diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 9dc3781..95a1ad5 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ host, Docker Compose per site, no orchestrator.
 - ✅ Phase 2 — platform services (Traefik, MariaDB, Forgejo) in [platform-infra/stacks/](platform-infra/stacks/README.md)
 - ✅ Phase 3 — site templates & base images in [site-templates/](site-templates/README.md)
 - ✅ Phase 4 — provisioning CLI `heleosctl` in [control-panel/](control-panel/README.md) (provision/deprovision/list/render/backup/restore; `--dry-run`; 22 tests)
-- 🚧 Phase 5 — backup/DR automation (ZFS snapshot/`send` + automysqlbackup jobs, offsite, restore drill)
-- ⬜ Phases 6–8 — observability, migration, panel
+- ✅ Phase 5 — backup/DR automation in the `backup` Ansible role (sanoid snapshots, per-DB dump timer, optional syncoid/rsync offsite)
+- 🚧 Phase 6 — observability (Prometheus/Grafana + cAdvisor/node_exporter/Traefik metrics, Loki/Promtail, Uptime-Kuma)
+- ⬜ Phases 7–8 — migration, customer panel
 
 ### Phase 4 follow-ups (not yet done)
 - `reconfigure` + `rotate-secret` commands; git-commit of `deployments/` on provision; php-fpm umask for two-way SFTP editing (see control-panel/README.md).
diff --git a/docs/06-backup-and-dr.md b/docs/06-backup-and-dr.md
index 10f2385..61862ba 100644
--- a/docs/06-backup-and-dr.md
+++ b/docs/06-backup-and-dr.md
@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@ config) is backed up with the same ZFS mechanism from `tank/platform/*`.
 - **DB dumps:** rsync to the same or another offsite location (delta transfer).
 - Both offsite copies are the recovery source if the primary host is lost.
 
+## 2b. Implementation (Phase 5)
+
+Automated by the `backup` Ansible role (`platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup`):
+
+- **Files:** [sanoid](https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid) takes and prunes
+  snapshots per policy (`sanoid.conf`, driven by `sanoid_datasets`), on the
+  packaged `sanoid.timer`. **syncoid** replicates offsite
+  (`heleos-zfs-offsite`), enabled only when `zfs_offsite_target` is set.
+- **DB:** `heleos-db-backup` (systemd timer, nightly) walks the deployments dir,
+  dumps each DB-backed site via `docker exec … mariadb-dump` into
+  `db-backups/<customer>/<site>/{daily,weekly,monthly}` with rotation, then
+  `heleos-db-offsite` rsyncs offsite (enabled only when `db_offsite_target` set).
+- Toggle streams with `backup_snapshots_enabled` / `db_backup_enabled` and the
+  offsite target vars in `group_vars/all.yml`.
+
 ## 3. Restore — single site (the critical drill)
 
 Two coordinated steps:
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/README.md b/platform-infra/ansible/README.md
index e732ea7..345b081 100644
--- a/platform-infra/ansible/README.md
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 Idempotent host configuration for the heleos platform, targeting **Ubuntu 24.04
 LTS**. Roles: base packages → ZFS pool/datasets → Docker (data-root on ZFS) →
-nftables firewall + container egress filter → SSH hardening.
+nftables firewall + container egress filter → SSH hardening → backup/DR
+(sanoid snapshots, per-DB dumps, offsite).
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
@@ -67,6 +68,9 @@ Run a single layer with tags: `--tags zfs`, `--tags docker`, `--tags firewall`,
   ICMP); outbound SMTP blocked from containers.
 - Hardened SSH (key-first, root prohibit-password) and the `sftponly` group that
   per-customer SFTP accounts will join in Phase 4.
+- Backup/DR (Phase 5): sanoid snapshot policy + timer, nightly per-database dumps
+  with rotation, and optional offsite `zfs send` (syncoid) / rsync — enable
+  offsite by setting `zfs_offsite_target` / `db_offsite_target`.
