--- title: InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated data durability description: Data written to InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated progresses through multiple stages to ensure durability, optimized performance and storage, and efficient querying. Configuration options at each stage affect system behavior, balancing reliability and resource usage. InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated replicates all time series data in the storage tier across multiple availability zones within a cloud region and automatically creates backups that can be used to restore data in the event of a node failure or data c url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/durability/ estimated_tokens: 1313 publisher: InfluxData canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/durability/ date: '2025-09-08T11:30:58-05:00' lastmod: '2025-09-08T11:30:58-05:00' --- ## How data flows through InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated When data is written to InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, it progresses through multiple stages to ensure durability, optimized performance and storage, and efficient querying. Configuration options at each stage affect system behavior, balancing reliability and resource usage. IngesterRouterQuerierObject StorageTime series data stored inApache Parquet formatCatalogRelational metadataserviceCompactorQuery yet-to-be-persisted dataWALShort-termpersistenceWrite requestsQuery requestsGarbage Collector Figure: Write request, response, and ingest flow for InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated * [Data ingest](#data-ingest) * [Data storage](#data-storage) * [Data deletion](#data-deletion) * [Backups](#backups) * [Recovery](#recovery) ## Data ingest 1. [Write validation and memory buffer](#write-validation-and-memory-buffer) 2. [Write-ahead log (WAL) persistence](#write-ahead-log-wal-persistence) ### Write validation and memory buffer The [Router](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#router) validates incoming data to prevent malformed or unsupported data from entering the system. InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated writes accepted data to multiple write-ahead log (WAL) files on [Ingester](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#ingester) pods’ local storage (default is 2 for redundancy) before acknowledging the write request. The Ingester holds the data in memory to ensure leading-edge data is available for querying. ### Write-ahead log (WAL) persistence Ingesters persist the contents of the WAL to Parquet files in object storage and updates the [Catalog](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#catalog) to reference the newly created Parquet files. InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated retains WALs until the data is persisted. If an Ingester node is gracefully shut down (for example, during a new software deployment), it flushes the contents of the WAL to the Parquet files before shutting down. ## Data storage In InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, all measurements are stored in[Apache Parquet](https://parquet.apache.org/) files that represent a point-in-time snapshot of the data. The Parquet files are immutable and are never replaced nor modified. Parquet files are stored in object storage and referenced in the [Catalog](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#catalog), which InfluxDB uses to find the appropriate Parquet files for a particular set of data. Parquet data files in object storage are redundantly stored on multiple devices across a minimum of three availability zones in a cloud region. ## Data deletion When data is deleted or expires (reaches the database’s [retention period](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/data-retention/#database-retention-period)), InfluxDB performs the following steps: 1. Marks the associated Parquet files as deleted in the catalog. 2. Filters out data marked for deletion from all queries. 3. Retains Parquet files marked for deletion in object storage for approximately 30 days after the youngest data in the file ages out of retention. ## Backups InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated implements the following data backup strategies: * **Backup of WAL file**: The WAL file is written on locally attached storage. If an ingester process fails, the new ingester simply reads the WAL file on startup and continues normal operation. WAL files are maintained until their contents have been written to the Parquet files in object storage. For added protection, ingesters can be configured for write replication, where each measurement is written to two different WAL files before acknowledging the write. * **Backup of Parquet files**: Parquet files are stored in object storage where they are redundantly stored on multiple devices across a minimum of three availability zones in a cloud region. Parquet files associated with each database are kept in object storage for the duration of database retention period plus an additional time period (approximately 30 days). * **Backup of catalog**: InfluxData keeps a transaction log of all recent updates to the [InfluxDB catalog](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#catalog) and generates a daily backup of the catalog. Backups are preserved for at least 30 days in object storage across a minimum of three availability zones. ## Recovery InfluxData can perform the following recovery operations: * **Recovery after ingester failure**: If an ingester fails, a new ingester is started up and reads from the WAL file for the recently ingested data. * **Recovery of Parquet files**: InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated uses the provided object storage data durability to recover Parquet files. * **Recovery of the catalog**: InfluxData can restore the [Catalog](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/#catalog) to the most recent daily backup and then reapply any transactions that occurred since the interruption. #### Related * [AWS S3 Data Durabililty](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/DataDurability.html) * [InfluxDB 3 storage engine architecture](/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/reference/internals/storage-engine/)