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Plan for and add access nodes to access your workloads (self-hosted only)

If you're a Commvault software self-hosted customer, you must configure the access nodes that perform data protection operations for your workloads, move backup data to and from storage, and deduplicate backup data.

Commvault SaaS customers
  • You can configure access nodes if you prefer to manage your own infrastructure.
  • For Amazon EC2 and other AWS services, you can use Commvault-hosted infrastructure instead of access nodes.

Decide how many access nodes you need

Start with at least one access node node in each region where your workloads reside.

Add more access nodes when you need to:

  • Protect workloads in multiple regions, sites, or network zones

  • Improve throughput or shorten backup windows

  • Support more concurrent backup and restore operations

  • Improve fault tolerance

Size access nodes for your environment

Use the following guidance as a starting point. Adjust the sizing based on your backup window, average workload size, storage performance, network bandwidth, restore expectations, and the number of concurrent jobs.

Environment size Typical profile Recommended starting size per access node Deployment guidance
Small
  • Up to 200 VMs
  • Up to 10 TB of protected front-end data
  • Up to 4 concurrent backup or restore operations per access node
  • 4 vCPUs
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 100 GB free disk space
  • One 10 GbE network connection preferred, or high-quality 1 GbE where backup windows allow
  • Start with one access node node
  • Add a second access node if you need higher availability or shorter backup windows
Medium
  • 200 to 1,000 VMs
  • 10 TB to 75 TB of protected front-end data
  • 4 to 12 concurrent backup or restore operations per access node
  • 8 vCPUs
  • 32 GB RAM
  • 100 GB free disk space
  • 10 GbE network connection
  • Start with 2 access nodes
  • Distribute workloads across sites, regions, or major workload groups
  • Add access nodes when backup windows, restore SLAs, or resource contention require more parallelism
Large
  • More than 1,000 VMs
  • More than 75 TB of protected front-end data
  • More than 12 concurrent backup or restore operations across the environment
  • 12 to 16 vCPUs
  • 48 to 64 GB RAM
  • 100 GB free disk space
  • Redundant 10 GbE network connectivity or higher, based on throughput requirements
  • Start with 3 or more access nodes
  • Place access nodes close to the workloads and storage paths to reduce latency
  • Scale horizontally by adding access nodes instead of overloading a single machine
  • Separate access nodes by site, region, or major workload group when required for operational control

Prepare the access node host

Before you add an access node, verify the following conditions:

  • The server is available in the same environment, site, or region as the workloads that it will protect

  • The server has network connectivity to the workloads, storage targets, and other required infrastructure

  • The server has enough CPU, memory, disk space, and network capacity for the amount of data and job concurrency that you expect

  • Required firewall ports are open for communication between the access node and the systems that it must access

  • You have the credentials and administrative access that are required to install software on the server

Verify minimum host requirements

For each access node, verify the following minimum requirements:

  • At least 100 GB of free disk space for software installation, updates, job metadata, and temporary operations

  • Reliable network connectivity to the workloads and destination storage

  • Accurate system time and time synchronization with the rest of the environment

Plan gateway placement

Place access nodes as close as possible to the workloads and storage that they will use.

For best results:

  • Use an access node in the same site, region, or network zone as the workloads
  • Avoid routing backup traffic across high-latency links when possible
  • Add more than one access node node when you need higher throughput, shorter backup windows, or better fault tolerance

Supported operating systems

You can use any of the following operating systems for a Windows access node:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2025-2016 x64 Editions

You can use any of the following operating systems for a Linux access node:

  • Oracle Linux 9.x-8.x

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.x-8.x

  • Rocky Linux 9.x-8.x

Linux-specific requirements
  • For Red Hat Enterprise Linux machines, register the machine with Red Hat so that you can install the operating system packages that are required for automatic Mono installation
  • For Linux-specific issues with VMware library dependencies on particular operating system and VDDK versions, see the relevant knowledge base article

Add an access node in Commvault

To add an access node, follow these steps:

  1. In Commvault, go to Manage > Environment > Infrastructure, and then click Servers.

  2. Click Advanced options, and then select Add gateway.

    add-gateway

  3. Enter the host name of the server and a name for the access node.

  4. Select the OS, and then click Save.

  5. Follow the directions to download and install the access node package on the server.

  6. When the installation is complete, in the Add gateway dialog box, click OK.

  7. In the list of access nodes, click the new access node, and then modify the settings as necessary.

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