A backup vault is a cloud-based repository in Cloud Backup for storing backup data. To ensure business continuity during regional disasters, configure the cross-region backup feature. This involves selecting a replication target vault (formerly known as a mirror vault) in a different region under the same account. This setup provides cross-region disaster recovery protection, allowing for rapid data restoration from the replication target vault when needed.
How it works
The replication target vault serves as a read-only replica of the source backup vault. It is used for disaster recovery and high availability.
The replication process runs automatically in the background and requires no manual intervention. This mechanism balances cross-region network latency and transfer efficiency to ensure data consistency. It achieves an acceptable recovery point objective (RPO) and meets the disaster recovery needs of most business scenarios.
If a regional failure or major disaster occurs, such as a data center outage or natural disaster, data can be restored from the replication target vault in a different region. This allows for the rebuilding of critical applications and data to ensure business continuity.
The term mirror vault has been updated to replication target vault. You do not need to perform any manual updates. A key difference is that a replication target vault, unlike the old mirror vault, is not deleted when replication is stopped. After stopping replication, the vault becomes a standalone vault whose backup points can be managed independently, and for which the backup lock feature can be enabled.
Usage notes
For information about the regions that support cross-region backup, see Features by region.
Currently, cross-region backup is supported for the following data sources: ECS File, OSS, On-premises NAS, Alibaba Cloud NAS, Tablestore, CPFS, On-premises File, and SAP HANA.
ImportantFor ECS instance data sources, you can enable remote replication only in a backup policy.
Cross-region backup is not supported for the following vault types: OSS Backup (30-day free trial), NAS Backup (30-day free trial), Tablestore Backup (30-day free trial), replication target vaults, archive vaults, Database Backup vaults, or Container Backup vaults. It is also not supported for vaults in an abnormal state, such as ERROR.
A single account can create a maximum of five replication target vaults in each region.
VMware virtual machines (VMs) cannot be restored from a replication target vault.
A backup vault can sync data to only one replication target vault at a time.
A replication target vault can be used only to store and restore replicated data. The vault cannot be used as a direct target for new backup plans.
After you configure cross-region backup, the lifecycle of backup points in a replicating destination vault mirrors that of the source vault, and this lifecycle cannot be modified on the destination side.
If you enable automatic archiving for the source backup vault, data in the archive tier of the source vault is not synced to the replication target vault. After data in the standard tier of the source vault is moved to the archive tier, the corresponding data in the replication target vault is also deleted.
To delete a source backup vault, you must first stop cross-region backup. Deleting the source backup vault does not delete the replication target vault.
Backup points in a replication target vault are not associated with any backup policy. Therefore, after replication is stopped, the backup points in the now-standalone destination vault will be deleted according to their original retention period inherited from the source. Alternatively, they can be deleted manually. The 'Retain at least one version' setting in the source backup vault's policy does not apply to the replication target vault. You cannot modify the retention period of backup points in the replication target vault.
The replication target vault must use the same encryption method as the source backup vault, whether it is Cloud Backup-managed or KMS.
Prerequisites
The Storage Vault Type of the source backup vault must be General Backup, and the Storage Vault Type of the destination backup vault must be Replication Target vault. Go to Vault Management to view the types of existing vaults. You can create a backup vault on the Vault Management page, when you create a backup policy, or when you configure a backup vault for a backup source.
Configure cross-region backup
Cross-region backup can be enabled from the Vault Management page or in the Policy Center. After you enable this feature, all existing and new backup data in the standard tier of the source backup vault are automatically synced to the replication target vault.
For information about how to enable Backup Vault Replication when you create or edit a policy, see Policy Center.
Go to the Cloud Backup console - Vault Management. On the Storage Vaults page, select the region of the source backup vault.
In the Actions column of the target backup vault, click Configure backup vault replication.
In the Initiate Backup Vault Replication panel, configure the replication target vault.
To use an existing vault, click Select Replication Target Vault, and then select the destination region and the replication target vault.
To create a new vault, click Create Replication Target Vault and configure its parameters.
Parameter
Description
Destination Region
Select the region where the replication target vault is located. It must be different from the region of the source backup vault.
Vault Name
Enter a name for the replication target vault.
Vault Description
Enter a description for the replication target vault.
Vault Resource Group
Select the resource group to which the replication target vault belongs.
Vault Encryption Method
ImportantThe encryption method of the replication target vault must be the same as that of the source backup vault.
Select an encryption method for the replication target vault. The default method is Cloud Backup-managed, which uses the encryption method provided by the backup service.
If the source backup vault is encrypted with a custom key from Alibaba Cloud Key Management Service (KMS), click KMS and select a KMS KeyId. For more information, see Select a KMS key.
