What to back up from a node?

What should be backed up from a node? I understand that the data is not important, but what about the ID?
For example, if I backup my ID and create a new node (because the old one was destroyed) do I get some of the reputation of my old node? or is it just better to start a new one?

Backing up your ID is useful, but only to recover the node when the data is still in tact. The ID is tied to the node and it’s data, you can’t start a new node with the same ID. If you store the ID on the same HDD as the node data, the backup may not be that useful as it’s unlikely you’ll lose the ID but not the data. But regardless it’s the only aspect that’s worth backing up.

Now this is not entirely what you asked, but if you’re running a docker node I’d recommend also saving your docker run command somewhere so it’s easier to recreate the docker node later if you need to.

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I agree with this statement. However, personally I still have backups of my nodes’ identities somewhere else just in case I happen to make a mistake during the migration of a node, or any maintenance operation that would delete an identity file for some reason…
Very unlikely that it will be of any use one day, but because backing up identities is harmless and free I do it anyways to stay on the safe side here :wink:

But yes, the stored data and the identity are the only 2 things that the node absolutely needs. All the rest could be lost (databases, configurations…) and the node could still be recovered.

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