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Cloud Backup:Get started with Alibaba Cloud NAS backup

Last Updated:Jan 29, 2026

You can quickly back up Alibaba Cloud General-purpose NAS file systems in the Cloud Backup console. This topic describes the main steps for this process.

The following procedure describes how to back up an Alibaba Cloud NAS file system in the Cloud Backup console.

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  1. Activate Cloud Backup

    You are not charged for activating Cloud Backup. However, if you create a backup vault, you are charged for its storage usage. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.

  2. Back up a NAS file system

    When you create a backup plan, configure the backup vault, encryption type, backup cycle, and retention period. Cloud Backup then starts the backup plan and continuously backs up files from the specified NAS file system.

    Important
    • A 30-day free trial is available for your first backup plan. For a free backup plan, you cannot edit the source path or backup cycle.

    • Include no more than 50 million files in each NAS backup job and no more than 8 million files and subdirectories in each directory.

    • After you create a backup plan, the first backup job is a full backup, and all subsequent backup jobs are incremental backups.

    • 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 NAS file systems based on the backup policy.

    • To view the regions that support backup policies, click Policy Center in the navigation pane on the left of the Cloud Backup console. For more information about how to create a backup policy, see Create a backup policy.

  3. Recover NAS

    If an issue occurs with a NAS file system, you can restore data to the source NAS file system or to a new NAS file system in the same region. You can also restore data to a NAS file system in a different region or account using a replication destination backup vault (backup vault replication). You are charged for the traffic and storage capacity of the replication destination backup vault.