You can use Hybrid Backup Recovery (HBR) to back up Alibaba Cloud Network Attached Storage (NAS) files and restore the files in a timely manner if they are lost or damaged.

Prerequisites

A NAS file system that complies with the NFS or SMB protocol is created for backup. For more information, seeMount a file system on a Linux ECS instanceandMount a file system on a Windows ECS instance.

Background

Before you use NAS to back up and restore the objects, note the following items:

  • Alibaba Cloud NAS or NAS refers to Apsara File Storage NAS in this topic.
  • Currently, agentless NAS backup is available in the following regions: China (Beijing), China (Shanghai), China (Shenzhen), China (Hangzhou), China (QingDao), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Hohhot), China (Hong Kong), Singapore, US (Silicon Valley), Indonesia (Jakarta), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Australia (Sydney), Germany (Frankfurt) and Japan (Tokyo). Agentless NAS backup will be available in other regions soon.
  • Agentless NAS backup allows you to back up file share based on the network file system (NFS) or Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. HBR can back up files in a NAS file system through backup while mounted or backup while not mounted in the same way. Instead of generating snapshots for files in a NAS file system and using snapshots for backup, HBR uses an efficient traditional backup mechanism that scans files in the NAS file system.
  • In addition to agentless backup, you can also use an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) file backup client or a local file backup client to back up NAS files. For more information, seeOverview.

Copy in the same region

Note We recommend that each created NAS backup job contain no more than 50 million files, and the total number of files and subdirectories in each directory be no more than 8 million.

To back up files in a NAS file system to a backup vault in the same region as the file system, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to theHBR console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, chooseBackup > NAS Backup.
  3. On the Backup Plan tab that appears, clickBackup File Systemin the upper-right corner.
  4. In theBackup File Systempane that appears, set parameters as required and clickOK.
    Note You can create a backup plan and use it free of charge for 60 days from the date of creation.
    Backup File System pane
    1. Set the basic parameters as described in the following table.
      Parameter Description
      File System The source NAS file system whose files are to be backed up.
      Plan Name The name of the backup plan. If you do not specify this parameter, a random name is set by default.
      Start Time The start time of the backup plan. The time is accurate to seconds.
      Continue Plan (Paid) Specifies whether to renew the backup plan after its free trial expires.
    2. ClickSwitch to Paid Usage NOWand set the advanced parameters as described in the following table.
      Parameter Description
      Source File Path The storage path of the files to be backed up, for example, /nas/folder. You can enter a single slash (/) to specify the root directory of the source NAS file system.
      Plan Run Interval The interval for backing up incremental data. Valid units: days and weeks.
      Backup Retention Policy The retention policy of backup data. Valid values:Specify Retention TimeandForever.

      If you selectSpecify Retention Time, you must choose retention for theRetentionparameter. Currently, the valid units of the Retention parameter are days, weeks, months, and years.

      Retention The retention period of backup data. Valid units: days, weeks, months, and years.
      Backup Vault Config The backup vault to store backup data. If you have created backup vaults, set the value toSelect Vaultand select a backup vault from the Vault Name drop-down list. If you have not created any backup vaults, set the value toCreate Vaultand enter a vault name to create a backup vault. The vault name can be a maximum of 64 characters in length.
      Note A backup vault is a repository used by HBR to store backup data in the cloud. You can back up data from multiple backup clients to the same vault. Backup vaults reside in different regions. You can only select or create backup vaults in the current region.

      After the backup plan is created, HBR backs up files in the source NAS file system at the specified start time and at the specified intervals. On theBackup Plantab, you can also perform the following operations:

      • Start a backup job: Find the target backup plan and clickExecutein theActionscolumn.
      • Pause a backup job: Find the target backup plan and chooseMore > Disable Planin theActionscolumn. To resume a paused backup job, chooseMore > Enable Planin theActionscolumn.
      • Delete a backup job: Find the target backup plan and chooseMore > Delete Planin theActionscolumn. After you delete a backup plan, HBR no longer runs the plan but retains data that is backed up by using the plan.
      • View the backup records of a NAS file system in the last three months or all backup records: Find the target backup plan and chooseMore > Backup Historyin theActionscolumn.
      • Modify a backup plan: Find the target backup plan and clickEditin theActionscolumn.
      Note You can view the progress of backup jobs on theBackup Jobstab. After the specified backup job is completed, you can restore the backup data of the specified source NAS file system to the current or another specified NAS file system.