ImportantAfter you enable encryption for a backup vault using Key Management Service (KMS), you cannot change the KMS key.
To encrypt a backup vault with a KMS key, you must first create a key ID in KMS. For more information, see Create a key.
Click OK.
After you complete the configuration, Cloud Backup starts syncing the historical data from the source backup vault. View the synchronization progress in the destination region. When the synchronization is complete, all data in the source backup vault is replicated to the destination vault.
Restore data from a replication target vault
Restore ECS files
Create an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance in the console to which you want to restore data.
The ECS instance must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore ECS files.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the ECS instance that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore OSS
Create an OSS bucket to which you want to restore data.
The OSS bucket must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, create an OSS restore job.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the OSS bucket that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore Alibaba Cloud NAS
Create an Apsara File Storage NAS file system to which you want to restore data.
The Apsara File Storage NAS file system must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore a single NAS file system in the same region.
Set the source backup vault to the created replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the Apsara File Storage NAS file system that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore an SAP HANA instance
Prepare an SAP HANA instance to which you want to restore data.
The SAP HANA instance must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, register the SAP HANA instance.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore SAP HANA.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the SAP HANA instance that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore Tablestore
Create a Tablestore instance to which you want to restore data.
The Tablestore instance must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore a Tablestore table.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the Tablestore instance that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore on-premises NAS
Prepare an on-premises NAS to which you want to restore data.
Install a backup client to run the restore job.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore the on-premises NAS.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the on-premises NAS that you prepared in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore on-premises files
Prepare a local server to which you want to restore data.
The restored files are saved on this local server. You must create a restore folder on the server.
Install a backup client to run the restore job.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore local files.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the local server that you prepared in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Restore CPFS
Prepare a CPFS file system to which you want to restore data.
The CPFS file system must be in the same region as the replication target vault.
In the Cloud Backup console, create a job to restore CPFS.
Set the source backup vault to the replication target vault. Set the restore destination to the CPFS file system that you created in Step 1. The other parameters are configured in the same way as for a backup job. After the restore job is complete, the data is restored to the specified destination in the same region as the replication target vault.
Stop cross-region backup
Once stopped, the cross-region replication relationship cannot be resumed. Proceed with caution. The detached replication target vault can be used only for data restoration.
To stop the cross-region backup feature, go to the region of the source backup vault. In the Actions column of the source backup vault, click Stop backup vault replication and confirm the operation.
After you stop cross-region backup, new data in the source backup vault is no longer replicated to the destination vault. However, the data that was already replicated to the replication target vault can still be used for restoration.
Deleting a vault permanently removes all backup data within it, making restoration impossible. Proceed with caution.
After you stop cross-region backup, perform the following operations as needed:
Delete data in the replication target vault: Select the replication target vault to delete it.
Enable the immutable backup feature for the replication target vault: This prevents backup data from being accidentally deleted or attacked by ransomware before the retention period expires.
Delete data in the source backup vault: Go to the region of the source backup vault. In the Actions column of the source vault, hover over the ┇ icon and select Delete. Confirm the operation to delete the vault.
Billing
When you use cross-region backup, storage capacity fees and cross-region replication traffic fees are incurred.
Subscription resource plans are available for purchase to offset storage capacity fees. For more information, see Purchase resource plans. Cross-region replication traffic fees can be paid for only using the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Cloud Backup does not charge a fee when you use a replication target vault to restore data to a resource in the same region.
When you restore data to an on-premises NAS or local server over the Internet instead of a VPN or a leased line, outbound traffic fees are incurred. Traffic fees are charged based on the actual amount of data restored. For more information, see On-premises NAS restore fees and Local server file restore fees.
For more information about pricing, see Cloud Backup pricing details.
FAQ
How can I view the replication target vault?
You can switch to the region where the replication target vault is located. On the Storage Vaults page in the Cloud Backup console, view the created replication target vault.
What is the basis for the billable storage usage of a replication target vault?
The Storage Vault Data Size of the replication target vault is the basis for its billable storage usage.
Can I set the synchronization frequency for cross-region backup?
For example, a source backup vault can be backed up daily, whereas the destination backup vault may only need to sync weekly.
No. The synchronization frequency cannot be configured. Data is replicated continuously from the source to the destination.
Does a replication target vault support zone-redundant storage?
This is supported.
To maximize the redundancy of backup data, the system automatically selects a vault type based on regional support. In regions that support zone-redundant storage, a zone-redundant storage (ZRS)-enabled backup vault is created by default. In other regions, a locally redundant storage (LRS)-enabled backup vault is created.
Currently, the regions that support ZRS are China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), Hong Kong (China), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Indonesia (Jakarta), Germany (Frankfurt), and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).