diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index eb6fe6b6d..b0b26208e 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -19,13 +19,11 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
-	"net/url"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	api "github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/apis/etcd/v1beta2"
-	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/backup/backupapi"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/debug"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/garbagecollection"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/generated/clientset/versioned"
@@ -33,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/util/k8sutil"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd-operator/pkg/util/retryutil"
 
+	"github.com/pborman/uuid"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
@@ -87,8 +86,6 @@ type Cluster struct {
 	// process runs in.
 	members etcdutil.MemberSet
 
-	bm *backupManager
-
 	tlsConfig *tls.Config
 
 	gc *garbagecollection.GC
@@ -134,7 +131,6 @@ func New(config Config, cl *api.EtcdCluster) *Cluster {
 }
 
 func (c *Cluster) setup() error {
-	var err error
 	var shouldCreateCluster bool
 	switch c.status.Phase {
 	case api.ClusterPhaseNone:
@@ -159,19 +155,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) setup() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if c.cluster.Spec.Backup != nil {
-		c.bm, err = newBackupManager(c.config, c.cluster, c.logger)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if !shouldCreateCluster {
-			err := c.bm.upgradeIfNeeded()
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	if shouldCreateCluster {
 		return c.create()
 	}
@@ -188,21 +171,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) create() error {
 
 	c.gc.CollectCluster(c.cluster.Name, c.cluster.UID)
 
-	if c.bm != nil {
-		if err := c.bm.setup(); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
-
-	if c.cluster.Spec.Restore == nil {
-		// Note: For restore case, we don't need to create seed member,
-		// and will go through reconcile loop and disaster recovery.
-		if err := c.prepareSeedMember(); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return c.prepareSeedMember()
 }
 
 func (c *Cluster) prepareSeedMember() error {
@@ -305,12 +274,8 @@ func (c *Cluster) run() {
 				continue
 			}
 			if len(running) == 0 {
-				c.logger.Warningf("all etcd pods are dead. Trying to recover from a previous backup")
-				rerr = c.disasterRecovery(nil)
-				if rerr != nil {
-					c.logger.Errorf("fail to do disaster recovery: %v", rerr)
-				}
-				// On normal recovery case, we need backoff. On error case, this could be either backoff or leading to cluster delete.
+				// TODO: how to handle this case?
+				c.logger.Warningf("all etcd pods are dead.")
 				break
 			}
 
@@ -327,10 +292,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) run() {
 				c.logger.Errorf("failed to reconcile: %v", rerr)
 				break
 			}
-
-			if err := c.updateLocalBackupStatus(); err != nil {
-				c.logger.Warningf("failed to update local backup service status: %v", err)
-			}
 			c.updateMemberStatus(c.members)
 			if err := c.updateCRStatus(); err != nil {
 				c.logger.Warningf("periodic update CR status failed: %v", err)
@@ -365,34 +326,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) handleUpdateEvent(event *clusterEvent) error {
 	// TODO: we can't handle another upgrade while an upgrade is in progress
 
 	c.logSpecUpdate(*oldSpec, event.cluster.Spec)
-
-	ob, nb := oldSpec.Backup, event.cluster.Spec.Backup
-	if !isBackupPolicyEqual(ob, nb) {
-		err := c.updateBackupPolicy(ob, nb)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to update backup policy: %v", err)
-		}
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (c *Cluster) updateBackupPolicy(ob, nb *api.BackupPolicy) error {
-	var err error
-	switch {
-	case ob == nil && nb != nil:
-		c.bm, err = newBackupManager(c.config, c.cluster, c.logger)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		return c.bm.setup()
-	case ob != nil && nb == nil:
-		c.bm.deleteBackupSidecar()
-		c.bm = nil
-	case ob != nil && nb != nil:
-		return c.bm.updateSidecar(c.cluster)
-	default:
-		panic("unexpected backup spec comparison")
-	}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -400,14 +333,10 @@ func isSpecEqual(s1, s2 api.ClusterSpec) bool {
 	if s1.Size != s2.Size || s1.Paused != s2.Paused || s1.Version != s2.Version {
 		return false
 	}
-	return isBackupPolicyEqual(s1.Backup, s2.Backup)
+	return true
 }
 
-func isBackupPolicyEqual(b1, b2 *api.BackupPolicy) bool {
-	return reflect.DeepEqual(b1, b2)
-}
-
-func (c *Cluster) startSeedMember(recoverFromBackup bool) error {
+func (c *Cluster) startSeedMember() error {
 	m := &etcdutil.Member{
 		Name:         etcdutil.CreateMemberName(c.cluster.Name, c.memberCounter),
 		Namespace:    c.cluster.Namespace,
@@ -415,7 +344,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) startSeedMember(recoverFromBackup bool) error {
 		SecureClient: c.isSecureClient(),
 	}
 	ms := etcdutil.NewMemberSet(m)
-	if err := c.createPod(ms, m, "new", recoverFromBackup); err != nil {
+	if err := c.createPod(ms, m, "new"); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create seed member (%s): %v", m.Name, err)
 	}
 	c.memberCounter++
@@ -439,12 +368,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) isSecureClient() bool {
 
 // bootstrap creates the seed etcd member for a new cluster.
 func (c *Cluster) bootstrap() error {
-	return c.startSeedMember(false)
-}
-
-// recover recovers the cluster by creating a seed etcd member from a backup.
-func (c *Cluster) recover() error {
-	return c.startSeedMember(true)
+	return c.startSeedMember()
 }
 
 func (c *Cluster) Update(cl *api.EtcdCluster) {
@@ -456,14 +380,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) Update(cl *api.EtcdCluster) {
 
 func (c *Cluster) delete() {
 	c.gc.CollectCluster(c.cluster.Name, garbagecollection.NullUID)
-
-	if c.bm == nil {
-		return
-	}
-
-	if err := c.bm.cleanup(); err != nil {
-		c.logger.Errorf("cluster deletion: backup manager failed to cleanup: %v", err)
-	}
 }
 
 func (c *Cluster) setupServices() error {
@@ -475,18 +391,8 @@ func (c *Cluster) setupServices() error {
 	return k8sutil.CreatePeerService(c.config.KubeCli, c.cluster.Name, c.cluster.Namespace, c.cluster.AsOwner())
 }
 
