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Backup Process for Amazon EC2 Instances with the Commvault HotAdd Transport Mode

Backups of Amazon EC2 instances that use the Commvault HotAdd transport mode include the following stages:

  1. For each instance, create an EBS-backed Amazon Machine Image (AMI).

    This operation creates crash-consistent snapshots of instance volumes.

  2. Create EBS volumes from the AMI EBS snapshots in the same AZ where Access Node resides:

    • Volume type will be "io2" if Source EBS volume is greater than 4GB. Otherwise, Commvault software will create the same volume type as the source.

    • IOPS is set to 100

    • Throughput is set to 125

      Warning

      Using the Commvault HotAdd transport mode with EBS io1 and io2 volumes can add significant additional storage cost to your monthly Amazon bill. Please consult the Amazon EBS pricing page and assess whether your data protection use-case justifies the additional investment in accelerated EBS performance.

      Encryption depends on the source EBS Volumes and encryption by default is enabled on the account and region.

      Note

      Commvault software performs the following steps:

      1. Adds the EBS Volume Encryption Key: Uses the EBS volume encryption key.

      2. Checks Encryption Status: Determines if the snapshot is unencrypted and encryption by default is enabled on the account and the region, or if the snapshot is encrypted and shared as part of cross account.

        Commvault software utilizes GetEbsEncryptionByDefault and GetEbsDefaultKmsKeyId encryption preferences on your account to ensure all created EBS volumes and snapshots are encrypted with your preferred KMS key.

      3. Verifies Volume Size: Checks the volume size for the following:

        • If the volume size is less than 16TB, Commvault software creates a new volume using the existing encrypted snapshot copy.

        • If the volume size is greater than 16TB, Commvault software creates an encrypted snapshot copy and then creates a new volume using the encrypted snapshot copy.

  3. Attach volumes to the VSA proxy.

    • For Linux instances, up to 40 volumes can be attached to the VSA proxy during backups, occupying device slots xvdf - xvdz, or if the slots start with xvd, then xvdba - xvdbz, or a combination of both.

    • For Windows instances, up to 21 volumes can be attached to the VSA proxy during backups, occupying device slots xvdf - xvdz. This limit includes any volumes already attached to the proxy. If EBS is attached to slot xvdf, only 20 volumes can be attached.

  4. Back up the volumes using CBT (Changed Block Tracking) for incremental changes and to direct data through the MediaAgent for the storage policy associated with the backup.

  5. Unmount, detach, and delete the snapshots. Deregister the AMI.

  6. Delete the AMI.

    If CBT is enabled, after every backup operation, the most recent AMI is retained and a CV_CBT_Snap tag is added to the snapshot. 15 days after the CV_CBT_Snap snapshot is created, if no new backups are run on the instance, the snapshot is deleted. If you want to retain CV_CBT_Snap snapshots for longer than 15 days, you can use the nSnapshotRetentionDays additional setting.

    Storage blocks on EBS volumes that are restored from snapshots must be initialized before the block is accessed. This action can increase the time that is required to read and write data for the volumes, and can significantly increase the time that is required for backups and restores. For more information, see Initializing Amazon EBS Volumes.

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