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How to Get Started with Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage for Secure Data Backup

15 Apr, 2026

Introduction

Backblaze is a U.S.-based cloud storage and backup company founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides affordable, scalable cloud storage solutions to over 500,000 customers worldwide. Backblaze is best known for its B2 Cloud Storage service, which competes directly with Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Azure Blob Storage but at a fraction of the cost. Unlike traditional backup solutions that lock you into proprietary formats, Backblaze B2 uses standard industry protocols, making it compatible with hundreds of third-party tools and applications. The company also offers a separate computer backup product for individuals, but B2 is the enterprise-focused solution designed for developers, IT administrators, and organizations that need programmatic access to cloud storage.

This guide explains how organizations can leverage Backblaze B2 features, compares pricing tiers, and provides a step-by-step approach to integrating the service into your infrastructure.

Prerequisites

Before you start with Backblaze B2:

• Create a Backblaze account at the official Backblaze website. You need a valid email address and payment method for paid plans, though Backblaze offers free tier credits.
• Install a compatible backup or synchronization tool that supports S3-compatible APIs. Popular choices include Rclone, Duplicacy, Veeam, and Commvault.
• Prepare a test server or workstation running Windows, Linux, or macOS to validate your backup workflow.
• Gather your storage requirements including total data size, expected growth rate, and retention policy needs.

What Backblaze Does for Organizations

Backblaze provides cloud object storage that stores your data as files or objects in buckets. Each object includes the data itself, metadata, and a unique identifier. Organizations use Backblaze B2 for several core purposes: offsite backups, disaster recovery, data archiving, content distribution, and application storage. Unlike consumer backup software, B2 gives you direct API access to your data, allowing integration with existing workflows. Backblaze maintains eleven data centers across the United States and Europe, with region selection available for compliance and performance optimization. The service includes built-in features such as lifecycle rules, object locking for compliance, and server-side encryption.

Core Features of Backblaze B2

Backblaze B2 offers a comprehensive feature set that matches or exceeds what larger providers offer. The table below summarizes the key capabilities.

Feature Category	Specific Feature	Description
API Compatibility	S3-Compatible API	Use existing S3 tools and libraries without modification.
	Native B2 API	Direct access for custom integrations using JSON over HTTPS.
Data Protection	Server-Side Encryption (SSE-B2)	Automatic encryption of data at rest using AES-256.
	Object Lock	Prevent object deletion or modification for compliance periods.
	Versioning	Keep multiple versions of objects to recover from accidental overwrites.
Lifecycle Management	Automated Transitions	Move data between storage classes based on age rules.
	Expiration Rules	Automatically delete objects after a specified duration.
Performance	Large File Support	Upload files up to 50 TB per object.
	Parallel Uploads	Split large files into parts for faster transfers.
	CDN Integration	Connect with Cloudflare or Fastly for content delivery.
Security	Application Keys	Create scoped credentials with bucket-level permissions.
	CORS Configuration	Control cross-origin requests for web applications.
	Audit Logs	Track API activity for compliance monitoring.

Backblaze B2 Pricing Structure

Backblaze B2 uses a pay-as-you-go model with no upfront commitments or minimum fees. The pricing is transparent and significantly lower than major cloud providers. The table below shows current standard pricing as of 2026.

Service Component	Price per Unit	Free Tier
Storage	$0.005 per GB per month	First 10 GB free
Download (Egress)	$0.01 per GB	First 1 GB per day free
Class B Transactions (list object, read file)	$0.004 per 10,000 requests	First 2,500 requests free
Class C Transactions (upload, copy, delete)	$0.004 per 1,000 requests	First 250 requests free

To put these prices in perspective, storing 1 TB of data costs approximately $5 per month on Backblaze B2, compared to $23 per month on Amazon S3 Standard. Downloading 1 TB costs about $10 on B2 versus $90 on S3. This pricing difference makes Backblaze particularly attractive for backup and archive workloads where you need to restore large amounts of data infrequently.

Cost Comparison Example

Consider an organization storing 50 TB of backups with monthly downloads of 5 TB for restore testing.

Provider	Monthly Storage Cost	Monthly Download Cost	Total Monthly Cost
Backblaze B2	$256 (50 TB × $0.005 × 1024)	$51.20 (5 TB × 1024 × $0.01)	$307.20
Amazon S3 Standard	$1,177 (50 TB × $0.023)	$460 (5 TB × $0.09)	$1,637

This comparison demonstrates a potential 80% cost reduction when using Backblaze B2 for backup workloads.

How to Set Up Your First Backblaze B2 Bucket

Follow these steps to create a bucket and prepare it for backups.

1. Log in to your Backblaze account dashboard.

2. Navigate to the B2 Cloud Storage section from the left sidebar.

3. Click the Create a Bucket button.

4. Provide a unique bucket name. The name must be globally unique across all Backblaze customers, so include your company name or identifier. For example, acmecorp-backups-prod.

5. Select your bucket region. Choose US West for North American users, EU Central for European users, or AP Northeast for Asian users.

6. Choose a bucket type. Select Private for backup data because public access exposes your files to anyone with the URL.

7. Enable versioning for all objects. Check the Keep all versions of files in this bucket option.

8. Configure lifecycle rules. Click Add a Lifecycle Rule and set policies such as moving files to archive storage after 30 days or deleting old versions after 90 days.

9. Click Create Bucket to finalize the setup.

Generate Application Keys for Secure Access

Application keys allow your backup software to access Backblaze without using your master account credentials. Each key can restrict access to specific buckets and operations.