-func (c *Cluster) createPod(members etcdutil.MemberSet, m *etcdutil.Member, state string, needRecovery bool) error {
-	var pod *v1.Pod
-	if state == "new" {
-		var backupURL *url.URL
-		if needRecovery {
-			serviceAddr := k8sutil.BackupServiceAddr(c.cluster.Name)
-			backupURL = backupapi.NewBackupURL("http", serviceAddr, c.cluster.Spec.Version, -1)
-		}
-		pod = k8sutil.NewSeedMemberPod(c.cluster.Name, members, m, c.cluster.Spec, c.cluster.AsOwner(), backupURL)
-	} else {
-		pod = k8sutil.NewEtcdPod(m, members.PeerURLPairs(), c.cluster.Name, state, "", c.cluster.Spec, c.cluster.AsOwner())
-	}
+func (c *Cluster) createPod(members etcdutil.MemberSet, m *etcdutil.Member, state string) error {
+	pod := k8sutil.NewEtcdPod(m, members.PeerURLPairs(), c.cluster.Name, state, uuid.New(), c.cluster.Spec, c.cluster.AsOwner())
 	_, err := c.config.KubeCli.Core().Pods(c.cluster.Namespace).Create(pod)
 	return err
 }
@@ -572,20 +478,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) updateCRStatus() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Cluster) updateLocalBackupStatus() error {
-	if c.bm == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	bs, err := c.bm.getStatus()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	c.status.BackupServiceStatus = backupServiceStatusToTPRBackupServiceStatu(bs)
-
-	return nil
-}
-
 func (c *Cluster) reportFailedStatus() {
 	retryInterval := 5 * time.Second
 
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/reconcile.go b/pkg/cluster/reconcile.go
index 97bb22763..5e6821a59 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/reconcile.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/reconcile.go
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
 
+// ErrLostQuorum indicates that the etcd cluster lost its quorum.
+var ErrLostQuorum = errors.New("lost quorum")
+
 // reconcile reconciles cluster current state to desired state specified by spec.
 // - it tries to reconcile the cluster to desired size.
 // - if the cluster needs for upgrade, it tries to upgrade old member one by one.
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) reconcile(pods []*v1.Pod) error {
 // 1. Remove all pods from running set that does not belong to member set.
 // 2. L consist of remaining pods of runnings
 // 3. If L = members, the current state matches the membership state. END.
-// 4. If len(L) < len(members)/2 + 1, quorum lost. Go to recovery process.
+// 4. If len(L) < len(members)/2 + 1, return quorum lost error.
 // 5. Add one missing member. END.
 func (c *Cluster) reconcileMembers(running etcdutil.MemberSet) error {
 	c.logger.Infof("running members: %s", running)
@@ -90,8 +93,8 @@ func (c *Cluster) reconcileMembers(running etcdutil.MemberSet) error {
 	}
 
 	if L.Size() < c.members.Size()/2+1 {
-		c.logger.Infof("Disaster recovery")
-		return c.disasterRecovery(L)
+		c.logger.Infof("lost quorum")
+		return ErrLostQuorum
 	}
 
 	c.logger.Infof("removing one dead member")
@@ -139,7 +142,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) addOneMember() error {
 	newMember.ID = resp.Member.ID
 	c.members.Add(newMember)
 
-	if err := c.createPod(c.members, newMember, "existing", false); err != nil {
+	if err := c.createPod(c.members, newMember, "existing"); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("fail to create member's pod (%s): %v", newMember.Name, err)
 	}
 	c.memberCounter++
@@ -213,51 +216,6 @@ func (c *Cluster) removeMember(toRemove *etcdutil.Member) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *Cluster) disasterRecovery(left etcdutil.MemberSet) error {
-	c.status.SetRecoveringCondition()
-
-	if c.cluster.Spec.SelfHosted != nil {
-		return errors.New("self-hosted cluster cannot be recovered from disaster")
-	}
-
-	if c.cluster.Spec.Backup == nil {
-		return newFatalError("fail to do disaster recovery: no backup policy has been defined")
-	}
-
-	backupNow := false
-	if len(left) > 0 {
-		c.logger.Infof("pods are still running (%v). Will try to make a latest backup from one of them.", left)
-		err := c.bm.requestBackup()
-		if err != nil {
-			c.logger.Errorln(err)
-		} else {
-			backupNow = true
-		}
-	}
-	if backupNow {
-		c.logger.Info("made a latest backup")
-	} else {
-		// We don't return error if backupnow failed. Instead, we ask if there is previous backup.
-		// If so, we can still continue. Otherwise, it's fatal error.
-		exist, err := c.bm.checkBackupExist(c.cluster.Spec.Version)
-		if err != nil {
-			c.logger.Errorln(err)
-			return err
-		}
-		if !exist {
-			return newFatalError("no backup exist for disaster recovery")
-		}
-	}
-
-	for _, m := range left {
-		err := c.removePod(m.Name)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
-	return c.recover()
-}
-
 func needUpgrade(pods []*v1.Pod, cs api.ClusterSpec) bool {
 	return len(pods) == cs.Size && pickOneOldMember(pods, cs.Version) != nil
 }