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

The Backup Gateway storage access point (also called “gateway”) is intended for service providers who use Acronis Backup Cloud and/or Acronis Backup Advanced and want to organize an on-premises storage for their clients’ backed-up data.

Backup Gateway enables a service provider to easily configure storage for the proprietary deduplication-friendly data format used by Acronis.

Backup Gateway supports the following storage backends:

  • storage clusters with software redundancy by means of erasure coding
  • NFS shares
  • public clouds, including a number of S3 solutions as well as Microsoft Azure, OpenStack Swift, and Google Cloud Platform

While your choice should depend on scenario and requirements, it is recommended to keep Acronis backup data in the local storage cluster. In this case, you can have the best performance due to WAN optimizations and data locality. Keeping backups in an NFS share or a public cloud implies the unavoidable data transfer and other overhead, which reduces overall performance.

Take note of the following:

  • When configuring Backup Gateway, you will need to provide the credentials of your administrator account in the Acronis backup software.
  • In cases when not local but external storage (e.g., NFS) is used with Backup Gateway, redundancy has to be provided by the said external storage. Backup Gateway does not provide data redundancy or perform data deduplication itself.
  • To be able to register Backup Gateway in Acronis Backup Cloud, two-factor authentication (2FA) should be disabled for your partner account.

5.4.1. Understanding the Infrastructure

The Backup Gateway storage access point runs as services on the Acronis Cyber Infrastructure nodes. It is recommended to deploy it on two or more nodes for high availability.

../_images/stor_image53.png

5.4.2. Connecting to the Local Storage Cluster via Backup Gateway

Before you proceed, make sure that the destination storage has enough space for both existing and new backups.

To set up Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. On the INFRASTRUCTURE > Networks screen, make sure that the ABGW private and ABGW public traffic types are added to the networks you intend to use.

  2. In the left menu, click STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage.

  3. Select the node(s) to run the gateway services on and click Create gateway in the right menu.

  4. Select This Acronis Cyber Infrastructure cluster as storage type.

  5. Make sure the correct network interface is selected in the drop-down list. Click NEXT.

    If necessary, click the cogwheel icon and configure node’s network interfaces on the Network Configuration screen.

    ../_images/stor_image55_ac.png

  6. On the Volume Parameters tab, select the desired tier, failure domain, and data redundancy mode. For more information, refer to Understanding Storage Tiers, Understanding Failure Domains, and Understanding Data Redundancy.

    ../_images/stor_image56_ac.png

    Redundancy by replication is not supported for Backup Gateway. For erasure coding, changing redundancy scheme is disabled, because it may decrease cluster performance. The reason is that re-encoding demands a significant amount of cluster resources for a long period of time. If you still want to change the redundancy scheme, please contact the technical support.

    Click NEXT.

  7. 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 backup data.

    Important

    Configure your DNS server according to the example suggested in the admin panel.

    Important

    Each time you change nodes in the Backup Gateway cluster, adjust the DNS settings accordingly.

    ../_images/stor_image56_4_ac.png

    Click Next.

  8. On the Register in backup software pane, specify the following information for your Acronis product:

    Important

    Make sure that two-factor authentication (2FA) is disabled for your partner account. You can also disable it for a specific user within a 2FA-enabled tenant as described in Acronis Cyber Cloud documentation and specify the user credentials.

    • In Address, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud management portal (e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/) or the hostname/IP address and port of the Acronis Backup Advanced management server (e.g., http://192.168.1.2:9877).
    • In Account, specify the credentials of a partner account in the cloud or of an organization administrator on the local management server.

  9. Finally, click DONE.

5.4.3. Connecting to External NFS Shares via Backup Gateway

Take note of these limitations:

  • Acronis Cyber Infrastructure does not provide data redundancy on top of NFS volumes. Depending on the implementation, NFS shares may use their own hardware or software redundancy.
  • In the current version of Acronis Cyber Infrastructure, 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 Cyber Infrastructure installations to use the same NFS export for backup storage.

To set up Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. On the INFRASTRUCTURE > Networks screen, make sure that the ABGW private and ABGW public traffic types are added to the networks you intend to use.

  2. In the left menu, click STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage.

  3. Select the node(s) to run the gateway services on and click Create gateway in the right menu.

  4. Select Network File System as storage type.

  5. Make sure the correct network interface is selected in the drop-down list. Click NEXT.

    If necessary, click the cogwheel icon and configure node’s network interfaces on the Network Configuration screen.

