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    :Use Windows Server Backup to back up data from an ECS instance to File Storage NAS

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    :Use Windows Server Backup to back up data from an ECS instance to File Storage NAS

    Last Updated:Jun 03, 2026

    This topic describes how to back up data from a Windows Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance to File Storage NAS (NAS). You can use a Windows built-in tool named Windows Server Backup to back up data from disks to NAS.

    Prerequisites

    A Server Message Block (SMB) file system is created and mounted on a Windows ECS instance. For more information, see Mount an SMB file system.

    Note

    Only Windows Server 2008 and later are supported.

    Background information

    You can use Windows Server Backup to perform a full backup or run scheduled tasks to back up data at regular intervals. You can restore data from these backups based on your business requirements.

    NAS helps you implement computing-storage separation. You can store temporary data for computing tasks and dynamic memory on ECS instances and store permanent data on NAS. If no response is returned from an ECS instance, you can switch to another ECS instance to seamlessly access data stored on NAS. NAS allows multiple ECS instances to access a file system.

    You can manually synchronize data stored on an ECS instance to NAS or schedule synchronization plans on a regular basis. This helps you preserve data and restore data in the event of disasters, such as data loss caused by accidental deletion of ECS instances or disks. Each disk snapshot is a copy of an entire disk. Compared with the disk snapshot, NAS is more flexible for data storage. For example, you can back up one or several directories at a time instead of an entire disk.

    Windows Server Backup is a Windows built-in tool for data backup and restoration. You can use the tool to back up or restore a file, a directory, or an entire disk. For more information, see Overview of Windows Server Backup. You can use Windows Server Backup to back up an entire server (all volumes), selected volumes, the system state, and specific files and folders to other devices. These devices include disks, tape libraries, and remote shared folders. You can also restore data from these devices based on your business requirements.

    Install Windows Server Backup

    Perform the following steps to install and start Windows Server Backup on a Windows ECS instance.

    1. Open the Server Manager.

    2. In Server Manager, select , and then click Add Features.

    3. Select the Windows Server Backup Features checkbox and click Next.

    4. Click Install to begin the installation.

    5. After the installation is complete, go to and click Windows Server Backup to launch the application.

    Manually back up data

    In Windows Server Backup, you can select the Backup Once option to back up the required data to NAS. The data includes the copy of an entire disk or specific folders.

    1. On the Windows Server Backup page, click Backup Once to open the Backup Once Wizard.

    2. On the Backup Options page, select your preferred options and click Next.

    3. On the Select Backup Configuration page, choose what to back up and click Next.

      You can select Full server to back up the entire server, or select Custom to back up specific directories.

    4. On the Select Items for Backup page, click Add Items and configure the settings.

      If you selected Custom in Step 3, you must configure items on the Select Items for Backup page.

      1. Click Add Items, select the folders to back up, and click OK.

      2. Click Advanced Settings, configure settings such as the backup type and file exclusions, and click OK.

    5. On the Specify Destination Type page, select Remote shared folder and click Next.

    6. On the Specify Remote Folder page, enter the location of the remote folder and click Next.

      For Location, enter the path to a directory on your File Storage NAS file system. For example: \\file-system-id.region.nas.aliyuncs.com\myshare\backup.

    7. Click Backup to start the backup process.

      After the backup task is complete, you can view the backup data in the backup directory of the NAS file system.

      The backup is saved in a folder named WindowsImageBackup.

    Automatically back up data

    You can create scheduled backup tasks to automatically back up data.

    1. On the Windows Server Backup page, click Backup Schedule to open the Backup Schedule Wizard.

    2. On the Getting Started page, click Next.

    3. On the Select Backup Configuration page, choose what to back up and click Next.

      You can select Full server to back up the entire server, or select Custom to back up specific directories.

    4. On the Select Items for Backup page, click Add Items and configure the settings.

      If you selected Custom in Step 3, you must configure items on the Select Items for Backup page.

      1. Click Add Items, select the folders to back up, and click OK.

      2. Click Advanced Settings, configure settings such as the backup type and file exclusions, and click OK.

    5. On the Specify Backup Time page, set the backup frequency and time, and then click Next.

    6. On the Specify Destination Type page, select Back up to a shared network folder and click Next.

      Note

      When you store the scheduled backups in a remote folder, the latest backup will overwrite all of the previous backups.

    7. On the Specify Remote Folder page, enter the location of the remote folder and click Next.

      For Location, enter the path to a directory on your File Storage NAS file system. For example: \\file-system-id.region.nas.aliyuncs.com\myshare\backup.

    8. Click Finish to create the backup schedule.

      The scheduled backup task automatically runs at the specified time. After the backup task is complete, you can view the backup data in the backup directory of the NAS file system.

    Restore data

    If your file is deleted or overwritten accidentally, you can restore data from a backup that is stored in a NAS file system.

    1. On the Windows Server Backup page, click Restore to open the Recovery Wizard.

    2. On the Getting Started page, select A backup stored in another location and click Next.

    3. On the Specify Location Type page, select Remote shared folder and click Next.

    4. On the Specify Remote Folder page, enter the location of the backup folder and click Next.

      For Location, enter the directory on your File Storage NAS file system where the backup data is stored. For example: \\file-system-id.region.nas.aliyuncs.com\myshare\backup.

    5. On the Select Backup Date page, select the date of the backup you want to restore from and click Next.

    6. On the Select Recovery Type page, select Files and folders and click Next.

    7. On the Select Items to Recover page, select the items to restore, such as folders or files, and click Next.

    8. On the Specify Recovery Options page, specify where to restore the data and click Next.

    9. Click Restore to start the recovery process.