FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Straight answers about plans, access levels, billing, and how hosted Proxmox Backup Server works. Can't find yours? Ask us directly.
Plans & access
What do I actually get on the Shared plan?
A backup datastore on our fully managed Proxmox Backup Server platform. We send you the connection details — hostname, TLS fingerprint, datastore name, username, and password — which you paste into Proxmox VE under Datacenter → Storage. Backups start immediately. You do not get access to the PBS web interface or shell; we operate the server.
What do I get on a Dedicated plan?
Your own Proxmox Backup Server. Every Dedicated plan includes full access to the PBS web interface and a user account with sudo permissions, so you can manage datastores, namespaces, sync jobs, verification, pruning, garbage collection, encryption keys, and users yourself. Dedicated Instances reserve 10TB to 75TB of capacity; the 100TB Dedicated Server is a physical machine that is entirely yours.
Why would I choose Shared if Dedicated exists?
Simplicity and cost at small scale. Shared starts at $6.95/month and grows per GB with zero administration — no server to look after, ever. If you are backing up a homelab or a small cluster and just want a reliable offsite copy, Shared is usually the right answer. Choose Dedicated when you want direct PBS control or your capacity justifies a reserved tier.
Is the Dedicated Server really bare metal?
Yes. The 100TB Dedicated Server tier is dedicated physical hardware — CPU, RAM, and disks are yours alone, with no other tenants at any layer. Dedicated Instances (10–75TB) are dedicated PBS deployments with reserved capacity and resources on our platform.
Can I upgrade from Shared to Dedicated later?
Yes, and it is a common path. We migrate your existing backup data to the new instance for you — contact us and we will schedule it with minimal disruption to your backup windows.
Billing
How does per-GB billing work on Shared?
The $6.95 monthly base includes your first 1TB of stored data. Beyond 1TB, usage is billed per GB at the same effective rate — $6.95 per TB, about $0.0068 per GB. Storing 2.3TB works out to roughly $15.99 for the month. Note this is measured on stored (deduplicated, compressed) data, which is typically much smaller than your source VMs.
Is there a minimum commitment?
Shared has a 1TB minimum, which is the $6.95/month base. Dedicated plans reserve the full capacity of the chosen tier. There are no setup fees and no long-term contracts — plans bill monthly.
What happens if I fill my Dedicated tier?
PBS will warn as the datastore fills, and pruning plus garbage collection usually reclaims space. If you genuinely need more capacity, we move you to the next tier or build custom hardware above 100TB — your data stays in place whenever possible.
Are there bandwidth or data transfer limits?
There are no overage charges for transfer on any plan. Dedicated plans include monthly transfer equal to their storage tier — a 50TB plan includes 50TB of transfer per month. Your first month is unmetered, so you can push your entire dataset to seed the server without watching a meter. On Shared, transfer is included as part of the managed service.
Security & reliability
Is my backup data encrypted?
Proxmox Backup Server supports client-side, chunk-level AES-256 encryption: your data is encrypted on your Proxmox host before it leaves your network, and you hold the encryption key. We strongly recommend enabling it — with client-side encryption, we physically cannot read your backup contents. All transport is TLS regardless.
Where is my data stored?
In OneColo (AS12083) data center facilities in the United States, on enterprise hardware with direct-attached SAS storage and ZFS providing end-to-end checksumming and integrity verification.
How do restores perform?
Restore speed is what we tune for. Datastores run on high-IOPS SAS drives with ZFS, and network links run at 1–10 Gbps standard with 25 Gbps available. Individual file restore, full VM restore, and live-restore from PBS all work exactly as they do against a local PBS.
Does PBS verify my backups?
Yes. PBS verification jobs re-read and re-checksum backup snapshots to catch corruption early. On Shared we run verification as part of platform operations; on Dedicated you control the verification schedule yourself (and we can help you set a sensible one).
Setup & operations
How fast can I start backing up?
Usually the same day, often within minutes of ordering. Provisioning is automated for Shared; Dedicated instances are typically ready within hours. Adding the datastore to Proxmox VE takes about two minutes — see our step-by-step guide in Resources.
Do I need to open firewall ports?
Only outbound: your Proxmox hosts connect out to your PBS endpoint on TCP 8007 over TLS. No inbound ports to your network are required.
Can I sync my existing on-prem PBS to you?
Yes. PBS remote sync is a first-class workflow: keep your local PBS for fast restores and sync to your hosted instance for offsite protection. On Dedicated you configure the remote and sync jobs yourself in the WebUI; on Shared, contact us and we will set up the pull-sync for you.
What versions of Proxmox do you support?
Current Proxmox Backup Server releases, compatible with supported Proxmox VE versions. Proxmox Backup Client also works for backing up arbitrary Linux hosts, not just VE guests.
Who do I talk to when something breaks?
The engineers who run the platform — sales@onecolo.com or +1 (888) 999-4898. There is no outsourced tier-one; the people answering operate the hardware your backups live on.
Still have a question?
Email sales@onecolo.com or call +1 (888) 999-4898 — you'll reach the engineers who run the platform.