    ../_images/stor_image56_2.png

  6. 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_ac.png

  7. 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 backup data.

    Important

    Configure your DNS server according to the example suggested in the admin panel.

    Important

    Each time you change nodes in the Backup Gateway cluster, adjust the DNS settings accordingly.

    ../_images/stor_image56_4_ac.png

    Click Next.

  8. On the Register in backup software pane, specify the following information for your Acronis product:

    Important

    Make sure that two-factor authentication (2FA) is disabled for your partner account. You can also disable it for a specific user within a 2FA-enabled tenant as described in Acronis Cyber Cloud documentation and specify the user credentials.

    • In Address, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud management portal (e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/) or the hostname/IP address and port of the Acronis Backup Advanced management server (e.g., http://192.168.1.2:9877).
    • In Account, specify the credentials of a partner account in the cloud or of an organization administrator on the local management server.

  9. Finally, click DONE.

5.4.4. Connecting to Public Cloud Storage via Backup Gateway

With Backup Gateway, you can have Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced store backups in a number of public clouds and on-premises object storage solutions:

  • Amazon S3
  • IBM Cloud
  • Alibaba Cloud
  • IIJ
  • Cleversafe
  • Cloudian
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Swift object storage
  • Softlayer (Swift)
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Wasabi
  • Other solutions using S3

However, compared to the local 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 storage cluster as storage backend.

Backups are cold data with a specific access pattern: the data is not accessed frequently but is expected to be available immediately when accessed. For this use case, it is cost-efficient to choose storage classes intended for long-term storage with infrequently accessed data. The recommended storage classes include the following:

  • Infrequent Access for Amazon S3
  • Cool Blob Storage for Microsoft Azure
  • Nearline and Coldline storage for Google Cloud Platform

Archive storage classes like Amazon S3 Glacier, Azure Archive Blob, or Google Archive cannot be used for backup because they do not provide instant access to data. High access latency (several hours) makes it technically impossible to browse archives, restore data fast, and create incremental backups. Even though the archive storage is usually very cost-efficient, keep in mind that there are a number of different cost factors. In fact, the total cost of public cloud storage consists of payments for storing data, operations, traffic, data retrieval, early deletion and so on. For example, an archive storage service can charge six months’ storage payment for just one data recall operation. If the storage data is expected to be accessed more frequently, the added costs increase significantly the total cost of data storage. In order to avoid the low data retrieval rate and to cut expenses, we recommend using Acronis Cyber Cloud for storing backup data.

5.4.4.1. Important Requirements and Restrictions

  • When working with public clouds, 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 Backup Gateway on multiple cluster nodes and select a good redundancy mode. If Acronis Cyber Infrastructure 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 Cyber Infrastructure with the gateway is deployed in a virtual machine, make sure it is made redundant by the virtualization solution it runs on.
  • Make sure the local storage cluster has plenty of logical space for staging. For example, if you perform backup daily, provide enough space for at least 1.5 days’ worth of backups. If the daily backup total is 2TB, provide at least 3TB of logical space. The required raw storage will vary depending on the encoding mode: 9TB (3TB per node) in the 1+2 mode, 5TB (1TB per node) in the 3+2 mode, etc.
  • If you are to store backups in an Amazon S3 cloud, keep in mind that Backup Gateway may sometimes block access to such backups due to the eventual consistency of Amazon S3. It means that Amazon S3 may occasionally return stale data as it needs time to render the most recent version of the data accessible. Backup Gateway detects such delays and protects backup integrity by blocking access until the cloud updates.
  • Use a separate object container for each Backup Gateway cluster.

5.4.4.2. Setting Up Backup Gateway

Before you proceed, make sure that the destination storage has enough space for both existing and new backups.

To set up Backup Gateway, do the following:

  1. On the INFRASTRUCTURE > Networks screen, make sure that the ABGW private and ABGW public traffic types are added to the networks you intend to use.

  2. In the left menu, click STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage.

  3. Select the node(s) to run the gateway services on and click Create gateway in the right menu.

  4. Select Public Cloud as storage type.

  5. Make sure the correct network interface is selected in the drop-down list. Click NEXT.

    If necessary, click the cogwheel icon and configure node’s network interfaces on the Network Configuration screen.

    ../_images/stor_image55_ac.png

  6. On the Public cloud parameters pane, do the following:

    1. Select a public cloud provider. If your provider is S3 compatible but not in the list, try AuthV2 compatible (S3) or AuthV4 compatible (S3).

    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. In case of Google Cloud, select a JSON file with keys to upload.

