Backup servers are servers responsible for storing backups and templates of virtual servers running in the cloud, in order to prevent data loss in the event of failure. Backup servers enable recovery of files, applications, and databases and so guarantee security of an IT environment. Besides, backup servers are used for scheduling backup jobs and committing associated backup details to the database. At OnApp, you can create, edit, enable, disable and delete backup servers.


Create Backup Server

To create a backup server:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu, then click Backup Servers icon.
  2. Click the Create Backup Server button.
  3. Fill in the form that appears:
    • Label - give your backup server a label
    • IP address - enter the backup server IP address (IPv4)
    • Backup IP address - add a provisioning network IP address
    • Capacity - set the backup server capacity (in GB)
    • Backup server zone - select the backup server zone to which this backup server will be assigned

4. Move the Enabled slider to the right to enable the backup server.
5. Move the Enable Integrated Storage on Static Backup Server slider to the right to enable Integrated Storage on static compute resources.
6. Click the Add Backup server button.


  • To use the backup server, you have to add it to a backup server zone and assign it either to a compute resource or a compute zone.
  • Once you've added a backup server to your cloud and wish to limit the backup resources, make sure to set the limits in bucket for backup server zone resources.
  • When you add a backup server to a backup server zone, the backup server inherits the zone's type. It will be possible to move such a backup server only to a backup server zone of the same type. For more information refer to Zone Types.

Edit Backup Server

To edit a backup server:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Backup Servers icon. 
  2. On the screen that appears, you'll see the list of all backup servers currently set up in the cloud. Click the Actions button next to the backup server you want to edit, then click Edit to change the backup server's properties:
    • Label - the name of the backup server
    • IP address - the backup server IP address (IPv4)
    • Backup IP address - provisioning network IP address

    • Capacity (in GB) - the backup server capacity

    • Backup server zone - the backup server zone to which this backup server is assigned

      It is possible to move backup servers only between backup server zones of the same type. For more information refer to Zone Types.

    • Enabled – move this slider to the right to enable the backup server or to the left to disable the backup server 

      Note that disabling a backup server affects backups and virtual server provisioning as follows:

      Backups

      • You cannot create new backups on this backup server when it is disabled.
      • Backups that were created before disabling the backup server remain on this BS.
      • You can restore virtual servers from backups available on this backup server.
      • You can convert virtual server backups to templates.

      Provisioning

      • The virtual server provisioning is not available on this backup server except for the following case.
      • If a template is located only on this backup server, provisioning of virtual servers based on this template is still performed on this backup server.
    • Enable Integrated Storage on Static Backup Server - move the slider to the right to enable Integrated Storage on static backup server.
  3. Click the Save Backup server button to save changes.

Backup Server Maintenance

If you want to take your backup server offline for maintenance and prevent backups and other transactions from failing during the maintenance window, you may use the Daemon tool.
To use Daemon for background tasks:

  1. Go to Admin > Sysadmin menu.
  2. Click Stop Daemon button. This will allow any currently running backups and tasks to complete but no new ones will start. At that stage, you can proceed with your maintenance.
  3. Once completed, go back to to Admin > Sysadmin menu and click Start Daemon button.

Edit Integrated Storage Settings

Please note that manual server reboot is required for changes to take place.

To edit integrated storage settings:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Backup Servers icon. 
  2. On the page that appears, you will see the list of backup servers available in your cloud. Click the Actions button next to the label of a backup server and select the Integrated Storage Settings option.
  3. Click the Edit button.
  4. On the screen that loads, edit the following parameters:
    • SAN bonding mode - choose bonding mode type from the drop-down menu
    • MTU - specify the maximum transportation unit size. You can set the frame size from 1500 to 9000 bytes
    • VLAN id - the ID of a VLAN number
  5. Click the Save button to save changes.


View Backup Server Hardware Info

OnApp provides an overview of hardware that is used by backup servers available in your cloud. On the Hardware Info page, you can view information on CPU, RAM, hard disk drives, networks and other hardware components.

