You can protect applications that run on Amazon Web Services (AWS) by using Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) snapshots.
The Amazon Storage Array uses Amazon EBS snapshots to protect supported AWS workloads. Snapshots are created from the Amazon EBS volumes that store data for those workloads.
Amazon EBS snapshots are point-in-time copies of Amazon EBS volumes. AWS creates and manages the snapshots, while Commvault manages backup, restore, and retention operations.
By default, the first snapshot that you create for an Amazon EBS volume is a full snapshot. The snapshot includes all data blocks that have been written to the volume at the time the snapshot is created.
Subsequent snapshots of the same volume are incremental snapshots. AWS stores only the data blocks that changed since the previous snapshot.
Although subsequent snapshots are incremental, each snapshot can be used to restore a volume to the point in time when the snapshot was created.
Incremental snapshot behavior
Amazon EBS incremental snapshots provide the following benefits:
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After the initial full snapshot, AWS stores only changed data blocks for subsequent snapshots.
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Each snapshot can be used to restore a volume to the point in time when the snapshot was created.
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Incremental snapshots can help reduce the amount of snapshot data that must be stored after the initial full snapshot.
Key features
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Uses Amazon EBS snapshots to protect supported AWS workloads.
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Creates a full snapshot for the first backup of an Amazon EBS volume.
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Uses incremental snapshots for subsequent backups of the same volume.
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Supports backup and restore operations by using Amazon EBS snapshots.
For more information about Amazon EBS snapshots, including prerequisites, considerations, and limitations, see How Amazon EBS snapshots work.