days)
2–6 weeks ago One backup per week 1 (2 weeks) to 5 (6 weeks)
8–12 weeks ago One bi-weekly backup 1 (8 weeks) to 3 (12 weeks)
12–22 weeks ago One backup per month 1 (12 weeks) to 3 (22 weeks)

Put another way, the number of backups available for restoration - in each of the backup age groupings described above - might look as follows for a few Dedicated environment ages:

Environment age 72 hours old or younger 4-6 days old 2-6 weeks old 8-12 weeks old 12-22 old Total
1 week 18 3 0 0 0 21
12 weeks 18 3 5 3 0 29
52+ weeks 18 3 5 3 3 32

Backups are created using snapshots saved to encrypted elastic block storage (EBS) volumes. An EBS snapshot is immediate, but the time it takes to write to the storage service depends on the volume of changes.

  • Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 6 hours (maximum time to last backup).
  • Recovery Time Objective (RTO) depends on the size of the storage. Large EBS volumes take more time to restore.

These backups are only used in cases of catastrophic failure and can only be restored by Platform.sh. To request a restoration, open a support ticket.

Dedicated Generation 2 restoration Anchor to this heading

  The restoration process for Dedicated Generation 2 Environments may take a few hours, depending on the infrastructure provider in use. In the ticket, specify if you want backups of files, MySQL, or both. Uploaded files are placed in an SSH-accessible directory on the Dedicated Gen 2 cluster. 

MySQL is provided as a MySQL dump file on the server. You may restore these to your site at your leisure. You are also free to make your own backups using standard tools (mysqldump, rsync, etc.).