# Using Storage Repositories with Backups

## Overview

For those Toolbox commands that support backup operations, the `--repository` option can be used to specify the data storage location where Toolbox reads data from and writes data to. For example, the `sdb-admin create-backup` command can write a database backup to the specified repository, whereas the `sdb-admin list-backups` command can read data from the specified repository to display the list of available backups.

SingleStore supports Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage and Network File System (NFS) for backup storage options. Consequently, the `--repository` option can specify a location in an S3 bucket, Azure container or NFS mount.

The `sdb-report calibrate-blob-storage` command also supports the `--repository` option, using Amazon S3-compatible blob storage exclusively. An unlimited storage database is created in the specified repository which is then used to test blob storage performance.

The `--repository` option can be used with the following Toolbox commands:
* [sdb-admin create-backup](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/create-backup.md)
* [sdb-admin delete-backup](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/delete-backup.md)
* [sdb-admin list-backups](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/list-backups.md)
* [sdb-admin restore-backup](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/restore-backup.md)
* [sdb-admin summarize-backups](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/summarize-backups.md)
* [sdb-admin validate-backup](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-admin-commands/validate-backup.md)
* [sdb-report calibrate-blob-storage](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/singlestore-tools-reference/sdb-report-commands/calibrate-blob-storage.md)

## Usage

The `--repository` option takes the following components as input: `{protocol}://{path}[?{options}]`.

Where:
* `protocol` determines how the path to the storage location is interpreted, and which options are supported. Backup commands support `s3`, `azure` and `file` protocols for Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage and NFS, respectively. The `sdb-report calibrate-blob-storage` command only supports `s3`.
* `path` defines the path to the storage location and restricts the scope to access specific resources within the specified storage. For example, when a backup command is run against `s3://bucket-name/path/inside/bucket?region=us-east-1`, only the backup files located under `/path/inside/bucket` of the `bucket-name` S3 bucket will be accessed. In this example, the `s3://bucket-name/path/inside` repository is different from, let’s say, `s3://bucket-name/path/inside/bucket`, which is another repository in the same S3 bucket.
* `options` specify additional configuration settings. For example, when using S3 for storage, you may specify all of the options in the [BACKUP DATABASE](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/operational-commands/backup-database.md) command, including region, endpoint URL, and `x-amz-server-side-encryption`.

Note that the `--repository` option takes values in a URL format that corresponds to the storage protocol used. The following examples demonstrate the URL format of the `--repository` value for different storage options:

**Amazon S3**: `s3://bucket-name/path/inside/bucket?region=us-east-1`

**Azure Blob Storage**: `azure://container/path/inside/container`

**NFS**: `file://host/some/directory`

***

Modified at: November 20, 2025

Source: [/db/v9.1/manage-data/back-up-and-restore-data/using-storage-repositories/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/manage-data/back-up-and-restore-data/using-storage-repositories/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)