 
 ## Verify after running
 
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/group_vars/all.yml b/platform-infra/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
index 50f671e..81fd706 100644
--- a/platform-infra/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -54,3 +54,29 @@ smtp_relay_host: ""                      # optional: allow SMTP only to this hos
 admin_user: "{{ ansible_user }}"
 admin_authorized_keys: []                # list of public key strings
 ssh_disable_password_auth: false         # flip to true once key login is verified
+
+# --- Backups / DR (Phase 5) -------------------------------------------------
+mariadb_container: mariadb
+mariadb_env_file: /opt/heleos/platform-infra/stacks/mariadb/.env
+deployments_dir: /opt/heleos/deployments
+
+# ZFS snapshots via sanoid (files stream). Retention is per policy below.
+backup_snapshots_enabled: true
+sanoid_datasets:
+  - { name: "{{ zfs_pool_name }}/customers", recursive: true,  hourly: 36, daily: 30, weekly: 8, monthly: 6 }
+  - { name: "{{ zfs_pool_name }}/platform",  recursive: true,  hourly: 0,  daily: 14, weekly: 4, monthly: 3 }
+
+# Per-database dumps (DB stream), automysqlbackup-style rotation via docker exec.
+db_backup_enabled: true
+db_backup_dir: "/{{ zfs_pool_name }}/platform/db-backups"
+db_backup_oncalendar: "*-*-* 01:30:00"
+db_backup_keep_daily: 14
+db_backup_keep_weekly: 8
+db_backup_keep_monthly: 6
+
+# Offsite. Leave the targets empty to disable that stream.
+zfs_offsite_target: ""                    # e.g. "user@backup-host:backup/heleos"
+zfs_offsite_datasets: ["{{ zfs_pool_name }}/customers", "{{ zfs_pool_name }}/platform"]
+zfs_offsite_oncalendar: "*-*-* 03:00:00"
+db_offsite_target: ""                     # e.g. "user@backup-host:/srv/heleos/db-backups"
+db_offsite_oncalendar: "*-*-* 03:30:00"
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/handlers/main.yml b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/handlers/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c28484f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/handlers/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+- name: Reload systemd
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    daemon_reload: true
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/tasks/main.yml b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..406f5d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/tasks/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+---
+# ── ZFS snapshots (files stream) via sanoid ─────────────────────────────────
+- name: Install sanoid (snapshots + syncoid replication)
+  ansible.builtin.apt:
+    name: sanoid
+    state: present
+  when: backup_snapshots_enabled
+
+- name: Configure sanoid snapshot policy
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: sanoid.conf.j2
+    dest: /etc/sanoid/sanoid.conf
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0644"
+  when: backup_snapshots_enabled
+
+- name: Enable the sanoid timer
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    name: sanoid.timer
+    enabled: true
+    state: started
+  when: backup_snapshots_enabled
+
+# ── Per-database dumps (DB stream) ──────────────────────────────────────────
+- name: Install the DB backup script
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: heleos-db-backup.sh.j2
+    dest: /usr/local/sbin/heleos-db-backup.sh
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0755"
+  when: db_backup_enabled
+
+- name: Install the DB backup service + timer
+  ansible.builtin.copy:
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/system/{{ item.name }}"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0644"
+    content: "{{ item.content }}"
+  loop:
+    - name: heleos-db-backup.service
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=heleos per-database dumps (rotated)
+        After=docker.service
+        Requires=docker.service
+
+        [Service]
+        Type=oneshot
+        ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/heleos-db-backup.sh
+    - name: heleos-db-backup.timer
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=Run heleos DB backups on a schedule
+
+        [Timer]
+        OnCalendar={{ db_backup_oncalendar }}
+        Persistent=true