1. From the B2 dashboard, click App Keys in the left sidebar.

2. Click Add a New Application Key.

3. Enter a descriptive name for the key, such as backup-server-prod-key.

4. Select the bucket you created from the Allow Access to Bucket dropdown menu.

5. Choose key capabilities. For backup operations, select:

6. listBuckets
7. readFiles
8. writeFiles

9. deleteFiles

10. Leave the Allow All Bucket Names option unchecked for better security.

11. Click Create New Key.

12. Copy the applicationKeyId and applicationKey values immediately. Backblaze does not display the key again after you leave this page. Store these credentials in a secure password manager.

Integrate Backblaze B2 with Rclone for Data Backup

Rclone is a command-line program that synchronizes files and directories to cloud storage. It supports the Backblaze B2 API natively.

1. Install Rclone on your backup server. Use the official installation script for Linux.

   console

   $ curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
   

2. Configure Rclone to connect to Backblaze B2.

   console

   $ rclone config
   

3. Select n for new remote when prompted.

4. Enter a name for the remote configuration, for example backblaze-b2.

5. Choose the storage type. Type b2 and press Enter.

6. Enter your account ID or applicationKeyId when prompted. Paste the applicationKeyId you copied earlier.

7. Enter your application key when prompted. Paste the applicationKey value.

8. Leave the endpoint blank to use the default Backblaze endpoint.

9. Test the configuration by listing your buckets.

   console

   $ rclone lsd backblaze-b2:
   

   Output:

   -1 2025-12-15 10:30:00        -1 acmecorp-backups-prod
   

10. Copy a local directory to your Backblaze bucket.

    console

    $ rclone copy /var/backups/database backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups --progress
    

    Output:

    Transferred:   2.345 GiB / 2.345 GiB, 100%
    Checks: 45 / 45, 100%
    Transferred: 45 / 45, 100%
    Elapsed time:  2m15s
    

Automate Backups with Cron or Task Scheduler

Regular backups require automation. Set up a scheduled task to run your Rclone commands at defined intervals.

On Linux with Cron

1. Open your crontab file for editing.

   console

   $ crontab -e
   

2. Add a line to run a daily backup at 02:00 a.m.

   0 2 * * * /usr/bin/rclone sync /var/backups/database backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups
   

3. Save and close the crontab file. The cron daemon automatically loads the new schedule.

On Windows with Task Scheduler

1. Create a batch file named backblaze-backup.bat with the following content.

   Batchfile

   @echo off
   rclone sync C:\Backups\Database backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups
   

2. Open Task Scheduler from the Start menu.

3. Click Create Basic Task in the right panel.

4. Name the task DailyBackblazeBackup.

5. Set the trigger to Daily at 02:00 a.m..

6. Set the action to Start a program and browse to select your batch file.

7. Click Finish to save the task.

Monitor Storage Usage and Costs

Backblaze provides usage metrics in the dashboard. Review these regularly to control costs.

1. Log in to your Backblaze account dashboard.

2. Click B2 Cloud Storage then Usage from the left sidebar.

3. Review the following metrics:

4. Storage usage in GB for each bucket
5. Class B transactions count for list and read operations
6. Class C transactions count for uploads and copies

7. Download (egress) volume for data leaving Backblaze

8. Set up Alerts by clicking Alerts in the left sidebar. Configure email notifications when your monthly estimated cost exceeds a threshold, for example $500.

Implement Data Retention and Deletion Policies

Proper retention policies prevent unexpected charges from forgotten data and comply with regulatory requirements.

1. Navigate to your bucket and click Lifecycle Settings.

2. Click Add a Rule and choose Keep only the last N versions of files.

3. Set the value to 3 versions to retain three generations of each file.

4. Add another rule with Move files to B2 Infrequent Access after set to 30 days. This rule reduces storage costs for older data.

5. Add a final rule with Delete files after a set number of days set to 365 days. This rule automatically removes data older than one year.

6. Review the rule order. Backblaze applies rules from top to bottom, so place the version limit rule first.

Restore Data from Backblaze B2

Testing your restore process validates that your backups actually work. Follow this procedure to restore a file.

1. List the contents of your backup bucket to locate the file you need.

   console

   $ rclone ls backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups
   

   Output:

   1048576 2026/01/15/database_dump_20260115.sql.gz
   1048576 2026/01/14/database_dump_20260114.sql.gz
   

2. Copy a specific file from Backblaze to your local system.

   console

   $ rclone copy backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups/2026/01/15/database_dump_20260115.sql.gz /tmp/restore/
   

3. Verify the file restored successfully.

   console

   $ ls -lh /tmp/restore/
   

   Output:

   -rw-r--r-- 1 user user 1.0M Jan 16 10:30 database_dump_20260115.sql.gz
   

4. If using versioning, restore a previous version of a file.

   console

   $ rclone copy backblaze-b2:acmecorp-backups-prod/database-backups/database_dump.sql --b2-version-at 2026-01-14T00:00:00Z /tmp/restore/
   

Conclusion

In this guide, you have learned how Backblaze B2 provides affordable cloud storage for organizational backups, archives, and disaster recovery. You created a bucket, generated application keys, integrated with Rclone, automated backup schedules, configured lifecycle policies, and tested file restoration. Backblaze's transparent pricing and S3 compatibility make it a cost-effective alternative to traditional cloud providers for backup workloads. Now that you have Backblaze B2 configured, consider implementing additional protection layers such as cross-region replication or integrating with monitoring tools like Prometheus to track your backup success rates.