This topic describes the on-premises NAS backup feature of Cloud Backup, including its benefits, how it works, the backup process, and associated costs.
Introduction
The on-premises NAS backup feature of Cloud Backup provides an efficient and low-cost data protection solution for your on-premises NAS. Cloud Backup supports common storage protocols, such as NFS and CIFS/SMB. It offers advanced data protection capabilities, including multi-node concurrent scanning, storage API integration, deduplication, and compression, which allow you to efficiently back up large numbers of on-premises NAS files to the cloud. If issues such as accidental file deletion occur on your on-premises NAS system, you can use Cloud Backup to recover data from Alibaba Cloud and ensure data security.
Key benefits
Easy configuration
You can deploy a lightweight backup client on a virtual machine or physical server in your on-premises data center. No specific hardware is required. The backup policy scheduler is intuitive and easy to configure.
Excellent backup performance
Cloud Backup allows multiple clients to back 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. This process saves upload bandwidth and reduces storage consumption in the cloud.
Backup locking to prevent accidental or malicious deletion
Cloud Backup provides a backup locking feature that is 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 or cross-account backup
You can 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
First, you can install and activate the Cloud Backup client on an on-premises physical server or virtual machine. Then, you can log on to the Cloud Backup console and add a NAS data source. The client can then back up specified files on the target NAS.
When a backup job runs, the Cloud Backup client scans the specified NAS folders, identifies the files to back up, and performs deduplication and compression. The client then uploads the incremental data to the cloud to complete the backup. If you install multiple clients, you can back up NAS data in parallel to improve backup performance.
Cloud Backup uses a forever incremental backup mechanism. After the initial full backup, subsequent backups upload only the data that has changed since the previous backup. The service then synthesizes a complete full backup in the cloud to minimize network and storage consumption.
When you delete a backup point, only the data segments that are unique to that backup are deleted. This operation does not affect other backups.
Deleting a full backup does not affect subsequent data restoration. This is because deleting a full backup only removes data segments exclusive to that backup. Data segments referenced by other backups are not deleted.
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:
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.
A backup client enables communication between your on-premises server and Cloud Backup.
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.
ImportantAfter 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.
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 involves 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.
You can 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.
What to do next
Learn about Cloud Backup best practices