Backing up virtual machines

With HYCU for Azure, you can back up your virtual machines in a fast and efficient way.

Prerequisite

Only if a custom firewall rule is applied. Traffic to the *.azure.com, *.core.windows.net, *.servicebus.windows.net, and *.microsoftonline.com endpoints must be allowed.

Limitations

  • Ultra disks are not protected.

  • Azure temporary storage disks are not protected.

  • Virtual machine memory is not protected.

  • Backing up virtual machines that have shared disks attached is not supported.

  • Backing up virtual machines with unmanaged disks is supported only if the unmanaged disks are in the same resource group as the virtual machine.

  • Backing up virtual machines that have managed disks encrypted with SSE with PMK & ADE is not supported. For a list of data protection operations that are supported based on how the managed disks are encrypted, see the HYCU for Azure Compatibility Matrix.

Considerations

  • To optimize the use of storage space in the Azure storage accounts, HYCU for Azure employs the HYCU changed block tracking (CBT) technique on the backup data before storing it. This technique is applied to all backup data, including copies of backup data and data archives.
  • Only one backup task can run at the same time for the virtual machine.

  • Only if you plan to run the pre-snapshot and post-snapshot scripts. Make sure that the credential group is assigned to the virtual machine and virtual machine discovery is successful. For instructions on how to enable access to the virtual machine, see “Enabling access to virtual machines”.

  • Only if you plan to restore individual files.

    • Make sure that the restore of individual files is enabled for the virtual machine. For details on how to do this, see “Configuring backup options”.

    • For Windows virtual machines: Make sure that the credential group is assigned to the virtual machine. For instructions on how to enable access to the virtual machine, see “Enabling access to virtual machines”.

To access the Virtual Machines panel, in the navigation pane, click  Virtual Machines.

Procedure

  1. In the Virtual Machines panel, select the virtual machines that you want to back up.

    n Note  You can update the list of virtual machines by clicking  Synchronize. To narrow down the list of displayed virtual machines, you can use the filtering options as described in “Filtering data”.

  2. Click  Policies.

  3. From the list of available policies, select the desired policy.

  4. Click Assign to assign the policy to the selected virtual machines.

When you assign a policy to a virtual machine, a backup task starts immediately. Subsequent backups are scheduled according to the values defined in the policy.

If required, you can also perform a manual backup of virtual machines at any time. For details, see “Performing a manual backup”.