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    Cloud Backup:Features overview

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    Cloud Backup:Features overview

    Last Updated:Mar 19, 2026

    The on-premises NAS backup feature of Cloud Backup, including its benefits, how it works, the backup process, and associated costs.

    Introduction

    Cloud Backup provides a high-efficiency, cost-effective data protection solution for on-premises NAS systems. The service supports common storage protocols such as NFS and CIFS/SMB, and delivers advanced data protection capabilities including multi-node concurrent scanning, storage API integration, deduplication, and compression. These capabilities enable efficient backup of large volumes of on-premises NAS files to the cloud. When issues such as accidental file deletion occur on an on-premises NAS system, restore data directly from Alibaba Cloud to ensure data security.

    Key benefits

    • Easy configuration

      Deploy a lightweight backup client on a virtual machine or physical server in an on-premises data center. No specific hardware is required. The backup policy scheduler is intuitive and straightforward to configure.

    • High-performance backup

      Cloud Backup supports multiple clients backing up a single NAS system concurrently, which significantly improves backup efficiency.

    • Source-side deduplication and compression

      The Cloud Backup client compresses and deduplicates NAS data at the source before upload, which saves bandwidth and reduces cloud storage consumption.

    • Backup locking to prevent accidental or malicious deletion

      Cloud Backup provides a backup locking feature based on backup vaults. This feature prevents backup data from being deleted by any account or method before the configured retention period expires.

    • Cross-region and cross-account backup

      Use the cross-region backup feature to quickly replicate critical data to different regions or accounts. This provides multi-level disaster recovery protection across accounts and regions.

    How it works

    • Install and activate the Cloud Backup client on an on-premises physical server or virtual machine. Then, log on to the Cloud Backup console and add a NAS data source. The client then backs up the specified files on the target NAS.

    • When a backup job runs, the Cloud Backup client scans the specified NAS folders, identifies the files that require backup, and performs deduplication and compression. The client then uploads incremental data to the cloud to complete the backup. To improve backup performance, install multiple clients and back up NAS data in parallel.

    • Cloud Backup uses a forever incremental backup mechanism. After the initial full backup, each subsequent backup uploads only the data that has changed since the previous backup. The service then synthesizes a complete full backup in the cloud, which minimizes network and storage consumption.

    • When a backup point is deleted, only the data segments unique to that backup are removed. Other backups are not affected.

      • Cloud Backup supports backing up data to Alibaba Cloud over the public network, a VPN, or a leased line. For backups over the public network, the server that hosts the client requires only Internet access. The server IP address does not need to be exposed to the public network.

      • Deleting an intermediate backup point does not affect subsequent incremental backups or data restoration from later backup points. This is possible because of the forever incremental backup mechanism.

    • Cloud Backup supports backing up data to Alibaba Cloud over the public network, a VPN, or a standby connection. For backups over the public network, the server where the client is installed requires only Internet access. You do not need to expose the server's IP address to the public network.

    Operational process

    The following steps describe how to back up on-premises NAS files in the Cloud Backup console:

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    1. Activate Cloud Backup

      Activating the Cloud Backup service is free. Cloud Backup charges a software usage fee for file backups and a storage capacity fee. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.

    2. Install a backup client

      A backup client enables communication between your on-premises server and Cloud Backup.

    3. Back up an on-premises NAS file system

      Create a backup plan and specify the backup vault, source path, backup cycle, and retention period. Cloud Backup then runs the plan to continuously back up the NAS file system.

      Important

      • After you create a backup plan, the first backup job is a full backup. Subsequent backup jobs are incremental backups by default.

      • If the region that you select supports backup policies, you can create a backup plan only by associating it with a backup policy. Cloud Backup then periodically backs up the on-premises NAS file system based on the policy.

      • In the navigation pane on the left, click Policy Center to view the regions that support backup policies. For more information, see Create a backup policy.

    4. Restore an on-premises NAS file system

      If an on-premises NAS file system experiences issues, you can restore its files to the original file system or to a new one. You can restore data from a specific backup point based on its creation time. You can also use the browse feature to view backed-up files at any time.

    Costs

    On-premises NAS file backup in Cloud Backup incurs the following costs:

    • Storage capacity fees: These fees are calculated based on the storage capacity that your backup data consumes in the Cloud Backup vault.

      View detailed data about your backup vault on the Overview page of the Cloud Backup console. For more information, see Pricing details.

    In addition, Cloud Backup may incur other fees for specific backup configurations or operations. For example, you are charged for outbound public network traffic when you restore data to an on-premises NAS. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.

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