Automatic Backups
=================

Automatic backups are a powerful add-on service intended to protect your data and provide peace of mind.
Snapshots are taken every 72 hours, with three slots going back up to 12 days.

.. Important::

   Backups are *strongly recommended* to help protect your data.


The backup service costs 20% of the monthly rate for a slice.  

Enable Backups
--------------

If backups are not enabled for a slice, you will be presented with a page quoting the monthly cost.  
To enable them, click :guilabel:`Enable Backups`.

As snapshots are taken over time, they will populate a table with the **Size** of the backup in GB, 
**Duration** (how long they took to complete), and **Created** date and time in UTC:

.. image:: ../_static/images/slice_automatic_backups.png
    :target: ../_static/images/slice_automatic_backups.png

On the far right is an ellipsis dropdown menu.  Clicking the menu provides the following options:

Create Slice
  Create a new slice out of this backup image.  This will take you to the Create slice page, 
  auto-selecting the backup image for you. 

.. Tip::

   The create slice from backup option can be useful for checking over a backup image prior 
   to doing a full restore.

Restore Slice
  Restore the slice with this image.  You will be prompted to confirm.  Once confirmed, the slice will 
  be rebuilt and essentially "time warp" back to the point this image was created. 

.. Caution::

   Restoring a slice from a backup image will irrevocably replace all data on the slice 
   with that image.

Disable Backups
---------------

Backups can be disabled at any time by clicking the :guilabel:`Cancel Backups` button on the 
backups page for a slice.  Billing for them stops immmediately.  

.. Caution::

   When backups are cancelled, there is a 72 hour "cool down" period before they can be
   re-enabled.  This is to prevent overlaps / flapping of the backup system backend.