This topic describes the on-premises NAS backup feature of Cloud Backup, including its benefits, how it works, procedures, and billing.
Introduction
The on-premises NAS backup feature is a highly efficient and cost-effective data protection solution that Cloud Backup provides for on-premises NAS file systems. Cloud Backup supports common storage protocols such as Network File System (NFS) and Common Internet File System/Server Message Block (CIFS/SMB). It also provides advanced data protection capabilities, such as multi-node concurrent scanning, storage API integration, data deduplication, and compression. These features allow you to efficiently back up large numbers of on-premises NAS files to the cloud. The solution is simple to configure and offers excellent performance. If files in your on-premises NAS system are accidentally deleted, you can restore the data from Alibaba Cloud to ensure data security.
Key benefits
Simple 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. Scheduled backup policies are intuitive and easy to configure.
Excellent backup performance
Cloud Backup supports concurrent backups from multiple clients to a single NAS system, which greatly improves backup efficiency. For Dell EMC Isilon (PowerScale) distributed NAS storage, Cloud Backup is deeply integrated with native storage APIs to significantly reduce the performance overhead caused by the backup software.
Source-side deduplication and compression
The Cloud Backup client compresses and deduplicates your NAS data at the source. This saves bandwidth during the upload and reduces storage consumption in the cloud.
Backup locking to prevent accidental or malicious deletion
Cloud Backup provides a backup locking feature for backup vaults. Backup data cannot be 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 disaster recovery protection across accounts and regions.
How it works
First, you must install and activate a Cloud Backup client on a physical server or virtual machine. Then, you can log on to the Cloud Backup console, add the NAS file system as a data source, and use the client to back up specified files in the target NAS.
When a backup job runs, the Cloud Backup client scans the specified NAS folders to identify the files to back up. It then performs data reduction operations such as data deduplication and compression before uploading 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 an incremental-forever backup method. After the first full backup, each subsequent backup job uploads only the data that has changed since the last backup. A complete full backup is then synthesized in the cloud. This minimizes network and storage consumption.
When you delete a backup, only the data segments unique to that backup are deleted. Other backups are not affected.
Deleting a full backup does not affect future data restoration. This is because deleting a full backup removes only the data segments exclusive to that backup. Data segments referenced by other backups are not deleted.
Deleting an intermediate backup does not affect subsequent incremental backups or data restoration. This is because file backup is incremental-forever. The first backup is a full backup, and each subsequent backup uploads only the data that has changed since the previous backup.
Cloud Backup supports backing up data to Alibaba Cloud over the Internet, a VPN, or a standby connection. To back up data over the Internet, the server where the client is installed only needs to access the Internet. You do not need to expose the server's IP address to the public network.
Procedure
The following procedure shows how to back up on-premises NAS files in the Cloud Backup console.
You are not charged for activating Cloud Backup. You are charged for the Cloud Backup client that you use to back up files and the storage usage of backup vaults. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.
Install the Cloud Backup client
A backup client is used to establish communication and control services between your on-premises server and Cloud Backup.
When you create a backup plan, configure the backup vault, source path, backup cycle, and retention period. Cloud Backup starts the backup plan and continuously backs up files from the specified NAS file system.
ImportantAfter you create a backup plan, the first backup job performs a full backup and subsequent backup jobs perform incremental backups.
If the region that you select supports backup policies, you can set a backup plan only by associating it with a backup policy. Cloud Backup periodically backs up on-premises NAS files based on the backup policy.
To view the regions that support backup policies, click Policy Center in the left-side navigation pane of the Cloud Backup console. For more information about how to create a backup policy, see Create a backup policy.
Restore files to an on-premises NAS file system
If an exception occurs in an on-premises NAS file system, you can restore files to the source NAS file system or a new on-premises NAS file system based on the backup points that are created and the time when the backup points are created. You can view backed-up files at any time.
Fees
Backing up on-premises NAS files with Cloud Backup incurs the following fees:
Storage capacity fee: This fee is calculated based on the actual storage capacity that your backup data consumes in the Cloud Backup vault.
You can view detailed data about the backup vault on the Overview page of the Cloud Backup console. For more information, see Pricing.
In addition, Cloud Backup may charge other fees for specific backup configurations or operations. For example, if you restore data to an on-premises NAS over the Internet, you are charged for outbound traffic. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.
What to do next
Learn about Cloud Backup best practices