Restoration in the same region

To restore backup data from a backup vault to a single NAS file system in the same region as the vault, follow these steps:

  1. On theRestore Jobstab, clickCreate Restore Jobin the upper-right corner.
  2. In the New Restore Task pane that appears, set parameters in theSelect Snapshotstep as described in the following table and clickNext.
    Parameter Description
    Backup Vault The backup vault where backup data is stored.
    NAS to Restore The source NAS file system used for restoration. Select one from the NAS file systems that have been backed up in HBR.
    Snapshot to Restore The backup to be restored. Set the value toSnapshots of Last 3 MonthsorAll Snapshotsand select a backup source.
  3. In theSelect Restore Filesstep, setRestore Ruleand clickNext.
    Valid values of the Restore Rule parameter:
    • Include All Files: HBR restores all files in the selected source NAS file system.
    • Include FilesorExclude Files: Enter the directories of files in the Input File List field. HBR restores files in the selected source NAS file system based on this restore rule.

    In the Input File List field, enter one directory in each line. Make sure that each directory starts with the lowest-level folder in the source directory. For example, if the source directory is /test/data and you want to restore the file.txt and abc files in the data folder, enter the directories as follows: 

    /data/file.txt
/data/abc
  4. In theConfig Restore Destinationstep, select a destination NAS file system in the current region and setRestore Path.
    Note You can restore share without file copy to the destination NAS file system and enter a path in the Restore Path field, for example, /nas/abc. You can enter a single slash (/) to specify the root directory of the destination NAS file system.
  5. ClickCreate.
    After the restore job is created, you can view the job progress in theStatuscolumn on theRestore Jobstab.

Cross-region copy

A backup vault is a repository used by HBR to store backup data in the cloud. You can create a remote mirror vault for a backup vault and back up data in the backup vault to the mirror vault to meet disaster recovery requirements.

To back up data to a remote mirror vault, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to theHBR console.
  2. ClickOverviewin the left-side navigation pane. On the Overview page, select a region, for example, China (Hangzhou), in theRegions with Backup Vaultsection. Find the target backup vault for which you want to create a mirror vault and click theCreate iconicon in the upper-right corner of the backup vault.
    Create a mirror vault
  3. In theCreate Mirror Vaultpane that appears, select the region where the mirror vault resides, enter the name and description of the mirror vault, and then clickCreate.
    Note
    • You can create only one mirror vault for each backup vault.
    • You can only back up data to a remote mirror vault and restore backup data from the mirror vault. You cannot create backup plans in the mirror vault. HBR starts to synchronize historical data in a source backup vault to a mirror vault 90 minutes after you create the mirror vault.
    • A mirror vault contains all the backup data that is stored in the source backup vault when the mirror vault is created.
    Create Mirror Vault pane
    You can view the data synchronization progress after you create a mirror vault. After the data is synchronized, you can restore data in a NAS file system from the mirror vault.Synchronization progress

Cross-region restoration

A backup vault is a repository used by HBR to store backup data in the cloud. You can restore backup data from a remote mirror vault to a single NAS file system based on disaster recovery requirements.

  1. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Backup >NAS Backup. On the page that appears, select the region where the mirror vault resides.
  2. Click theRestore Jobstab. On the Restore Jobs tab, clickCreate Restore Jobin the upper-right corner.
  3. In the New Restore Task pane that appears, set parameters as required in theSelect Snapshotstep.
    Select Snapshot step
    Note SetBackup Vaultto the created mirror vault whose name starts with [COPY]. Set other parameters as described in theRestoration in the same regionsection.

Optional operations

On theNAS Backuppage, click the Backup Plan tab. On the Backup Plan tab, clickManage Backup Mountpointin the upper-right corner. In the Manage Backup Mountpoint pane that appears, you can perform the following operations:

  • View all the NAS file systems that you create in the selected region. You can also click a NAS file system to view the information about the NAS file system, such as the protocol type and number of mount points.
  • ClickDelete Backup Mountpointto delete a backup mount point. When you create a backup plan for a NAS file system, HBR automatically adds a backup mount point to the NAS file system. You cannot directly delete this mount point because it is created by the internal service of Alibaba Cloud. If you want to unmount the NAS file system, find the NAS file system in theManage Backup Mountpointpane and clickDelete Backup Mountpointin the Actions column to delete the backup mount point. Deleting a backup mount point may lead to the failure of relevant backup jobs. Before you delete the backup mount point, delete all the backup plans created for the NAS file system and make sure that no relevant backup or restore job is in progress.