Storage Destinations

DBackup supports multiple storage backends for your backups. Choose based on your requirements for availability, cost, and compliance.

Supported Destinations

Destination	Type	Best For
Local Filesystem	File	Quick setup, on-premise
Amazon S3	Cloud	AWS infrastructure
S3 Compatible	Cloud	MinIO, self-hosted
Cloudflare R2	Cloud	Zero egress fees
Hetzner Object Storage	Cloud	EU data residency
SFTP	Remote	Existing servers
SMB / Samba	Network	Windows shares, NAS
WebDAV	Network	Nextcloud, ownCloud, NAS
FTP / FTPS	Remote	Classic FTP servers
Rsync (SSH)	Remote	Efficient delta transfers
Google Drive	Cloud	OAuth-based cloud storage
Dropbox	Cloud	OAuth-based cloud storage
Microsoft OneDrive	Cloud	OAuth-based cloud storage

Choosing a Destination

Local Filesystem

Pros:

• No external dependencies
• Fastest backup speed
• Zero cost

Cons:

• Single point of failure
• Limited by disk space
• No offsite protection

Best for: Development, testing, or as first stage before cloud sync.

Amazon S3

Pros:

• High durability (99.999999999%)
• Glacier for long-term archives
• Global infrastructure

Cons:

• Egress fees
• Complexity of IAM

Best for: AWS-based infrastructure, enterprise requirements.

S3 Compatible (MinIO, etc.)

Pros:

• Self-hosted control
• No vendor lock-in
• Works with any S3-compatible API

Cons:

• Self-managed infrastructure
• Requires setup expertise

Best for: On-premise object storage, data sovereignty.

Cloudflare R2

Pros:

• Zero egress fees
• S3-compatible API
• Global edge network

Cons:

• Newer service
• Limited regions

Best for: Frequent downloads, cost-sensitive workloads.

Hetzner Object Storage

Pros:

• EU data residency (GDPR)
• Competitive pricing
• German infrastructure

Cons:

• Limited to EU regions
• Smaller feature set

Best for: EU compliance, budget-conscious teams.

SFTP

Pros:

• Works with existing servers
• Simple setup
• Encrypted transfer

Cons:

• Limited to single server
• Manual capacity management

Best for: Utilizing existing infrastructure.

SMB / Samba

Pros:

• Native Windows/Active Directory integration
• Works with NAS devices out of the box
• Domain authentication support

Cons:

• Requires smbclient on the host
• Limited to network shares
• Less secure than SSH-based transfers

Best for: Windows environments, NAS devices, Active Directory networks.

WebDAV

Pros:

• Works over HTTP/HTTPS — no special ports
• Native Nextcloud/ownCloud integration
• No CLI dependencies required

Cons:

• Performance depends on HTTP server
• Some servers have upload size limits

Best for: Nextcloud/ownCloud users, HTTP-accessible storage.

FTP / FTPS

Pros:

• Widely supported, works with almost any hosting provider
• Optional TLS encryption (FTPS)
• No CLI dependencies required

Cons:

• FTP without TLS is unencrypted
• Passive mode can be tricky with firewalls
• Legacy protocol

Best for: Shared hosting, legacy infrastructure, simple file transfer needs.

Rsync (SSH)

Pros:

• Delta transfers — only changed blocks are sent
• Encrypted transfer via SSH
• Built-in compression
• Works with any Linux/macOS server

Cons:

• Requires rsync and sshpass on the host
• No Windows server support
• SSH access required on remote

Best for: Efficient recurring backups to Linux servers, bandwidth-limited environments.

Google Drive

Pros:

• 15 GB free storage
• OAuth 2.0 — no API keys needed
• Scoped access (drive.file + drive.readonly) — minimal permissions
• Automatic token refresh

Cons:

• Requires Google Cloud Console setup
• Free tier shared with Gmail/Photos
• API quotas apply

Best for: Personal backups, small teams, cloud storage without additional costs.

Dropbox

Pros:

• 2 GB free storage
• OAuth 2.0 — no API keys needed
• Simple Dropbox App Console setup
• Automatic token refresh
• Large file support (chunked uploads)

Cons:

• Small free tier (2 GB)
• Requires Dropbox App Console setup
• App folder mode limits access to app-owned folder

Best for: Personal backups, simple cloud storage, Dropbox users.

Microsoft OneDrive

Pros:

• 5 GB free storage
• OAuth 2.0 via Microsoft Identity Platform
• Works with personal and organizational accounts
• Automatic token refresh
• Large file support (chunked upload sessions)

Cons:

• Azure App Registration required (one-time setup)
• Client secrets expire (max 24 months)
• Setup more involved than Google Drive or Dropbox

Best for: Microsoft 365 users, organizational environments, Windows/Azure ecosystems.

Adding a Destination

1. Navigate to Destinations in the sidebar
2. Click Add Destination
3. Select the storage type
4. Fill in configuration details
5. Click Test Connection
6. Save the destination

Test Connection

Every destination adapter implements a test() function that verifies:

1. Network connectivity - Can reach the service
2. Authentication - Credentials are valid
3. Write permission - Can create files
4. Delete permission - Can remove files (for retention)

Test Failure

If "Test Connection" fails, backups will also fail. Always test before creating jobs.

Storage Structure

When backups are uploaded, DBackup creates:

/your-prefix/
├── job-name/
│   ├── backup_2024-01-15T12-00-00.sql
│   ├── backup_2024-01-15T12-00-00.sql.meta.json
│   ├── backup_2024-01-16T12-00-00.sql.gz
│   ├── backup_2024-01-16T12-00-00.sql.gz.meta.json
│   └── ...

Each backup has a corresponding .meta.json sidecar file containing:

• Compression settings
• Encryption metadata (IV, auth tag, profile ID)
• Database engine version
• Backup timestamp

Security

Credential Storage

All storage credentials (access keys, passwords) are encrypted at rest using your ENCRYPTION_KEY.

Transfer Encryption

• S3: Uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+)
• SFTP: Uses SSH encryption
• SMB: Uses SMB3 encryption (configurable protocol version)
• WebDAV: Uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+)
• FTP/FTPS: Uses TLS when enabled
• Rsync: Uses SSH encryption
• Google Drive: Uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+) + OAuth 2.0
• Dropbox: Uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+) + OAuth 2.0
• OneDrive: Uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+) + OAuth 2.0 (Microsoft Graph API)
• Local: No network transfer

Backup Encryption

For additional security, enable backup encryption:

1. Create an Encryption Profile in the Vault
2. Assign it to your backup job
3. Backups are encrypted before upload

Multiple Destinations

You can:

• Use different destinations for different jobs
• Create the same backup to multiple destinations
• Separate production and test backups

Retention Policies

Destinations work with retention policies to automatically clean up old backups:

• Simple: Keep last N backups
• Smart (GVS): Grandfather-Father-Son rotation

See Retention Policies for details.

• FTP / FTPS

Next Steps

Choose your storage destination:

• Local Filesystem
• Amazon S3
• S3 Compatible
• Cloudflare R2
• Hetzner Object Storage
• SFTP
• SMB / Samba
• WebDAV
• FTP / FTPS
• Rsync (SSH)
• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• Microsoft OneDrive