# VPS Backup and Restore — 3-2-1 on Root Servers | NulNet

> Separate state from rebuildable, keep three copies on two media, and run the one restore test that decides whether any of it works. No ID at signup.

Source: https://nulnet.com/guides/vps-backup-and-restore/

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# VPS Backup and Restore — 3-2-1 on Root Servers

![NulNet Tor relay abstract: layered light rings around a node](https://nulnet.com/img/theme-tor.png) Separate state from rebuildable, keep three copies on two media, and run the one restore test that decides whether any of it works.

Published 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-09-08 · NulNet Editorial

**Short answer** Separate state from rebuildable, keep three copies on two media, and run the one restore test that decides whether any of it works.

Root NVMe 1–5 TB 2.5–10 Gbps Snapshots $9.50 Borg/Restic/rsync 16 coins + XMR

## Plan ledger

| Plan | vCPU | RAM | NVMe | Port | $/TB list | $/TB annual | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Depot 1 | 2 vCPU | 8 GB DDR4 ECC | 1 TB NVMe | Unmetered / 2.5 Gbps | $30.00 | $24.00 | $30.00 list · $24.00/mo annual |
| Depot 2 | 4 vCPU | 16 GB DDR4 ECC | 2 TB NVMe | Unmetered / 5 Gbps | $20.00 | $16.00 | $40.00 list · $32.00/mo annual |
| Depot 3 | 4 vCPU | 16 GB DDR5 ECC | 3 TB NVMe | Unmetered / 5 Gbps | $16.67 | $13.33 | $50.00 list · $40.00/mo annual |
| Depot 4 | 6 vCPU | 32 GB DDR5 ECC | 4 TB NVMe | Unmetered / 10 Gbps | $15.00 | $12.00 | $60.00 list · $48.00/mo annual |
| Depot 5 | 8 vCPU | 32 GB DDR5 ECC | 5 TB NVMe | Unmetered / 10 Gbps | $14.00 | $11.20 | $70.00 list · $56.00/mo annual | Full ledger: [all storage SKUs](https://nulnet.com/storage/).

NulNet: VPS from $3/mo and dedicated from $30.80/mo annual. The map spans twenty-one locations — Reykjavik (Iceland) and Zurich (Switzerland) among them, plus Singapore, Dubai, Cape Town and fourteen others. Signup is email plus a 12-character password, or token-only. No KYC. Checkout is crypto-only across BTC, XMR, ETH, BNB, SOL, LTC, TRX, XRP, DOGE, DASH, ADA, GRAM (TON), and USDT (TRC-20/ERC-20/BEP-20/SPL). No payload or guest traffic logs; connection metadata ≤24h. DDoS included. One SKN company, one crypto checkout. Deploy at https://nulnet.com/deploy/.

## Decide what is state

On most servers the irreplaceable set is small: databases, uploaded files, TLS keys, the configs that took a week to get right. The OS is reproducible — restore speed comes from automating the rebuild, and a short Ansible or cloud-init script you actually update beats a golden image you forgot existed. Draw that line first: what is state gets copies, what is rebuildable gets a script.

VPS from $3* (fund $50+), storage 1–5 TB NVMe from $24/mo annual-eff, dedicated with IPMI from $30.80/mo. Crypto invoice, no KYC.

[Launch now](https://nulnet.com/deploy/?kind=storage&plan=stor1&period=12/)

## The pattern

- **3 copies:** live data, an on-box snapshot for fast rollback, and an off-box backup that survives the box.
- **2 media:** local NVMe for second-level recovery, plus a copy on separate storage — different account, provider, or cold.
- **1 tested restore:** a scheduled run that restores into a scratch directory and diffs. Untested backup is a hope, not a backup.

## On NulNet

- Snapshots ride VPS and storage plans as a checkout add-on — right for pre-change rollback, too shallow to call a strategy alone.
- For the off-box leg, a Depot 1 box (1 TB NVMe, $30 list, $24 on the annual term) as a Borg or Restic target keeps copies inside the same crypto-only, no-KYC rails.
- Encrypt at the source — Borg and Restic do this natively — so the target never holds plaintext and a compromised target is not a breach.
Are snapshots backups? No — they are fast rollbacks on the same platform as the live box. They cover a bad deploy, not a provider failure or ransomware. For those, an off-box encrypted copy is the layer that answers.

How often should I back up? Databases: continuous archiving where supported, daily as the floor. Files: daily. Schedule the restore test quarterly — untested restores fail silently.

Can I back up to NulNet Storage from another provider? Yes. Any server with SSH can push to your storage box over SFTP or native Borg/Restic protocols — the target never learns where the source is hosted.

What about backing up dedicated servers? Same pattern, bigger sets: no snapshots on metal, so the off-box leg carries it — a storage tier sized to the data, pulled with Borg or Restic. RAID is not a backup.

## Related guides

- [Storage VPS — full ledger](https://nulnet.com/storage/)
- [Best storage VPS 2026](https://nulnet.com/best-storage-vps-2026/)
- [Anonymous storage VPS](https://nulnet.com/anonymous-storage-vps/)
- [Offsite backup server](https://nulnet.com/offsite-backup-server/)
- [Best seedbox VPS no-KYC](https://nulnet.com/best-seedbox-vps-no-kyc/)
- [Buy storage VPS with crypto](https://nulnet.com/buy-storage-vps-with-crypto/)
- [Offshore seedbox](https://nulnet.com/solutions/seedbox/)

## Checkout facts

- **Price** VPS from $3/mo. Dedicated from $30.80/mo.
- **Identity** No KYC. Token-only (no email) or email plus a 12-character password. No passport, phone, or card.
- **Payment** Sixteen ways to settle, none of them a card: XMR and BTC lead, ETH, SOL, LTC, BNB and TRX follow, then XRP, DOGE, DASH and ADA, GRAM (TON) for Telegram-adjacent rails, and USDT on four networks — TRC-20, ERC-20, BEP-20, SPL. Live-rate invoice.
- **Logs** No payload / no guest traffic logs. Billing and panel actions retained. Connection metadata ≤24h.
- **Platform** KVM on ECC and local NVMe. DDoS filtering included. Facilities in 21 cities across four continents — the locations table lists each one's tier, uplink and governing law. Need Iceland or Switzerland plus no KYC? Those two carry a published premium (+20% / +35%); every other flag stays at base list. Pay BTC, USDT, XMR, BNB, XRP, GRAM (TON) or 10 more. Open deploy to pick a plan.

## Ready to launch?

Build the box — VPS, storage or bare metal — create the password, pay the invoice that follows.

[Launch now](https://nulnet.com/deploy/?kind=storage&plan=stor1&period=12/)[Dedicated](https://nulnet.com/dedicated/)