    5. Specify the folder (bucket, container) to store backups in. The folder must be writeable.

      Use a separate object container for each Backup Gateway cluster.

    Click NEXT.

  7. On the Register in backup software pane, specify the following information for your Acronis product:

    Important

    Make sure that two-factor authentication (2FA) is disabled for your partner account. You can also disable it for a specific user within a 2FA-enabled tenant as described in Acronis Cyber Cloud documentation and specify the user credentials.

    • In Address, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud management portal (e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/) or the hostname/IP address and port of the Acronis Backup Advanced management server (e.g., http://192.168.1.2:9877).
    • In Account, specify the credentials of a partner account in the cloud or of an organization administrator on the local management server.

  8. Finally, click DONE.

5.4.5. Updating certificate for Backup Gateway

When you register a Backup Gateway in Acronis Backup Cloud or Acronis Backup Advanced, they exchange certificates that are valid for three years. One and a half months before expiration, you will be alerted about the expiring certificate in the admin panel. To update the certificate, you need to connect to your backup software and renew the certificate. Do the following:

  1. On the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage screen, click Update certificate.

  2. On the Connect to backup software pane, specify the following information for your Acronis product:

    Important

    Make sure that two-factor authentication (2FA) is disabled for your partner account. You can also disable it for a specific user within a 2FA-enabled tenant as described in Acronis Cyber Cloud documentation and specify the user credentials.

    • In Address, specify the address of the Acronis Backup Cloud management portal (e.g., https://cloud.acronis.com/) or the hostname/IP address and port of the Acronis Backup Advanced management server (e.g., http://192.168.1.2:9877).
    • In Account, specify the credentials of a partner account in the cloud or of an organization administrator on the local management server.
    ../_images/stor_image56_5_ac.png

  3. Click NEXT.

  4. On all nodes included into the Backup Gateway cluster, restart the service:

    # systemctl restart vstorage-abgw

5.4.6. Re-registering Backup Gateway in a New Acronis Backup Advanced

To switch a configured Backup Gateway to a different Acronis Backup Advanced instance, re-register the gateway with that instance. To do this:

  1. On the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage screen, click Re-register.
  2. On the Re-registration in Acronis Backup tab, specify the following:
    • In Address, specify the hostname/IP address of the target management server and the port 9877 (e.g., http://192.168.1.2:9877). Note that the address must be provided using the HTTP protocol, not HTTPS.
    • In Account, specify the credentials of the management server administrator account.
  3. Click DONE.

5.4.7. Migrating Backups from Older Acronis Solutions

By means of Backup Gateway, you can migrate backups from Acronis Storage 1.5 and Acronis Storage Gateway 1.6 and 1.7 to a storage backend of your choice: the local storage cluster, external NFS, or public cloud.

Migration to NFS backends is not available, however, if multiple nodes are selected as Backup Gateway.

Important

Before you proceed, make sure that the destination storage has enough space for both existing and new backups.

The migration procedure can be described as follows:

  1. Root credentials for SSH access to the chosen source storage are provided to Backup Gateway.

  2. Backup Gateway sets up a proxy on the source storage that starts redirecting requests incoming from Acronis Backup Agents from the source storage to Backup Gateway.

  3. Backup Gateway starts relocating backups to the chosen storage backend. The data that remains to be migrated is shown in the Migration Backlog section on the Backup Gateway Overview screen. When the backlog empties, all data has been migrated.

    After the migration has started, the data of new and incremental backups is stored on the destination storage. Backups from the source storage are pulled in the background. The entire process is transparent to backup agents, which continue working uninterrupted.

  4. To be able to dispose of the source storage after migration completes, requests from Acronis Backup Agents are directed straight to Backup Gateway, bypassing the proxy on the source storage. Steps that you need to take depend on how the source storage is registered in Acronis Backup Cloud: under the IP address or DNS name.

    • If the source storage is already registered under the DNS name, you need to change the IP address behind it to those of the Backup Gateway nodes.

    • If the source storage is registered under the IP address, it is strongly recommended to re-register Backup Gateway in Acronis Backup Cloud under a DNS name that resolves into the IP addresses of Backup Gateway nodes. Using a DNS name will provide a smoother transition and you will not need to reconfigure Acronis Backup Cloud even if you change nodes in the Backup Gateway (you will still need to adjust the IP addresses behind the DNS name accordingly).

      Alternatively, if you do not want to use a DNS name, you need to wait for the migration to complete, shut down both the source and destination machines, and reconfigure your network so that the public interface of the destination machine gets the IP address of the source machine.

