Backup files served on a cdn

Question

I am thinking about using a CDN to serve my static files, rackspace cloud files to be exact. I am wondering is it normal to backup these files? Is there even a way to back them up?

You should always have backups of your files. – Michael Hampton Jun 30 '13 at 18:35 — Michael Hampton, Jun 30 '13 at 18:35

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 30 '13 at 19:12

You would always backup your files.

A CDN keeps a cached copy of your static files at various points on the internet to facilitate a faster load time, but this cache is ephemeral and usually you can't access it or the history of it directly. It is definitely not a substitute for proper backups.

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 23 '13 at 16:50

Back up! A CDN is not a backup solution, it is a delivery solution. When you ingest, retain your local copy files may and do go missing when disks blow up, the filesystem (FS) gets a split brain, etc...

Generally (excluding caches) your data will only be on a low number (1-3) of content storage nodes. The CDN generally will not keep backups of your data, but consult your SLA (Service Level Agreement).

Source: I'm a software engineer at a CDN. (Not Rackspace, though).

Backup files served on a cdn

2 Answers2