Overview
You can protect Nutanix AHV virtual machines (VMs) within your Nutanix Cloud Cluster (NC2) on AWS Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP). This process mirrors the workflow used for on-premise AHV based data centers.
You can back up and restore Nutanix AHV Cloud environments on both AWS and Dell EMC. Once your virtual machines are backed up, you have significant flexibility in where you restore them.
The backed-up virtual machines can be restored to:
Original Location: The same NC2 NCP where the backup originated.
New Cloud Location: Different Public Cloud NCP than the one it was backed up from.
On-Premise: Any on-premise Nutanix AHV data center.
Note: This works bi-directionally. You can also restore VMs backed up from an on-premise data center directly to your NC2 NCP.
Capabilities
The platform offers a robust set of features designed specifically for NC2 integration:
Secure Data Path: Integrates with AWS PrivateLink to ensure a secure connection between your NC2 and the Public cloud.
Native Integration: Uses native NC2 APIs for all backup and restore operations.
Efficiency: Leverages Nutanix Changed Region Tracking (CRT) to track and back up only incremental changes.
Granular Recovery: Supports file-level recovery directly to an NFS or a CIFS.
Transport Mode: Utilizes "iSCSI" transport mode for fast backups.
Flexible Policy Management: Automate VM configuration based on tags.
Architecture
The architecture is designed to support NC2 natively. To facilitate communication between your environment and the cloud, you must deploy a Backup Proxy.
How the Backup Proxy works:
Detection: The proxy acts as a client-side component that detects VMs running in your setup.
Execution: It executes backup and restore requests received from the cloud platform.
Deduplication: Data is processed and deduplicated at the proxy level before transfer.
Transport:
Default: Data flows over the public network (restricted to the AWS environment).
Secure (PrivateLink): If configured, data flows over the AWS backbone network via a secure connection.
Important Constraints:
Transport Mode: NC2 does not support NBD (Network Block Device) mode (backup over production LAN). You must use iCSCI transport mode.
Note:
Using AWS PrivateLink increases data transfer efficiency and security by utilizing the AWS backbone network rather than the public internet. This also helps minimize data egress charges.
⚠️ Important: AWS PrivateLink integration is currently part of a Limited Availability Program. You must contact Support to sign up for this feature.
Configure Nutanix Cloud Cluster on Public Cloud
Follow these steps to configure your environment and begin backups.
Configure Firewall Rules
You must ensure your NC2 NCP firewall allows specific traffic through the Compute and Management Gateways.
Port 443 (HTTPS):
Direction: Outbound (Proxy to Cloud Platform) and Internal (Proxy to Prism).
Purpose: The proxy communicates with the cloud platform to receive commands and with the Prism to map the hierarchy/perform tasks. You need to create an inbound traffic rule to allow this.
For more information, see Prerequisites to install the backup proxy.
Deploy and Register
Deploy the backup proxy within your environment. Once deployed, you must register your Nutanix AHV setup with the cloud platform.
Ensure that you have full backup and restore privileges.
Configure VMs
Once the proxy is active and the setup is registered, you can configure your virtual machines for backup.