The concrete steps that you need to perform in the admin panel to initiate backup migration are described in the next subsections.

5.4.7.1. Migrating Backups from Acronis Storage 1.5

  1. Update all Acronis Storage 1.5 nodes to version 1.5.65665 or newer as earlier versions are not eligible for migration. To do this, log in to the Acronis Storage web console, proceed to SETTINGS > Software Update, upload the latest ISO image, and click Update.

  2. Log in to the new storage cluster and on the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage > NODES screen, select one or more nodes and click Migrate.

  3. Select Acronis Storage 1.5 and click NEXT.

  4. Specify the DNS name of the source storage registered in Acronis Backup Cloud and click NEXT.

    ../_images/stor_image56_14.png

  5. Provide the credentials for the cloud management portal of the Acronis Backup Cloud installation that the source storage is registered in and click NEXT.

  6. Enable SSH access on all FES nodes of Acronis Storage 1.5 as instructed and click NEXT.

  7. Map the public IP addresses of FES nodes accessible via SSH to their private IP addresses and click NEXT. This step is required to access FES nodes via SSH through tunnels.

    ../_images/stor_image56_15.png

  8. Choose a storage type to create a gateway to one of the destinations:

    • local storage cluster
    • external NFS
    • public cloud

  9. Make sure the correct network interface is selected in the drop-down list. Click NEXT.

    If necessary, click the cogwheel icon and configure node’s network interfaces on the Network Configuration screen.

    ../_images/stor_image55_ac.png

  10. Configure the destination storage backend:

    • For a storage cluster, select the desired tier, failure domain, and redundancy mode.

    • For NFS, specify a hostname or IP address, an export name and path, and choose the NFS version.

      ../_images/stor_image56_3_ac.png

    • For a public cloud, select a public cloud provider, specify credentials, and the name of the folder (bucket, container).

      Use a separate object container for each Backup Gateway cluster.

      ../_images/stor_image56_10.png

    Click NEXT.

  11. Review the source and destination storages and click PROCEED.

  12. On the next panel, follow the instructions to point the source storage DNS name to the IP addresses of your new storage cluster. Having updated the DNS configuration, wait for 24 hours for all backup agents to cache the new IP addresses. Until this happens, the START MIGRATION button will be disabled. After all backup agents have been rerouted to the new cluster, the button will become enabled and you can click it to start migration.

    ../_images/stor_image56_16.png

Depending on data size, migration may take as long as several days.

5.4.7.2. Migrating Backups from Acronis Storage Gateway 1.6 and 1.7 (NFS)

  1. Disable the firewall or explicitly open TCP port 44446 on the source Acronis Storage Gateway.

    • To disable the firewall, run

      # systemctl stop firewalld

    • To open TCP port 44446 in the firewall, do the following:

      1. Find out the zone where port 44445 is open:

        # firewall-cmd --list-all-zones | grep active
mix_eth0 (active)

      2. Add the required port to the same zone:

        # firewall-cmd --zone=mix_eth0 --permanent --add-port=44446/tcp
# firewall-cmd --reload

  2. In the admin panel of the backup gateway node, proceed to STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage > NODES, select the node(s) to run the gateway services on, and click Migrate.

  3. Select the source storage version and click NEXT.

  4. Specify the connection details for the source storage and click NEXT.

    ../_images/stor_image56_6.png

  5. Provide the credentials for the cloud management portal of the Acronis Backup Cloud installation that the source storage is registered in and click NEXT.

  6. If the source storage is registered in Acronis Backup Cloud under an IP address, you will see the DNS configuration screen. On it, click RE-REGISTER WITH DNS and specify the source storage DNS name (recommended, see above). Or, if you want to keep using the IP address, click PROCEED WITH IP.

    If you specified a DNS name, configure your DNS server according to the suggested example.

    Important

    Each time you change nodes in the Backup Gateway cluster, adjust the DNS settings accordingly.

  7. Choose a storage type to create a gateway to one of the destinations:

    • local storage cluster
    • external NFS
    • public cloud

  8. Make sure the correct network interface is selected in the drop-down list. Click NEXT.

    If necessary, click the cogwheel icon and configure node’s network interfaces on the Network Configuration screen.

    ../_images/stor_image55_ac.png

  9. Configure the destination storage backend:

    • For a storage cluster, select the desired tier, failure domain, and redundancy mode.

    • For NFS, specify a hostname or IP address, an export name and path, and choose the NFS version.

