How GitLab Reduced Repository Backup Times from 48 Hours to 41 Minutes

Reducing GitLab Repository Backup Times: From 48 Hours to Just 41 Minutes

At GitLab, efficiency, scalability, and data safety are critical. That’s why a recent internal project to optimise repository backup times stands as a milestone worth sharing. What originally took 48 hours was slashed down to an astonishing 41 minutes—an 98.5% improvement.

This remarkable advance came in response to a growing pressure. As the number of Git repositories at GitLab.com increased substantially, so did the time needed for daily backups. The legacy method of backing up one project at a time couldn’t keep pace. The GitLab team approached this challenge with a focus on parallelisation, resource reallocation, and reliability.

The core improvement was moving from a per-project backup model to a repository-only & highly parallelised model. By disaggregating repository backups from higher-level metadata, GitLab engineers were able to dramatically streamline the backup process. Custom Ruby tooling and Sidekiq worker queues enabled concurrent processing of thousands of repositories.

Another critical enhancement was the deployment of an object storage layer compatible with Git and optimised for concurrency. This allowed GitLab to handle a much higher throughput of Git object uploads without compromising data integrity or consistency.

In addition to performance gains, the new system improves operational resilience. Regular backups are crucial for disaster recovery and security compliance, and reducing their footprint helps ensure they can be executed consistently and without interruption.

From a DevOps standpoint, this accomplishment reflects the power of continuous iteration, observability, and a strong commitment to performance. As organisations scale their GitLab installations, whether self-managed or cloud-hosted, evaluating and enhancing backup strategies becomes increasingly important.

If your team is facing challenges with GitLab backups, repository scaling, or performance bottlenecks, IDEA GitLab Solutions offers expert consulting and license services across the UK, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, and remotely in Israel, South Africa, and Paraguay. Let us help you optimise your GitLab deployment for speed and reliability.

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