Google Cloud Backup Now Goes Cross-Region for Cheaper Resilience

Google Cloud’s Backup and DR Service just got a serious upgrade: cross-region backups are now generally available. This means you can store your backups in a completely different region from your primary workload—without the hefty price tag of multi-region setups.

Think of it as having a backup capybara den in a neighboring swamp: safe from local floods, but without building a whole new colony. Perfect for devs who want resilience without breaking the bank.

Why Cross-Region Backups?

Multi-region backups are like having a backup in every pond—great for uptime, but costly. Cross-region backups let you pick a single secondary region, offering a sweet spot between cost and safety. Here’s what you get:

• Cost optimization: Choose exactly where your backups live, avoiding the expense of full multi-region replication.
• Compliance made easy: Keep data within specific geopolitical boundaries (GDPR, anyone?) by selecting a compliant secondary region.
• Regional resilience: Protect against localized disasters—if your primary region goes down, your data is safe in another geographic area.

How It Works

Setting up cross-region backups is straightforward and integrates with your existing workflows:

1. Create a backup vault in a region different from your source resource.
2. Configure the backup plan in the resource’s region, but point it to the vault in the secondary region.
3. Attach and automate—Backup and DR handles the rest, moving data directly to the regional vault.

Currently, this supports Compute Engine instances, Disks, and Filestore, with Cloud SQL and AlloyDB coming soon. For more details, check out the backup vault docs and pricing info.

If you’re already using Google Cloud, this is a no-brainer for balancing resilience and cost. Dive into the console to try it out.

Original announcement published on Google Cloud.