      ../_images/stor_image56_3_ac.png

    • For a public cloud, select a public cloud provider, specify credentials, and the name of the folder (bucket, container).

      Use a separate object container for each Backup Gateway cluster.

      ../_images/stor_image56_10.png

    Click NEXT.

  10. Review the source and destination storages and click START MIGRATION.

Depending on data size, migration may take as long as several days.

5.4.8. Managing Geo-Replication for Backup Gateway

Acronis Cyber Infrastructure allows you to enable Backup Gateway replication between two geographically distributed datacenters registered in the Cloud Management Panel. It provides backup data protection against the primary datacenter failure. You can enable geo-replication for Backup Gateways that are set up on different storage backends: a local storage cluster, NFS share, or public cloud.

For successful geo-replication, the following requirements must be met:

  • Two storage clusters with Backup Gateways are deployed.
  • All storage clusters are updated to the latest version.
  • All storage clusters are registered in the Cloud Management Panel.
  • All storage clusters can reach each other via domain names on TCP port 44445.

5.4.8.1. Enabling Geo-Replication

To set up geo-replication between two storage clusters, primary and secondary, do the following:

  1. On the cluster that will be configured as secondary, click the copy icon next to the DNS name and UID fields to copy its DNS name and UID to clipboard.

    ../_images/stor_image162_1_ac.png

  2. On the cluster that will be configured as primary, click Configure replication and do the following in the Configure replication window:

    1. Paste the DNS name and UID of the secondary cluster into the corresponding fields.
    2. Click Download configuration file to download the configuration file of the primary cluster to your local server.
    3. Click Done.
    ../_images/stor_image162_2_ac.png

    The primary cluster is now configured and ready to be connected to the secondary one, which needs to be configured next.

  3. On the secondary cluster, click Configure replication and do the following in the Configure replication window:

    1. Select the Secondary cluster configuration type.
    2. Upload the the configuration file of the primary cluster from your local server.
    3. Click Done.
    ../_images/stor_image162_3_ac.png

    The secondary cluster is now also configured and ready to be connected to the primary one.

    If after configuring the secondary cluster, you need to change the configuration of the primary cluster for some reason, download the new configuration and upload it to the secondary cluster by clicking the upload icon next to the Configuration file field. Before doing so, make sure the primary cluster UID has not been changed.

  4. Back on the primary cluster, click Connect to enable replication between the two datacenters.

    ../_images/stor_image162_4_ac.png

5.4.8.2. Performing a Failover

If the primary cluster becomes unavailable, you can perform a manual failover by promoting the secondary cluster to primary. This operation will switch the configuration of the secondary cluster, including its DNS name, to the configuration of the primary one. Failover of the primary cluster can be performed in the following cases:

  • The current primary cluster is completely non-operational and isolated from the Internet and any backup agents.
  • Backup agents are unable to communicate with the current primary cluster.
  • The DNS name of the primary cluster has been reconfigured to its IP addresses.

Warning

Promoting the secondary cluster to primary is an irreversible operation that will invalidate all data on the primary cluster. Use it only in case of emergency.

To perform a failover, click Promote to primary on the secondary cluster and then Failover in the confirmation window.

../_images/stor_image162_5_ac.png

If the current primary cluster is still operational, forcibly release all its nodes from Backup Gateway first and then perform a failover.

5.4.8.3. Updating the Geo-replication Configuration

Once a year you need to renew the Backup Gateway certificate. The certificate update changes the cluster configuration, which in turn requires updating the geo-replication configuration. Do the following:

  1. On the primary cluster, update the certificate as described in Updating certificate for Backup Gateway
  2. On the primary cluster, click Download configuration file to download its new configuration to your local server.
  3. On the secondary cluster, click the upload icon next to the Configuration file field to upload the new configuration to the secondary cluster.

5.4.8.4. Disabling Geo-replication

To disable geo-replication, click Disable replication on the primary cluster. To remove the secondary cluster from the geo-replication configuration, gracefully release all its nodes from Backup Gateway (see Releasing Nodes from Backup Gateway).

../_images/stor_image162_6_ac.png

5.4.9. Monitoring Backup Gateway

After you create a Backup Gateway, you can monitor it on the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage > OVERVIEW screen. The charts show the following information:

  • the performance of Backup Gateway services
  • the geo-replication speed and backlog (the amount of data waiting to be replicated)
  • object storage speed and backlog (the amount of data waiting to be uploaded to public cloud)
  • migration speed and backlog (the amount of data waiting to be migrated)
  • how many files are left in migration queue

If you migrate backups from Acronis Storage 1.5 or 1.7, migration backlog will be larger than the amount of data on the source storage. The reason is that Acronis Storage versions prior to 2.x use the old backup (FES) protocol that sends more data over network. The difference between source data size and backlog also very much depends on the retention policy utilized by the backup solution. Despite this, the resulting space occupied by migrated data on the destination will be similar to that on the source.

