2.3. Connecting Acronis Backup Software to Storage Backends via Acronis Backup Gateway

You can use Acronis Backup Gateway to keep Acronis Backup Cloud and Acronis Backup Advanced data on the following storage backends:

  • Acronis Storage clusters,
  • NFS shares,
  • public clouds, including a number of S3 solutions as well as Microsoft Azure and OpenStack Swift.

Note

  1. When configuring Acronis Backup Gateway, you will need to provide the credentials of your administrator account in the Acronis backup software.
  2. In cases when not local but external storage (e.g., NFS) is used with Acronis Backup Gateway, redundancy has to be provided by said external storage. Acronis Backup Gateway does not provide data redundancy or perform data deduplication itself.

2.3.1. Connecting to the Acronis Storage Cluster via Acronis Backup Gateway

Before you proceed, make sure that the Acronis Storage cluster has enough space for backups.

To connect Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced to the local Acronis Storage cluster via Acronis Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. Make sure that the Acronis Backup Gateway network is configured on each node that will run the gateway service.

  2. On the SERVICES > Acronis Backup Gateway > Nodes screen, select the checkbox next to the only node in the cluster.

  3. Click Create Gateway then This Acronis Storage cluster.

    ../_images/stor_image54_1.png
  4. Select the network interface on the node to which the Acronis Backup Gateway network role is assigned. The gateway service will listen on the IP address assigned to this interface.

    ../_images/stor_image56_2.png
  5. Click NEXT.

  6. On the Volume Parameters tab, select the desired tier, failure domain, and data redundancy mode.

    ../_images/stor_image56.png

    Note

    1. Redundancy by replication is not supported for Acronis Backup Gateway.
    2. You can later change the erasure coding mode on the Acronis Backup Gateway > Parameters panel.
  7. Click NEXT.

  8. On the DNS Configuration tab, specify the external DNS name for this gateway, e.g, backupgateway.example.com. Make sure that each node running the gateway service has a port open for outgoing Internet connections and incoming connections from your Acronis backup software. Backup agents will use this address and port to upload the backed-up data.

    ../_images/stor_image56_4.png

    Important

    1. Configure your DNS server according to the example suggested in the management panel.
    2. Each time you add or remove a node to or from the Acronis Backup Gateway cluster, adjust the DNS settings accordingly.
  9. Click NEXT.

  10. On the Registration tab, specify the following:

    • In Account Server Name, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced management server (that matches the account management console address, e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/).
    • In Acronis Account, specify the credentials of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced administrator account.
    ../_images/stor_image56_5.png
  11. Click DONE.

2.3.2. Connecting to External NFS Shares via Acronis Backup Gateway

Note

  1. Acronis Storage does not provide data redundancy on top of NFS volumes. Depending on the implementation, NFS shares may use their own hardware or software redundancy.
  2. In the current version of Acronis Storage, only one cluster node may store backups on an NFS volume.

Before you proceed, make sure that:

  1. The NFS share has enough space for backups;
  2. Each NFS export is used by only one gateway. In particular, do not configure two Acronis Storage installations to use the same NFS export for backup storage.

To connect Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced to an external NFS share via Acronis Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. Make sure that the Acronis Backup Gateway network role is assigned on the node that will run the gateway service.

  2. On the SERVICES > Acronis Backup Gateway > Nodes screen, select the checkbox next to the only node in the cluster.

  3. Click Create Gateway and Network File System.

    ../_images/stor_image56_1.png
  4. Make sure the network interface with the assigned Acronis Backup Gateway network role is selected. The gateway service will listen on the IP address assigned to this interface. Click NEXT.

    ../_images/stor_image56_2.png
  5. On the Volume Parameters tab, specify the hostname or IP address of the NFS share as well as the export name. Click NEXT.

    ../_images/stor_image56_3.png
  6. On the DNS Configuration tab, specify the external DNS name for this gateway, e.g, backupgateway.example.com. Make sure that each node running the gateway service has a port open for outgoing Internet connections and incoming connections from your Acronis backup software. Backup agents will use this address and port to upload the backed-up data.

    ../_images/stor_image56_4.png

    Important

    1. Configure your DNS server according to the example suggested in the management panel.
    2. Each time you changes nodes in the Acronis Backup Gateway cluster, adjust the DNS settings accordingly.
  7. Click NEXT.

  8. Depending on the Acronis product you use, specify the following on the Registration tab:

    • In Account Server Name, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced management server (that matches the account management console address, e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/).
    • In Acronis Account, specify the credentials of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced administrator account.
    ../_images/stor_image56_5.png
  9. Click DONE.

2.3.3. Connecting to Public Cloud Storage via Acronis Backup Gateway

With Acronis Backup Gateway, you can have Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced store backups in a number of public clouds: Amazon S3, IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, IIJ, Cleversafe, Microsoft Azure, Swift object storage, Softlayer (Swift) as well as solutions using S3 with the older AuthV2-compatible authentication methods. However, compared to the local Acronis Storage cluster, storing backup data in a public cloud increases the latency of all I/O requests to backups and reduces performance. For this reason, it is recommended to use the local Acronis Storage cluster as storage backend.

Important

  1. When working with public clouds, Acronis Backup Gateway uses the local storage as the staging area as well as to keep service information. It means that the data to be uploaded to a public cloud is first stored locally and only then sent to the destination. For this reason, it is vital that the local storage is persistent and redundant so the data does not get lost. There are multiple ways to ensure the persistence and redundancy of local storage. You can deploy Acronis Backup Gateway on multiple cluster nodes and select a good redundancy mode. If Acronis Storage with the gateway is deployed on a single physical node, you can make the local storage redundant by replicating it among local disks. If Acronis Storage with the gateway is deployed in a virtual machine, make sure it is made redundant by the virtualization solution it runs on.
  2. You must update Acronis Backup Agents to version 4492 (Windows/Mac) or 4470 (Linux). Otherwise agents’ attempts to place backups in the new storage backend will result in “Backup failed” errors.

Before you proceed, make sure that the public cloud storage has enough space for backups.

To connect your Acronis backup software to a public cloud folder via Acronis Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. On the SERVICES > Acronis Backup Gateway > Nodes screen, select the checkbox next to the only node in the cluster.

  2. Click Create Gateway then Public Cloud.

    ../_images/stor_image56_11.png
  3. Make sure the network interface with the assigned Acronis Backup Gateway network role is selected. The gateway service will listen on the IP address assigned to this interface. Click NEXT.

    ../_images/stor_image56_2.png
  4. On the Public cloud parameters tab, do the following:

    1. Select a public cloud provider. If your provider is S3-compatible but not in the list, try AuthV2 compatible.
    2. Depending on the provider, specify Region, Authentication (keystone) URL, or Endpoint URL.
    3. In case of Swift object storage, specify the authentication protocol version and attributes required by it.
    4. Specify user credentials.
    5. Specify the folder (bucket, container) to store backups in. The folder must be writeable.
  5. Click NEXT.

  6. Depending on the Acronis product you use, specify the following on the Registration tab:

    • In Account Server Name, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced management server (that matches the account management console address, e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/).
    • In Acronis Account, specify the credentials of the Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced administrator account.
    ../_images/stor_image56_5.png
  7. Click DONE.