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Backup Plans Introduction

What is a Backup Plan?​

A Backup Plan in Pluton is an automated, scheduled task that performs periodic incremental backups of your files and folders from a source device to a destination storage. Each plan defines what to backup, where to store it, when to run it, and how to manage the backup lifecycle.

Pluton uses Restic under the hood - a fast, secure, and efficient backup program that performs incremental backups by default. This means only changes since the last backup are stored, significantly reducing storage space and backup time.

Key Features​

🔄 Incremental Backups​

  • Automatic deduplication - Only unique data blocks are stored, even across different files
  • Fast subsequent backups - After the initial full backup, only changes are backed up
  • Efficient storage - Dramatically reduces storage requirements compared to full backups

📅 Flexible Scheduling​

  • Multiple intervals - Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or custom schedules
  • Precise timing - Set specific times for backup execution
  • Custom frequency - Run every N minutes, hours, or on specific days

🔒 Security & Encryption​

  • AES-256 encryption - Optional end-to-end encryption of all backup data
  • Password protection - Encrypted backups are protected with a secure password
  • Secure transfer - All data transfers use secure protocols

📦 Compression​

  • Optional compression - Reduce storage space further with built-in compression
  • Automatic optimization - Smart compression based on file types

🎯 Selective Backup​

  • Include paths - Specify exactly which folders/files to backup
  • Exclude patterns - Exclude specific files, folders, or patterns
  • Flexible configuration - Fine-grained control over what gets backed up

🧹 Automatic Retention & Pruning​

  • Snapshot retention policies - Keep daily, weekly, monthly snapshots
  • Automatic cleanup - Old snapshots are automatically removed based on policy
  • Space management - Prevent storage from filling up with old data

🔔 Notifications​

  • Email notifications - Get notified on backup success, failure, or both
  • Webhook integration - Integrate with external services
  • Custom triggers - Configure when to receive notifications

🔁 Retry Mechanism​

  • Automatic retries - Failed backups are automatically retried
  • Configurable attempts - Set the number of retry attempts and delay
  • Resilient - Handles transient network or system issues gracefully

📊 Progress Tracking​

  • Real-time progress - Monitor backup progress in real-time
  • Detailed logs - Complete logs of all backup operations
  • Statistics - View backup history, sizes, and performance metrics

🌐 Multi-Device Support​

  • Local backups - Backup the main Pluton server itself
  • Remote backups - Backup remote devices via Pluton Agent
  • Centralized management - Manage all backups from one interface

How It Works​

Backup Process Flow​

Technical Process​

  1. Initialization

    • When you create a backup plan, Pluton initializes a Restic repository in your chosen storage location
    • The repository structure is created with metadata and configuration
    • A cron schedule is registered based on your interval settings

  2. Scheduled Execution

    • At the scheduled time, the cron manager triggers the backup task
    • The task is added to a priority queue for execution
    • Supports configurable retries (default: 5 attempts) with delays between retries

  3. Backup Execution

    • Pluton reads the source paths from your configuration
    • Restic scans the source files and compares them to the previous snapshot
    • Only new or changed data blocks are uploaded to storage
    • Unchanged files are referenced by their existing data blocks (deduplication)

  4. Snapshot Creation

    • After all data is backed up, Restic creates a snapshot
    • The snapshot is a point-in-time reference to all backed-up files
    • Snapshots are lightweight and stored efficiently

  5. Pruning (Cleanup)

    • Based on your retention policy, old snapshots are automatically removed
    • Policies can keep daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots
    • Unreferenced data blocks are cleaned up to free space

  6. Notifications & Logging

    • Backup completion status is logged
    • Notifications are sent based on your configuration (success, failure, or both)
    • Progress and statistics are updated in the database

Backup Plan Types​

Pluton supports multiple backup methods to suit different use cases:

  • Standard Backup - Traditional incremental backup with snapshots. Each snapshot is a complete point-in-time backup that supports restoration to any previous state. Ideal for version history and disaster recovery with automatic deduplication.

  • Sync Backup - Keeps destination in sync with source as a mirror. Only the latest version of files is maintained. More efficient for simple mirroring needs and useful for maintaining live copies of data. Sync Backups are made using Rclone.

  • Full Server Backup (ReaR + Restic) - Complete bare-metal system backup using Relax-and-Recover (ReaR). Creates bootable ISO images for disaster recovery along with full filesystem backups. Enables complete system restoration from scratch.

Storage Destinations​

Backup plans support multiple storage types:

  • Local Storage - Store backups on local disks or mounted drives
  • Cloud Storage - AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob
  • Object Storage - Backblaze B2, Wasabi, MinIO
  • Cloud Providers - Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, pCloud
  • SFTP/SSH - Any server with SSH access
  • And more - Any storage supported by Rclone

Performance Optimization​

Pluton provides advanced performance settings to optimize backup speed:

  • CPU Concurrency - Control how many CPU cores to use
  • Read Concurrency - Number of concurrent file reads
  • Pack Size - Size of data packs for upload
  • Transfers - Number of parallel transfers
  • Buffer Sizes - Optimize for network/disk speed
  • Multi-threading - Parallel upload streams for faster transfers

Integrity Verification​

Pluton can automatically verify backup integrity:

  • Scheduled checks - Run periodic integrity checks
  • Multiple methods - Full verification or partial sampling
  • Automatic notifications - Alert on integrity issues
  • Corrupted data detection - Identify and report problems early

Use Cases​

Personal Use​

  • Backup your important documents, photos, and videos
  • Protect against hardware failure or accidental deletion
  • Maintain version history of your files

Small Business​

  • Centralized backup for multiple workstations
  • Automated daily backups of critical business data
  • Compliance with data retention requirements

Developers​

  • Backup source code repositories
  • Store build artifacts and project files
  • Version control for non-git tracked files

System Administrators​

  • Backup server configurations and data
  • Automated backup for multiple servers
  • Centralized backup monitoring and management

Best Practices​

  1. Start with Small Plans - Test with a small dataset before backing up large amounts of data

  2. Use Encryption - Always enable encryption for sensitive data, especially for cloud storage

  3. Set Retention Policies - Configure appropriate retention to balance storage costs and recovery needs

  4. Monitor Regularly - Check backup logs and statistics to ensure backups are running successfully

  5. Test Restores - Periodically test restoring from backups to ensure data integrity

  6. Use Tags - Organize your plans with tags for easy filtering and management

  7. Optimize Schedules - Schedule backups during low-activity periods to minimize performance impact

  8. Configure Notifications - Set up notifications to stay informed about backup status

Next Steps​

For technical details about Restic and Rclone, visit their official documentation: Restic | Rclone