If backlogs do not decrease over time, it means the data cannot be replicated, migrated, or uploaded fast enough. The reason may be insufficient network transfer speed, and you may need to check or upgrade your network.

../_images/stor_image56_12_ac.png

5.4.9.1. Advanced Backup Gateway Monitoring via Grafana

For advanced monitoring of the Backup Gateway cluster, go to the MONITORING > Dashboard screen and click Grafana dashboard. A separate browser tab will open with preconfigured Grafana dashboards, two of which are dedicated to Acronis Backup Gateway. To see a detailed description for each chart, click the i icon on its left corner.

On the Acronis Backup Gateway dashboard, you need to pay attention to the following charts:

  • Availability. Any time period during which the gateways have not been available will be highlighted in red. In this case, you will need to look into logs on the nodes with the failed service and report a problem. To see the Backup Gateway log, use the following command:

    # zstdcat /var/log/vstorage/abgw.log.zst

  • Migration/Replication throughput. The migration chart should be displayed during migration or if the cluster serves as master in a geo-replication configuration. The replication chart should mirror the ingress bandwidth chart.

  • Migration/replication backlog. The migration chart should decrease over time. The replication chart should be near zero, high values are indicative of network issues.

  • Rate limiting/ingress throttling. If the chart is not empty, it means the underlying storage lacks free space and the Backup Gateway is throttling user requests to slow down the data flow. Add more storage space to the cluster to solve the issue. For more information, see https://kb.acronis.com/content/62823.

  • New client connections. A high rate of failed connections due to SSL certificate verification problems on the chart means that clients uploaded an invalid certificate chain.

  • IO watchdog timeouts. If the chart is not empty, it means the underlying storage is not healthy and cannot deliver the required performance.

../_images/abgw-grafana1_1.png

To see the charts for a particular client request, file, and I/O operation, choose them from the drop-down menus above. A high rate of failed requests or operations and high latencies on these charts indicate that the Backup Gateway experiences issues that need to be reported. For example, you can check charts for the “Append” request:

  • The Append rate chart displays the backup data flow from Backup agents to the storage in operations per second (one operation equals one big block of backup data; blocks can be of various size).
  • The Append latency chart shows the time spent on processing requests and should average several tens of milliseconds with peak values below one second.
../_images/abgw-grafana1_2.png

The Acronis Backup Gateway Details dashboard is intended for low-level troubleshooting by the support team. To monitor a particular node, client request, file, and I/O operation, choose them from the drop-down menus above. On the dashboard, you can make sure the Event loop inactivity chart is empty. Otherwise, the Backup Gateway is not healthy on this node and the issue needs to be reported.

../_images/abgw-grafana2.png

5.4.10. Releasing Nodes from Backup Gateway

Backup Gateway is meant to provide access to one specific storage backend. If you need to switch the backend, e.g., from a public cloud to a local storage cluster or one public cloud bucket to another, you need to delete the Backup Gateway by releasing all its nodes and create a new one.

To release one or more nodes from the Backup Gateway cluster, select them on the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage > NODES screen and click Release. The Backup Gateway cluster will remain operational until there is at least one node in it.

When the Backup Gateway is deleted, it is also unregistered from your Acronis backup software, which loses access to the storage backend.

Do the following to release the last node in the gateway:

  1. On the STORAGE SERVICES > Backup storage > NODES screen, select the node and click Release.

  2. On the Unregister from backup software panel, choose one of the following:

    • Graceful release (recommended, see note below). Releases the node, deletes the Backup Gateway and unregisters it from your Acronis backup software.

    • Force release. Releases the node, deletes the Backup Gateway but does not unregister it from your Acronis backup software.

      Important

      Choose this option only if you are sure that the gateway has already been unregistered from your Acronis backup software. Otherwise, you will need to register a new gateway in your Acronis backup software and for that you will need to delete and recreate not just the Backup Gateway but also the entire storage cluster.

    ../_images/stor_image56_13_ac.png

  3. Specify the credentials of your administrator account in your Acronis backup software and click NEXT. In case the release is forced, simply click NEXT.

Nov 30, 2021
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