+
+        [Install]
+        WantedBy=timers.target
+  loop_control:
+    label: "{{ item.name }}"
+  when: db_backup_enabled
+  notify: Reload systemd
+
+- name: Enable the DB backup timer
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    name: heleos-db-backup.timer
+    enabled: true
+    daemon_reload: true
+    state: started
+  when: db_backup_enabled
+
+# ── Offsite: files (syncoid / zfs send) ─────────────────────────────────────
+- name: Install the ZFS offsite script
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: heleos-zfs-offsite.sh.j2
+    dest: /usr/local/sbin/heleos-zfs-offsite.sh
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0755"
+  when: zfs_offsite_target | length > 0
+
+- name: Install the ZFS offsite service + timer
+  ansible.builtin.copy:
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/system/{{ item.name }}"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0644"
+    content: "{{ item.content }}"
+  loop:
+    - name: heleos-zfs-offsite.service
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=heleos offsite ZFS replication (syncoid)
+
+        [Service]
+        Type=oneshot
+        ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/heleos-zfs-offsite.sh
+    - name: heleos-zfs-offsite.timer
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=Run heleos offsite ZFS replication on a schedule
+
+        [Timer]
+        OnCalendar={{ zfs_offsite_oncalendar }}
+        Persistent=true
+
+        [Install]
+        WantedBy=timers.target
+  loop_control:
+    label: "{{ item.name }}"
+  when: zfs_offsite_target | length > 0
+  notify: Reload systemd
+
+- name: Enable the ZFS offsite timer
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    name: heleos-zfs-offsite.timer
+    enabled: true
+    daemon_reload: true
+    state: started
+  when: zfs_offsite_target | length > 0
+
+# ── Offsite: DB dumps (rsync) ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+- name: Install the DB offsite script
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: heleos-db-offsite.sh.j2
+    dest: /usr/local/sbin/heleos-db-offsite.sh
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0755"
+  when: db_offsite_target | length > 0
+
+- name: Install the DB offsite service + timer
+  ansible.builtin.copy:
+    dest: "/etc/systemd/system/{{ item.name }}"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0644"
+    content: "{{ item.content }}"
+  loop:
+    - name: heleos-db-offsite.service
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=heleos offsite DB dump sync (rsync)
+
+        [Service]
+        Type=oneshot
+        ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/heleos-db-offsite.sh
+    - name: heleos-db-offsite.timer
+      content: |
+        [Unit]
+        Description=Run heleos offsite DB sync on a schedule
+
+        [Timer]
+        OnCalendar={{ db_offsite_oncalendar }}
+        Persistent=true
+
+        [Install]
+        WantedBy=timers.target
+  loop_control:
+    label: "{{ item.name }}"
+  when: db_offsite_target | length > 0
+  notify: Reload systemd
+
+- name: Enable the DB offsite timer
+  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+    name: heleos-db-offsite.timer
+    enabled: true
+    daemon_reload: true
+    state: started
+  when: db_offsite_target | length > 0
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-backup.sh.j2 b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-backup.sh.j2
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..627aa45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-backup.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# heleos per-database dumps — automysqlbackup-style rotation, adapted for the
+# containerized shared MariaDB. Managed by Ansible. Iterates the deployments dir
+# (source of truth) and dumps each DB-backed site into
+# db-backups/<customer>/<site>/{daily,weekly,monthly}.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+CONTAINER="{{ mariadb_container }}"
+BASE="{{ db_backup_dir }}"
+DEPLOYMENTS="{{ deployments_dir }}"
+KEEP_DAILY={{ db_backup_keep_daily }}
+KEEP_WEEKLY={{ db_backup_keep_weekly }}
+KEEP_MONTHLY={{ db_backup_keep_monthly }}
+
+# Root password: env var wins, else read from the mariadb stack .env.
