---
title: Introduction
description: Learn about Zerobyte, a powerful backup automation platform built on Restic
---

Zerobyte is a backup automation tool that helps you protect your data across multiple storage backends. Built on top of [Restic](https://restic.net/), it provides a modern web interface to schedule, manage, and monitor encrypted backups.

<Callout type="warn">
  Zerobyte is still in version 0.x.x and is subject to major changes between versions. Core features are under active development
</Callout>

## Key Features

<Cards>
  <Card title="Automated Backups" icon={<Clock />}>
    Schedule encrypted, compressed backups with fine-grained retention policies powered by Restic
  </Card>

  <Card title="Flexible Scheduling" icon={<Calendar />}>
    Configure automated backup jobs with cron expressions and sophisticated retention rules
  </Card>

  <Card title="End-to-End Encryption" icon={<Lock />}>
    Your data is always protected with strong encryption at rest, ensuring security for every snapshot
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multi-Protocol Support" icon={<Network />}>
    Back up from NFS, SMB, WebDAV, SFTP, or local directories with ease
  </Card>
</Cards>

## Supported Storage

### Volume Sources (What to Back Up)

Volumes represent the data you want to protect:

- **Local directories**, directories mounted into the container
- **NFS**, Network File System shares (v3, v4, v4.1)
- **SMB/CIFS**, Windows and Samba shares
- **WebDAV**, WebDAV-compatible storage (Nextcloud, ownCloud, etc.)
- **SFTP**, SSH File Transfer Protocol servers
- **Rclone**, 40+ cloud storage providers via rclone (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)

### Repository Destinations (Where to Store Backups)

Repositories are encrypted storage locations for your backup snapshots:

- **Local directories**, store backups on local disk
- **S3-compatible storage**, Amazon S3, MinIO, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, and more
- **Cloudflare R2**, S3-compatible with zero egress fees
- **Google Cloud Storage**, Google's cloud storage service
- **Azure Blob Storage**, Microsoft Azure storage
- **SFTP**, remote servers accessible via SSH
- **REST server**, Restic REST server protocol
- **Rclone remotes**, 40+ cloud storage providers via rclone

## How It Works

Zerobyte operates on three core concepts:

<Steps>
  <Step>

### Volumes

Define **volumes** as the source data you want to back up. These can be local directories, network shares, or cloud storage mounted via various protocols. Zerobyte handles mounting, health monitoring, and auto-recovery automatically.

  </Step>

  <Step>

### Repositories

Create **repositories** as encrypted storage destinations. Repositories use Restic's deduplication and encryption to store your backups efficiently and securely. Choose from local disks, cloud object storage, or any of 40+ rclone backends.

  </Step>

  <Step>

### Backup Jobs

Configure **backup jobs** that connect volumes to repositories with scheduling rules and retention policies. Jobs run automatically according to your schedule, with real-time progress monitoring in the web interface.

  </Step>
</Steps>

<Callout type="info">
  All backups are encrypted using Restic's encryption. Your encryption password is securely stored and never leaves your server.
</Callout>

## Use Cases

<Accordions>
  <Accordion title="Home Server Backups">
    Back up your home server data (photos, documents, media) to cloud storage or an external drive with automatic scheduling and retention.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="NAS Data Protection">
    Protect your NAS data by backing up critical shares to offsite cloud storage with encryption and versioning.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Development Server Backups">
    Automatically back up development servers, databases, and configuration files to ensure quick recovery.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Multi-Site Backups">
    Centralize backup management for multiple locations, backing up various sources to different repository types.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

## Why Restic?

Zerobyte is built on [Restic](https://restic.net/) because it offers:

- **Fast and efficient**, incremental backups with content-defined chunking
- **Secure by design**, strong encryption and authenticated snapshots
- **Deduplication**, only unique data is stored, saving space
- **Verification**, built-in integrity checking for peace of mind
- **Cross-platform**, works across different operating systems
- **Well-maintained**, an active open-source project with regular updates

## Next Steps

<Cards>
  <Card title="Installation" icon={<Download />} href="/docs/installation">
    Deploy Zerobyte with Docker and Docker Compose
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quick Start" icon={<Rocket />} href="/docs/quickstart">
    Set up your first backup in minutes
  </Card>
</Cards>

import { Clock, Calendar, Lock, Network, Download, Rocket } from "lucide-react";
import { Step, Steps } from "fumadocs-ui/components/steps";
import { Accordion, Accordions } from "fumadocs-ui/components/accordion";