Cloud Backup:Overview

Introduction

CPFS backup is a data protection solution provided by Cloud Backup for large-scale file systems. Cloud Backup supports Cloud Parallel File Storage, CPFS for Lingjun, and GlusterFS, with capabilities such as concurrent multi-node scanning, storage API integration, deduplication, and compression. If files are accidentally deleted, you can restore them from a Cloud Backup vault.

Key benefits

• Simple configurations

  Deploy lightweight backup clients on physical servers, virtual machines, or ECS instances without dedicated hardware. Backup policies are straightforward to configure.

• Excellent backup performance

  Multiple clients can back up a file system concurrently, significantly improving backup throughput.

• Source-side deduplication and compression

  The Cloud Backup client deduplicates and compresses data at the source, reducing upload bandwidth and backup storage consumption.

• Backup lock to prevent accidental or malicious deletion

  The backup lock feature prevents backup data in a vault from being deleted by any account or method before the configured retention period expires.

• Cross-region or cross-account backup

  Use the cross-region backup feature to quickly replicate critical data to different regions or accounts for multi-layered disaster recovery protection.

How it works

• Install and activate a Cloud Backup client on a physical server, virtual machine, or ECS instance. Then, add the CPFS data source in the Cloud Backup console and use the client to back up specified files on the target file system.

• During a backup job, the client scans specified folders, deduplicates and compresses the data, and uploads incremental changes to the backup vault. Multiple clients can back up CPFS data in parallel for higher throughput.

• Cloud Backup uses a forever incremental mechanism. After the initial full backup, each subsequent job uploads only changed data. A full backup is synthesized in the cloud, minimizing network and storage consumption.

• When you delete any backup, only the data segments unique to that backup are deleted. Other backups are not affected.

  • Deleting a full backup does not affect subsequent restoration because only the data segments exclusive to that backup are removed. Segments referenced by other backups are preserved.

  • Deleting an intermediate backup does not affect subsequent incremental backups or recovery points because each backup stores only the data that changed since the previous one.

• For local-to-cloud backups, Cloud Backup supports connections over the Internet, a VPN, or a leased line. The server running the client only needs outbound Internet access and does not need to expose its IP address.

Procedure

To back up a CPFS file system, complete the following steps in the Cloud Backup console:

1. Activate Cloud Backup

   Activating Cloud Backup is free of charge. Cloud Backup charges for storage capacity. For more information about billing, see Billing methods and billable items.

2. Install a backup client

   The backup client establishes communication and management services between backup nodes (physical servers, virtual machines, or ECS instances) and Cloud Backup.

3. Add a data source

   Add CPFS as a data source in the Cloud Backup console.

4. Back up a CPFS file system

   Create a backup plan that specifies the backup vault, source path, backup cycle, and retention period. Cloud Backup then starts the plan and continuously backs up the file system.

   Important

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

   • If your selected region supports backup policies, you can create a backup plan only by associating it with a backup policy. Cloud Backup then periodically backs up the file system according to that 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 new backup policy.

5. Restore a CPFS file system

   If files in the file system are lost or damaged, restore all files or specific files that meet your conditions from historical backups. Restore data to the source CPFS or to a new CPFS.

Billing

CPFS backup incurs the following fees:

• Storage capacity fees: These are calculated based on the actual capacity consumed by your backup data in the Cloud Backup vault.

  You can view storage usage on the Overview page of the Cloud Backup console. For pricing details, see Pricing.

In addition, Cloud Backup charges other fees for specific backup configurations or operations. For example, restoring data from a Cloud Backup vault to a local file system over the Internet incurs outbound traffic fees. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.

What to do next

• Before you back up a CPFS file system, install a backup client on the backup nodes of the CPFS file system.

• After installing the backup client, add a backup data source in the Cloud Backup console.

• To create a backup plan, see Back up a CPFS file system.

• If files in the file system are lost or damaged, restore all files or specific files that meet your conditions from historical backups. For more information, see Restore a CPFS file system.