Review the following before setting up cloud archiving:
| • | The backup system must be licensed with the advanced archiving (ADX) feature. Check for ADX in the license string under Settings > System, Updates, and Licensing > License. |
| • | CloudHook is supported on 64-bit Recovery Series and Unitrends Backup appliances running software version 7.5 or higher. It is not supported on 32-bit appliances. |
| • | Local and replicated backups can be archived to the cloud. |
| • | To use the CloudHook feature, you must have an account with one of the following cloud storage providers: Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Rackspace Cloud Files. For details about creating an account and purchasing storage, see Creating a cloud storage account. |
| • | For bucket and container names only the following characters are supported: upper and lowercase letters, numbers, dots, and dashes. Buckets and containers with names containing other characters cannot be added to a Unitrends appliance. |
| • | For Amazon S3 and Google Storage, you can use existing buckets and containers that follow the supported naming conventions identified above. However, we recommend that you create unique folders for your Unitrends data. |
| • | For Rack Space Cloud files, we recommend that you create new containers to use with the CloudHook feature. |
| • | Accounting and billing management for your cloud storage occur between you and the storage provider. You cannot manage your cloud storage account from the Administrator Interface of your Unitrends appliance, and Unitrends cannot answer questions about this account. You must contact your provider with any questions you have about your cloud storage account. |
| • | It is extremely important that you understand the amount of data you are archiving and the related charges from your cloud storage provider. To manage the amount of space you are using in cloud storage, you should develop a retention and purge strategy. See Managing the amount of data you archive to the cloud for more information. For options for decreasing the amount of cloud storage you are using, see Reducing your storage footprint on the cloud. |
| • | A cloud storage bucket or container can receive backups from only one Unitrends appliance. Be sure to create a storage bucket or container for each appliance whose backups you want to archive to the cloud. It is recommended that you give each bucket or container a name that associates it with a particular appliance for easier management of your cloud storage. |
| • | For the restore, the cloud archive storage can be attached to any appliance that supports CloudHook. You do not have to restore to the original appliance. However, you must remove the archive storage from the original appliance before mounting it to a different appliance for the restore. For instructions, see Managing cloud archive storage. |
| • | Archiving to the cloud does not require any special network configurations. Before archiving to the cloud, you only need to add cloud archive storage. For details, see Adding cloud archive storage to the Unitrends appliance. |
| • | Archiving to the cloud is slower than archiving across local LANs. Actual speed depends on a number of factors, including memory and network bandwidth. We recommend that you test a small archive to determine the speed prior to sending larger archives to the cloud. |
| • | Amazon S3’s Reduced Redundancy Storage (RRS) option is not supported. |
| • | Seeding to cloud storage is not supported. |
| • | Using cloud archives for disaster recovery is not recommended because of bandwidth limitations. |