diff --git a/group_vars/all.example b/group_vars/all.example
index 5842d72..44956da 100644
--- a/group_vars/all.example
+++ b/group_vars/all.example
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 poa_role: "bootnode|validator|moc|explorer|netstat"
 
-#AWS Key
+#For Backups
 access_key: "KEY_NAME"
 secret_key: "KEY_SECRET"
-
 s3_bucket: "BUCKET_NAME"
+node_name: "NODE_NAME"
 
 #For HFs
 MAIN_REPO_FETCH: "poanetwork"
diff --git a/group_vars/backup-parity.example b/group_vars/backup-parity.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..828795f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/group_vars/backup-parity.example
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+# bootnode | moc | validator | explorer | netstat
+poa_role: "moc"
+
+# backup modes
+backup_parity_data: true
+backup_parity_blocks: true
+
+# AWS
+access_key: "KEY_NAME"
+secret_key: "KEY_SECRET"
+s3_bucket: "BUCKET_NAME"
+node_name: "NODE_NAME"
diff --git a/group_vars/hf-spec-change.example b/group_vars/hf-spec-change.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f01b40a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/group_vars/hf-spec-change.example
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+# bootnode | moc | validator | explorer | netstat
+poa_role: "moc"
+
+# repo to fetch HFs from
+MAIN_REPO_FETCH: "poanetwork"
+GENESIS_BRANCH: "master"
diff --git a/roles/backup-parity/tasks/main.yml b/roles/backup-parity/tasks/main.yml
index 4f84961..19d352d 100644
--- a/roles/backup-parity/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/backup-parity/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,37 +1,76 @@
 ---
+# initial checks
+- name: Check that the netstats service is installed
+  stat:
+    path: /etc/systemd/system/poa-netstats.service
+  register: netstats_service_file
+
+- name: Check that parity is running
+  shell: "systemctl is-active poa-parity"
+  register: parity_service_active
+
+# stop services
 - name: Shutdown poa-netstats service
   service: name=poa-netstats state=stopped
+  when: netstats_service_file.stat.exists
 
 - name: Shutdown poa-parity service
   service: name=poa-parity state=stopped
 
+# make backups
 - name: Create backup directory
   file: path=/data state=directory
 
-- name: Create blockchain archive
+- name: Create parity_data archive
   archive:
     format: gz
     path: /home/{{ poa_role }}/parity_data
     dest: "/data/parity_data.tar.gz"
+  when: backup_parity_data == true
 
-- name: Upload to s3
+- name: Export parity blocks
+  shell: "cd /home/{{ poa_role }}; ./parity --config node.toml export blocks blocks.rlp"
+  when: backup_parity_blocks == true
+
+- name: Create parity blocks archive
+  archive:
+    format: gz
+    path: /home/{{ poa_role }}/blocks.rlp
+    dest: "/data/parity_blocks.rlp.gz"
+  when: backup_parity_blocks == true
+
+# start services
+- name: Launch poa-parity service
+  service: name=poa-parity state=started
+  when: parity_service_active == "active"
+
+- name: Launch poa-netstats service
+  service: name=poa-netstats state=started
+  when: netstats_service_file.stat.exists
+
+# upload backups to s3
+- name: Upload parity_data to s3
   s3:
     aws_access_key: "{{ access_key }}"
     aws_secret_key: "{{ secret_key }}"
     bucket: "{{ s3_bucket }}"
-    object: "/parity_data-{{ date }}.tar.gz"
+    object: "/{{ date }}-{{ poa_role }}-{{ node_name }}-parity_data.tar.gz"
     src: "/data/parity_data.tar.gz"
     mode: put
-  ignore_errors: yes
+  when: backup_parity_data == true
 
+- name: Upload parity blocks to s3
+  s3:
+    aws_access_key: "{{ access_key }}"
+    aws_secret_key: "{{ secret_key }}"
+    bucket: "{{ s3_bucket }}"
+    object: "/{{ date }}-{{ poa_role }}-{{ node_name }}-parity_blocks.rlp.gz"
+    src: "/data/parity_blocks.rlp.gz"
+    mode: put
+  when: backup_parity_blocks == true
+
+# Cleanup
 - name: Clean local backup storage
   file:
     state: absent
     path: "/data/"
-
-- name: Launch poa-parity service
-  service: name=poa-parity state=started
-
-- name: Launch poa-netstats service
-  service: name=poa-netstats state=started
-
diff --git a/site.yml b/site.yml
index d272c4d..67571ed 100644
--- a/site.yml
+++ b/site.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   vars:
     date: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'date -u +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S') }}"
     home: "/home/{{ poa_role }}"
-  user: root
+  user: ubuntu
   become: true
   become_user: root
   roles: