How to back up a Windows server to BucketPilot Cloud

A Windows server is durable, but durable is not backed up: a deletion, an overwrite, a bad script or a lost credential all replicate perfectly. A backup is a separate copy — on BucketPilot Cloud — refreshed on a schedule and restorable from. That is what this job is.

This job runs on the Pro plan and up. Every account starts with a 14-day Pro trial — no card needed; see plans.

1. 1.Connect the source. Enable the built-in OpenSSH Server on Windows (Settings → Apps → Optional features), then under Credentials → Servers add the machine with a user and its password or key. Paths are written the Windows way, C:\Data\Exports, and BucketPilot connects from one fixed address, 3.111.107.194.
2. 2.Connect the destination. Nothing to connect. Under Buckets & Servers → Create Bucket, choose BucketPilot Cloud, pick a region (US, Europe or Asia Pacific) and a name, and the bucket exists in a minute — inside your workspace, with no keys to keep.
3. 3.Open Backups & Migrations and press Create. Choose A server as the source and A bucket as the destination, then Continue.

1. 1.Pick the server and type the source path — the folder whose contents you want, for example /var/www/uploads or C:\\Exports. Tick *put the folder itself in the destination* if you want the folder name kept.
2. 2.Pick the destination bucket and, if you like, a folder inside it where the files land.
3. 3.Set the schedule — hourly, daily, weekly or monthly, at the time you choose. Daily at night is the usual answer. Choose how many files copy in parallel (threads); eight is a good default for a busy server.

1. 1.Press Create Job, then Run now. The first run copies everything; every run after it copies only what changed.

Every run is incremental: a file is copied only if its size or timestamp differs from the copy, so a nightly run of a large source moves only the day's changes and finishes in minutes.

Files are streamed from source to destination — multi-gigabyte files never sit in memory, and a run that is paused or loses its worker resumes where it stopped.

You can watch it: live progress on the job, a per-file log, and an email when a run finishes or needs attention. Transient errors retry with backoff; a run that fails outright is reported, never silently skipped.

BucketPilot Cloud keeps every version of a file when versioning is on, and BucketPilot turns it on for a bucket it creates for a backup. A file overwritten or deleted by mistake at the source is still there in the copy, one click from restored.

Every job has a Restore button: it copies from the destination back to the source, only what is missing there, never overwriting a newer file and never deleting anything. A backup you cannot restore from is not a backup, so this is part of the job, not a separate product.