To view the hardware information:

  1. Go to the Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Backup Servers icon. 
  2. On the page that appears, you will see the list of backup servers available in your cloud. Click the Actions button next to the label of a backup server and select the Hardware Info option.
  3. You will get the following details:

    • Summary Info
      This section contains the basic information about the backup server:
      • Current Uptime - the time the backup server has been working and available, the number of its users, and the average load. 
      • Total CPU - the total amount of CPU (number of cores/frequency in MHz) allocated to the backup server
      • Memory - the total amount of memory (GB) allocated to the backup server
      • Type - the type of a resource (Backup server)
      • OS - the operating system of the backup server
      • Manufacturer/Model - the manufacturer and model of the motherboard
      • BIOS/Serial Number - the system BIOS, its serial number and release date

    • CPU
      This section shows CPU manufacturer logo and information about CPU slots. Click the CPU Details button to get detailed information about CPU from the Intel ARK database if available.

    • RAM
      This section includes information about memory slots (double data rate, memory clock in MHz, size).

    • HD
      This section shows information about the manufacturer and model of a hard disk drive and the hard disk drive capacity in GB.

    • Network
      This section contains information about network cards. Click the Info button next to the specific network to get detailed information from the Intel ARK Database if available.

  4. If hardware information is empty or incomplete, click the Update Hardware Info button in the right upper corner.
  5. Click the Edit Custom Fields button to add/edit/delete custom fields for the hardware info. For more information on how to manage custom fields, refer to the Hardware Info page. 


Replace Dedicated Backup Server

There are two ways of switching to a new backup server and keeping existing backups and templates.

Method 1

  1. Create a new backup server.
  2. Disable the old backup server, so that new backups are not created on it.
  3. Quick manual backup data migration should be performed by using the rsync utility, which offers the ability to preserve hard links by enabling the -H option. This option should be enabled if you are copying incremental backups.
  4. Before starting the data transfer, go to your Control Panel >  Admin > Settings > Configuration > Backups/Templates and set the Total number allowed parameter to 0  to prevent the processing of a new backup task during the data transfer.
  5. Wait for all the running backup tasks to finish. Otherwise, cancel them.
  6. Check if the direct SSH logging from the old backup server to the new one is possible. SSH Key-Based authentication is recommended. Depending on the link speed, the transfer can take up to 40 hours for 1 TB of data. Therefore, it is recommended to start the copying procedure in the screen session.

  7. Log in to the old backup server as root and start backups data transfer by issuing the following command:

    rsync -a -z -H -v --numeric-ids  /backupstorage/*    NewBackupServerIP:/backupstorage
    CODE

  8. As soon as all the data have been copied, update the backup server ID for the templates and backups using MySQL:

    mysql onapp
select id, label from backup_servers;
    CODE

    The command above displays the IDs of the existing backup servers.

  9. Change all backups and templates assignments to the new backup server by issuing the following command:

    update templates set backup_server_id=2 where backup_server_id=1;
update backups set backup_server_id=2 where backup_server_id=1;
    CODE

    The IDs above are only the examples. Enter the correct backup_server_id in your command line.

  10. To start the processing of new backup tasks, go to your Control Panel >  Admin > Settings > Configuration > Backups/Templates and set the Total number allowed parameter to a value greater than 0. Check whether the new backup tasks have started on the new backup server.


Method 2

You can try an automatic backup migration. When using this method, there is no need to stop backup tasks processing and remove/update backup entries in OnApp DB.

  1. Copy template files to the new backup server by issuing the following command:

    rsync -a -v   /backupstorage/templates    NewBackupServerIP:/backupstorage
rsync -z -a -v   /backupstorage/backups/templates    NewBackupServerIP:/backupstorage/backups
    CODE
  2. To avoid using the old backup server, disable it and set the capacity to 1 GB for the old Backup Server to emulate the No space left on device error for new backups. All newly created  backups should migrate to the new backup server. The old backups will be removed automatically after the new ones are created. After the period of backup rotation, the old backup server can be removed from the cloud.

Delete Backup Server

To delete a backup server:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Backup Servers icon.
  2. Click the backup server's label.
  3. On the screen that appears, you'll see the list of all backup servers currently set up in the cloud.

  4. Click the Actions button next to the backup server you want to remove from the cloud, then click Delete. You'll be asked to confirm deletion.

    All the backups stored on that backup server will be deleted!

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