Replicating Snapshots with IntelliSnap for Amazon EC2

You can copy Amazon EC2 snapshots between geographic regions, or share snapshots from one Amazon account to another.

For snapshots that have custom tags, tags are retained when snapshots are replicated across regions within the same Amazon account. Tags attached to the source snapshot are not copied to the destination account or to a regional snapshot copy.

Support

Snapshot replication is supported for volumes that use default or custom encryption. For more information about configuring replication of snapshots, see, Configuring Replication of AWS-Encrypted Snapshots.

Live browse from a replicated snapshot copy is not supported.

Cross-Account Sharing

• You can share Amazon EC2 snapshots to a different AWS account.

  Since snapshots are shared with a specific account, the snapshots are always shared as private snapshots.

• From Service Pack 16 onwards, you can perform the following types of restore operations from a replicated snapshot copy, from a different account:

  • Full instance restore

  • Attach the volume to an existing instance

  • Attach the volume to a new instance

  • Restore guest files and folders

    Note

    To restore guest files and folders, the proxy client must be part of AWS and must reside on the same account where the snapshots reside.

Considerations

You can map only one destination region to each configured source region per subclient.

Procedure

1. Select the Storage tab from the CommCell Console menu bar.

2. Click the Array Management tool.

   The Array Management window appears.

3. To set the array access node that will be used as the MediaAgent for the Amazon client from which you want to share the snapshot, select the Amazon client, and then click Edit.

   The Array Properties dialog box appears.

4. Select the Array Access Nodes tab. Select the array accordingly, and then click OK.

5. Click OK to close the Array Management window.

6. Create a second snapshot copy for the Amazon storage policy, in addition to the primary snapshot copy for the storage policy.

   1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Policies > Storage Policies.

   2. Right-click the storage policy that is used for the Amazon backup, and then select All Tasks > Create New Snapshot Copy.

      The Snap Copy Properties dialog box appears.

   3. On the General tab, provide the copy information:

      • In the Copy Name box, type a unique name.

      • Under Default Index Destination, select the library and a MediaAgentfor the snapshot copy.

        Note

        When you select a disk library, the Drive Pool list and the Scratch Pool list are dimmed because they are applicable only for tape libraries.

   4. Under Array Replication, select the Vault/Replica option.

   5. On the Retention tab, specify the rules that determine how long the software keeps the data.

      For information on the retention rules, see Copy Properties - Retention.

   6. On the Copy Policy tab, select the Specify Source for Array Replica Copy check box, and then from the list, select the snapshot copy storage policy.

   7. Click OK.

7. Select the source and destination regions for the snapshot copies.

   1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers > virtualization_client > Virtual Server > Amazon > backup_set.

   2. Right-click the subclient, and select Properties.

      The Subclient Properties dialog box appears.

   3. On the IntelliSnap Operations tab, configure snap replication options:

      • Select Enable Snap Replication.

      • Under Region Map, select Source Region and Destination Region.

        The source region is where the snapshots will be picked up for replicating and the destination region is the endpoint to which the snapshots will be replicated. This can be configured as per user requirement.

      • Click Add Region to save the region mapping in the database.

      • To share to a different account, select Enable cross account share and select the virtualization client for the account from the Destination Client list.

        The replicated snapshot is shared from the source account to the destination account.

      • Click OK.