> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dbdock.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Storage overview

> Choose where DBDock puts your backups.

DBDock supports five storage backends, all exposed through the same config shape and all swappable without re-configuring backups.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="DBDock Storage" icon="database" href="/storage/managed">
    Managed storage included with your plan — no bucket, no keys. Recommended.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Local disk" icon="folder" href="/storage/local">
    Filesystem storage — fastest, no network, no cost.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AWS S3" icon="aws" href="/storage/s3">
    Industry standard, mature ecosystem. Any S3-compatible service works.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cloudflare R2" icon="cloudflare" href="/storage/r2">
    Zero egress fees — if you restore frequently, this is the cheapest cloud option.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cloudinary" icon="image" href="/storage/cloudinary">
    Generous free tier, fastest to get started, no AWS/Cloudflare account needed.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Picking a provider

| You want...                                  | Use                                    |
| -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Backups offsite with zero setup              | DBDock Storage                         |
| Fastest possible backup/restore              | Local (if single server)               |
| Standard cloud backup with wide tool support | S3                                     |
| Cheap cloud storage with no egress fees      | R2                                     |
| Free tier, no cloud account                  | Cloudinary                             |
| Multi-region backup destination              | S3 or R2 with cross-region replication |
| Compliance (HIPAA, SOC 2)                    | S3 with KMS + bucket policies          |

## How DBDock uses storage

Regardless of provider:

1. Backup is **streamed** (never buffered to disk) to the provider
2. Files live under a `dbdock_backups/` prefix with standardized naming
3. Metadata is stored alongside each backup for `list` and `restore`
4. Deletion is always soft — you'll confirm before anything is removed

## File layout

```
<bucket-or-root>/
  dbdock_backups/
    backup-2026-04-16-08-00-00-abc123.sql
    backup-2026-04-16-08-00-00-abc123.meta.json
    backup-2026-04-15-08-00-00-def456.sql
    backup-2026-04-15-08-00-00-def456.meta.json
    ...
```

The metadata file tracks size, compression, encryption, duration, and origin.

## Switching providers

You can switch anytime. Existing backups stay in the old provider; new backups go to the new one. To consolidate, manually move old files or do a `dbdock list` on each provider and track both.

## See also

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Configuration" icon="gear" href="/core/configuration">
    How storage is configured.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Security" icon="lock" href="/security/overview">
    Storage security best practices.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>