3-2-1-1-0 Backup Strategy

Protect your self-hosted infrastructure with the industry-standard 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy. Design, implement, and test a comprehensive backup and recovery plan.

Design Your Backup Plan View Infrastructure Checklist

What is 3-2-1-1-0?

The gold standard for data protection
3

3 Copies

Original data plus 2 backups. Never rely on a single copy—hardware fails, corruption happens, mistakes occur.

2

2 Media Types

Use different storage media (disk + cloud, or disk + tape). Protects against media-specific failures.

1

1 Off-Site

At least one backup must be off-site. Protects against fire, flood, theft, or complete site failure.

1

1 Offline

At least one backup must be offline/air-gapped. Protects against ransomware, malware, and network attacks.

0

0 Errors

Verified backups with regular test restores. A backup that can't be restored is no backup at all.

Implementation Checklist

Local Backups: Proxmox Backup Server, local disk, or NFS storage
Off-Site Backups: Cloud storage (Backblaze B2, AWS S3, Wasabi), remote server, or colocation
Offline Backups: Rotated USB/SAS drives, immutable object storage, or air-gapped systems
Automated Verification: Monthly test restores, integrity checks, RTO validation
Documentation: Restore procedures, contact lists, recovery time objectives (RTO)

Backup Tools & Services

Proxmox Backup Server:

Deduplicated VM/container backups
Efficient storage usage
Built into Proxmox

Cloud Storage:

Backblaze B2 (cheapest)
AWS S3 Glacier (long-term)
Wasabi (S3-compatible)

Offline Media:

Rotated USB/SAS drives
Immutable object storage

Backup Strategy Components

Essential elements for comprehensive protection

Backup Frequency

Daily incremental backups
Weekly full backups
Monthly archive backups
Real-time sync for critical data

Retention Policy

30 days of daily backups
12 weeks of weekly backups
12 months of monthly backups
7 years of annual archives (compliance)

Test Restores

Monthly file-level restore tests
Quarterly full-VM restore tests
Document RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
Validate RPO (Recovery Point Objective)

Monitoring & Alerts

Backup job success/failure alerts
Storage capacity monitoring
Integrity check notifications
Restore test reminders

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