Features and How-To
Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Basics: RPO, RTO, the 3-2-1 Rule and Costs
Learn how to plan cloud backups and disaster recovery for a small business, including RPO and RTO, the 3-2-1 rule, restore testing and typical costs.
Features and How-To
Beginner-friendly explanations of cloud hosting features and practical setup steps.
A cheap plan can become an expensive one if it is set up carelessly, and an expensive plan can be a bargain if you use its features well. This section explains the features you will meet in a cloud console, such as snapshots, load balancers, autoscaling, managed databases and firewalls, in language that does not assume you have run servers before.
The how-to guides cover a sensible first thirty days, backup and recovery planning, baseline security, and monitoring with cost alerts. Each one ties a technical choice back to its effect on your bill and your risk, so you can decide which features are worth paying for.
None of this replaces your provider's documentation or advice from a qualified engineer for regulated workloads. Treat these guides as a map: they show what exists, what it usually costs in general terms, and what to ask before turning something on. The checklist on the tools page turns the first-month advice into steps you can tick off.
Guides in this topic
Features and How-To
Cloud Hosting Features Explained for Beginners: What Each One Does and Costs
A beginner's glossary of cloud hosting features, including instances, snapshots, load balancers, autoscaling, managed databases and CDNs, with cost notes.
Features and How-To
Cloud Hosting Security Basics for Small Businesses: A Practical Starter Checklist
Practical cloud hosting security basics, from multi-factor authentication and least privilege to patching, firewalls and encryption, plus the shared responsibility model.
Features and How-To
Cloud Hosting Setup Guide: Your First 30 Days, Week by Week
A week-by-week plan for the first 30 days on cloud hosting, covering account security, cost alerts, backups, monitoring, testing and your first bill review.
Features and How-To
Monitoring, Autoscaling and Cost Alerts: Keeping Cloud Hosting Fast and Affordable
How to set up uptime monitoring, performance alerts, autoscaling limits and budget alerts so your cloud hosting stays reliable without surprise bills.