# Understand and create access nodes

Access nodes provide data movement and infrastructure access for workloads.

You can create access nodes during workload onboarding or create them separately and reuse them across multiple workloads.

Understanding how access nodes work helps you plan scalable backup and restore operations and place data movement infrastructure close to the workloads that it protects.

## When access nodes are required

Commvault SaaS

Most workloads can use Commvault-managed infrastructure and don't require customer-managed access nodes.

Some workloads, environments, and connectivity models require access nodes. When you onboard a workload, Commvault identifies when an access node is needed.

Commvault software

Access nodes are a core part of the deployment architecture and are required for backup and restore operations.

## Plan access node deployment

### Decide how many access nodes you need

Start with at least one access 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. Actual requirements depend on workload types, backup windows, storage performance, network bandwidth, restore objectives, and the number of concurrent operations.

Environment size | Typical profile | Recommended starting size | Deployment guidance
--- | --- | --- | ---
Small | Up to 200 VMs or 10 TB of protected data | 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, 100 GB free disk space | Start with 1 access node. Support up to 4 concurrent backup or restore operations per access node. A 10 GbE connection is preferred, although a high-quality 1 GbE connection can be sufficient when backup windows allow. Add a second access node for higher availability or shorter backup windows.
Medium | 200–1,000 VMs or 10–75 TB of protected data | 8 vCPUs, 32 GB RAM, 100 GB free disk space | Start with 2 access nodes. Support 4–12 concurrent backup or restore operations per access node. Use a 10 GbE connection. Distribute workloads across sites, regions, or major workload groups. Add access nodes when backup windows, restore objectives, or resource contention require more parallelism.
Large | More than 1,000 VMs or 75 TB of protected data | 12–16 vCPUs, 48–64 GB RAM, 100 GB free disk space | Start with 3 or more access nodes. Use redundant 10 GbE connectivity or higher based on throughput requirements. Scale horizontally by adding access nodes instead of significantly oversizing a single system. Separate access nodes by site, region, or major workload group when operational requirements demand it.

### Plan access node placement

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

- Place access nodes close to storage destinations whenever possible.

### Host requirements

Before you create an access node, verify that the host:

- Has at least 100 GB of free disk space.

- Can communicate with protected workloads and storage destinations.

- Has sufficient CPU, memory, and network capacity for the expected workload.

- Can communicate through the required firewall rules.

- Has accurate system time synchronization.

### Supported operating systems

The following operating systems are supported for access nodes.

Windows

- Microsoft Windows Server 2025–2016 x64 Editions

Linux

- Oracle Linux 9.x–8.x

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.x–8.x

- Rocky Linux 9.x–8.x

## Create an access node

Note

Most customers create access nodes during workload onboarding. You can also create them separately — for example, to prepare infrastructure in advance, standardize deployment across sites or regions, or scale data movement independently of workload onboarding.

To create an access node, follow these steps.

1. In Commvault, go to Manage > Infrastructure, click Access nodes, and then click Add.

2. Specify the settings for the access node.

   The available settings depend on where you're deploying the access node:

   - To deploy in cloud and non-cloud environments, see Deploy an access node in a cloud environment.

   - To deploy in VMware vSphere, see Deploy a Linux access node for VMware vSphere.

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