+ROOTPW="${MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD:-}"
+if [ -z "$ROOTPW" ] && [ -f "{{ mariadb_env_file }}" ]; then
+    ROOTPW="$(grep -E '^MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=' "{{ mariadb_env_file }}" | cut -d= -f2-)"
+fi
+if [ -z "$ROOTPW" ]; then
+    echo "no MariaDB root password (env or {{ mariadb_env_file }})" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+dow="$(date +%u)"      # 7 = Sunday
+dom="$(date +%d)"      # 01 = first of month
+ts="$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
+
+shopt -s nullglob
+for meta in "$DEPLOYMENTS"/*/*/site.yaml; do
+    d="$(dirname "$meta")"
+    site="$(basename "$d")"
+    customer="$(basename "$(dirname "$d")")"
+    grep -qiE '^database:[[:space:]]*true' "$meta" || continue
+
+    db="db_${customer//-/_}_${site//-/_}"
+    dest="$BASE/$customer/$site"
+    mkdir -p "$dest/daily" "$dest/weekly" "$dest/monthly"
+
+    out="$dest/daily/${db}-${ts}.sql.gz"
+    # MYSQL_PWD keeps the password out of the container's process list.
+    docker exec -e MYSQL_PWD="$ROOTPW" "$CONTAINER" \
+        mariadb-dump --single-transaction --databases "$db" -uroot | gzip > "$out"
+
+    [ "$dow" = "7" ]  && cp -f "$out" "$dest/weekly/"
+    [ "$dom" = "01" ] && cp -f "$out" "$dest/monthly/"
+
+    find "$dest/daily"   -name '*.sql.gz' -type f -mtime +"$KEEP_DAILY"            -delete
+    find "$dest/weekly"  -name '*.sql.gz' -type f -mtime +"$(( KEEP_WEEKLY * 7 ))"  -delete
+    find "$dest/monthly" -name '*.sql.gz' -type f -mtime +"$(( KEEP_MONTHLY * 31 ))" -delete
+done
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-offsite.sh.j2 b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-offsite.sh.j2
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..250230d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-db-offsite.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# heleos offsite DB dump sync via rsync. Managed by Ansible. Only installed/
+# enabled when db_offsite_target is set. Dumps are already rotated locally.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+rsync -a --delete "{{ db_backup_dir }}/" "{{ db_offsite_target }}/"
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-zfs-offsite.sh.j2 b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-zfs-offsite.sh.j2
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..315239a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/heleos-zfs-offsite.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# heleos offsite ZFS replication via syncoid (incremental zfs send). Managed by
+# Ansible. Only installed/enabled when zfs_offsite_target is set.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+TARGET="{{ zfs_offsite_target }}"
+
+for ds in {{ zfs_offsite_datasets | join(' ') }}; do
+    # DEST mirrors the last path component under the offsite base, e.g.
+    #   tank/customers -> <target>/customers
+    dest="${TARGET}/${ds##*/}"
+    echo "==> syncoid ${ds} -> ${dest}"
+    syncoid --recursive --no-sync-snap "${ds}" "${dest}"
+done
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/sanoid.conf.j2 b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/sanoid.conf.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9867ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/roles/backup/templates/sanoid.conf.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# heleos sanoid snapshot policy — managed by Ansible.
+# Files stream only; DB dumps are handled separately (heleos-db-backup).
+{% for d in sanoid_datasets %}
+[{{ d.name }}]
+    use_template = {{ d.name | replace('/', '_') }}
+    recursive = {{ 'yes' if d.recursive else 'no' }}
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% for d in sanoid_datasets %}
+[template_{{ d.name | replace('/', '_') }}]
+    hourly = {{ d.hourly }}
+    daily = {{ d.daily }}
+    weekly = {{ d.weekly }}
+    monthly = {{ d.monthly }}
+    autosnap = yes
+    autoprune = yes
+{% endfor %}
diff --git a/platform-infra/ansible/site.yml b/platform-infra/ansible/site.yml
index c5b3918..53c2b72 100644
--- a/platform-infra/ansible/site.yml
+++ b/platform-infra/ansible/site.yml
@@ -20,3 +20,5 @@
       tags: [firewall]
     - role: ssh_hardening
       tags: [ssh]
+    - role: backup
+      tags: [backup]