Cloud Backup:Overview

Introduction

The local file backup feature of Cloud Backup is a data protection solution for file systems on servers in your data center. This solution backs up local file data to the cloud in a simple, secure, and reliable way. If data in your production system is accidentally deleted or attacked by ransomware, you can restore the data from a Cloud Backup vault.

Key benefits

• No local hardware required

  The Cloud Backup client migrates backup data from the local server directly to the cloud. You do not need to purchase separate hardware devices.

• Flexible backup policies

  You can configure backup plans to run by the hour, day, month, week, or year, and specify the retention period for backup points.

• Source-side deduplication and compression

  The Cloud Backup client compresses and deduplicates your source data. This reduces bandwidth usage during the upload and lowers storage consumption in the cloud.

• Backup locking to prevent accidental or malicious deletion

  Cloud Backup provides a vault-based backup locking feature. This feature prevents backup data from being deleted by any account or method before the configured retention period expires.

• Multi-branch management and cross-account backup

  You can use Cloud Backup to back up data from multiple branches in different regions. After you grant the required permissions, you can also use Account A to back up the data of Account B. This helps you centrally manage data protection for your enterprise.

How it works

• You can install and activate the Cloud Backup file backup client on each server from which you want to back up files. You need to install the client only once on each server. The client backs up the specified folders on the server based on the configured backup plan.

• When a backup job runs, the Cloud Backup client scans the specified folders, identifies the files to back up, and performs data reduction operations such as data deduplication and compression. Then, the client uploads the incremental data to the cloud to complete the backup.

• Cloud Backup uses an incremental-forever backup mechanism. After the first full backup, each subsequent backup uploads only the data that has changed since the last backup. A complete full backup is then synthesized in the cloud to reduce network and storage consumption.

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

  • Deleting a full backup does not affect subsequent 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 the incremental backups and restorations from subsequent backup points. This is because file backup is an incremental-forever process. 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 data backup to Alibaba Cloud over the Internet, a VPN, or a leased line. If you back up data over the Internet, the backup server only needs to access the Internet. You do not need to expose the server's IP address to the Internet.

Procedure

The following procedure shows how to back up on-premises files in the Cloud Backup console.

1. Activate Cloud Backup

   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.

2. Install a backup client

   A backup client is used to establish communication and control services between your on-premises server and Cloud Backup. After the client is installed, Activated is displayed in the Client Status column on the Clients tab.

   You can view the installation path, logs, and status of the Cloud Backup client on the server. For more information, see Where do I view the default installation path and logs of a Cloud Backup client?

3. Back up local files

   When you create a backup plan, configure the backup vault, source paths, backup cycle, and retention period. Cloud Backup starts the backup plan and continuously backs up the specified on-premises files to Alibaba Cloud. You can view backed-up files at any time.

   Important

   • 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 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.

   • Backup plans are upgraded to backup policies. If you are using a backup plan of the previous version, you can create a backup policy or bind a backup policy to the backup plan when you edit the backup plan. After the upgrade, the backup history of the previous backup plan still exists. To ensure that you are able to view the backup history, we recommend that you use the same backup vault for the old backup plan and the new backup policy.

4. Restore on-premises files

   If an exception occurs in an on-premises file, you can restore the file based on the data that has been backed up. You can restore backup files to the source path of the original server, a new path (created in advance), an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, or a new on-premises server. If you restore backup files to an ECS instance, you must install a Cloud Backup client on the ECS instance. If you restore backup files to another on-premises server, you must install a Cloud Backup client on the new on-premises server.

   Important

   • Before you restore files to a new path on the source on-premises server, you must create the path.

   • Before you restore files to an ECS instance, you must install a Cloud Backup client on the ECS instance. You can automatically install a Cloud Backup client on the ECS File Backup page. If the client is used only for recovery, no client usage fees are incurred. If the client is used for backup, client usage fees and storage usage fees are incurred.

   • Before you restore files to another on-premises server, you must install a Cloud Backup client on the on-premises server. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.

     • If the client is used only for recovery, no client usage fees are incurred.

     • If the client is used for backup, client usage fees and storage usage fees are incurred.

     • If the client restores files over the Internet, outbound fees are incurred.

Billing

What to do next

• Back up local files.

• FAQ about local backup.

• Learn about the best practices of Cloud Backup.