## Introduction

Syself Autopilot is designed around declarative Kubernetes infrastructure and reproducible clusters. Instead of treating cluster nodes as long-lived machines that need full-system backups, the recommended approach is to focus on GitOps-managed manifests and object storage for backing up application data.

The appropriate backup strategy depends heavily on the workload architecture and operational requirements.

## GitOps and declarative infrastructure

If your workloads are managed through GitOps workflows, the Kubernetes resources already exist in version-controlled repositories.

In these environments, Kubernetes manifests can be recreated directly from Git repositories using tools such as ArgoCD or Flux. This significantly reduces the need to back up Kubernetes resource definitions themselves.

With GitOps-based workflows, disaster recovery often becomes a matter of:

1. Recreating the cluster
1. Reconnecting infrastructure components
1. Restoring persistent application data
1. Re-syncing workloads from Git

## Back up your persistent data

While Kubernetes resources are often reproducible, application data usually is not.

The most important backups in a Kubernetes environment are commonly:

- Databases
- User uploads
- AI and machine learning datasets
- Stateful application data

For production workloads, backups should ideally be stored outside the cluster itself using external object storage or dedicated backup systems.

Common approaches include:

- S3-compatible object storage
- Database-native backup tooling
- Volume snapshots
- Application-level backup automation

## Kubernetes backup solutions

Syself Autopilot fully supports Kubernetes-native backup solutions.

One of the most commonly used tools is [Velero](https://velero.io/), which can back up:

- Kubernetes resources
- Persistent volume snapshots
- Cluster metadata
- Namespaces and workloads

Velero integrates with multiple object storage providers and is commonly used for disaster recovery and migration scenarios.

Other Kubernetes backup solutions can also be used depending on workload requirements and operational preferences.

## What should you back up?

As a general guideline:

| Component             | Recommended Backup Strategy     |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| Kubernetes manifests  | Git repositories / GitOps       |
| Databases             | Native backups (operator-based) |
| Persistent volumes    | Snapshots or object storage     |
| User uploads          | Object storage                  |
| AI and ML datasets    | Object storage                  |
| Cluster configuration | Git repositories / GitOps       |

## Need help designing your backup strategy?

Backup and disaster recovery planning can become complex in Kubernetes environments, especially for stateful workloads and AI platforms.

The Syself team can help with:

- Kubernetes backup architecture
- Disaster recovery planning
- GitOps workflows
- Object storage strategies
- Stateful workload recovery design

If you want guidance designing backup and recovery workflows for your Kubernetes platform, [contact the Syself team](/demo).