Deployment of the Virtual Server Agent for Amazon EC2

For streaming backups, the Virtual Server Agent (VSA) access nodes can reside outside of Amazon, but it is recommended to use VSA access nodes on Amazon for better throughput.

For maximum throughput, the VSA proxy must be located in the same region as the instances to be backed up.

Note

In a deployment that uses resources from an admin account, the access node can be in the admin account. For more information, see Using Resources from an Admin Account.

For restores, the VSA proxy can be an Amazon instance or an external machine.

For IntelliSnap backups and restores from IntelliSnap jobs, the VSA proxy can be an Amazon instance or an external machine.

The proxy machine must be able to connect to ec2.amazonaws.com. To route communications through an HTTP or HTTPS proxy, provide proxy information in the CommServe Control Panel, on the HTTP Proxy tab of the Internet Options dialog box. To use an HTTPS proxy, you must provide authentication details.

For more information, see System Requirements.

Components

Commvault uses the following components to support data protection and recovery operations:

CommServe host: Provides management, status, and reporting for protection operations. The CommServe user interface includes the CommCell Console and CommCell Browser. Ideally the CommServe library should be located in Amazon, but it can also be hosted externally.
Virtual Server Agent (VSA): The Virtual Server Agent can be installed on one or more machines, so that those machines can serve as VSA proxies. A VSA proxy manages backup and restore operations for guest instances in your environment, eliminating the need to install agents on guest instances.

For VM conversion and restores, the VSA can be installed on an Amazon instance or on an external machine.

You can configure application-aware backups using the Virtual Server Agent to protect application data without installing guest agents on instances.
MediaAgents: MediaAgents can reside in Amazon instances or on servers in the physical environment. MediaAgents on the VSA proxy instance might provide better performance.
Web Console: If VM Lifecycle Management is configured, end users can use the Web Console to create and manage their own virtual machines. Administrators can create VM provisioning templates and policies to support self-service VM provisioning for end users.