Your Databases Are Now Backed Up — Automatically
Database backup for paid plan tenants is now live on Open Source Cloud. Auto-backup runs daily, the new Backup Now button lets you trigger on-demand backups, and the database management tab puts everything in one place. Here is what we built and why it took this long to do right.
Database backup is table-stakes for any platform that wants to be trusted with production workloads. We knew that. ITV, SVT, YLE-type customers evaluating OSC would ask about it eventually, and the honest answer for the past year was 'not yet.' We could have shipped something fast. A daily cron that copies files to S3 and calls it done. But backup without reliable restore is just a feeling of safety, not actual safety. So we built it properly, and it took until now. The feature is live as of March 13. Here is exactly what shipped.
What We Built
Three things shipped together. First, automatic daily backups for all paid plan tenants — no configuration required, no opt-in, just running. If your OSC plan is paid, your supported databases are being backed up every day. Second, a Backup Now button in the dashboard. Sometimes you need a snapshot before a risky migration or a major deployment. One click triggers an immediate backup outside the daily schedule. Third, a database management tab that consolidates everything in one place: your running database instances, their backup status, backup history, and restore controls. Previously this information was scattered across service detail pages. Now it is unified.
Why Database Backup Matters for Enterprise Trust
When a broadcaster or a large media company evaluates OSC for infrastructure, the first questions are not about features or pricing. They are about data safety. If this service goes down, what happens to our data? If a deployment corrupts the database, can we roll back? Who is responsible for backup? These are not unreasonable questions. They are the baseline for any production system. Render, Railway, and Fly.io all offer database backups as standard features on their paid plans. OSC now matches that baseline. But beyond competitive parity, backup changes the nature of the relationship. A platform that backs up your data is a platform you can trust with things that matter. Databases that contain user accounts, content metadata, session state, billing records. The kind of data that, if lost, means a phone call to your CTO at 2 am. Backup does not just prevent data loss. It signals that the platform understands what it means to be production infrastructure.
How It Works
Paid plan tenants get daily automatic backups for all supported database services: PostgreSQL, MariaDB, CouchDB, ClickHouse, and Valkey. Backups run on a managed schedule; you do not need to configure cron jobs or set up S3 buckets. Backup history is retained for 30 days, and you can restore to any point in that window from the database management tab with a single click. No support ticket. No waiting for someone to respond. The Backup Now button gives you on-demand control when the schedule is not enough. Trigger it before a schema migration, before a major upgrade, before any change you are not fully confident about. It is there when you need it.
Enabling Your Infrastructure
OSC was always designed around the idea that open source infrastructure should be as easy to trust as it is to deploy. Backup is a key part of that. You can now deploy databases on OSC knowing your data is protected, automatically, on a schedule, with one-click restore when things go wrong. Browse the database services available on OSC and start building with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which databases does automatic backup support?
The initial release covers PostgreSQL, MariaDB, CouchDB, ClickHouse, and Valkey — the most commonly deployed database services on OSC. Additional services will be added in subsequent releases.
How long are backups retained?
Backups are retained for 30 days. You can restore to any backup taken within that window from the database management tab without opening a support ticket.
Do I need to configure anything to get automatic backups?
No configuration required. If you are on a paid plan, automatic daily backups are enabled by default for all supported database services. You will find your backups in the database management tab.
Can I still self-host and manage my own backups?
Yes. OSC runs unmodified open source software, so all native backup tools work exactly as documented upstream. pg_dump, mysqldump, CouchDB replication — all available. The managed backup feature is an addition, not a replacement.
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