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Requirements and considerations for Azure NetApp Files backup

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This article describes the requirements and considerations you need to be aware of before using Azure NetApp Files backup.

Requirements and considerations

You need to be aware of several requirements and considerations before using Azure NetApp Files backup:

  • Azure NetApp Files backup is available in the regions associated with your Azure NetApp Files subscription. Azure NetApp Files backup in a region can only protect an Azure NetApp Files volume located in that same region. For example, backups created by the service in West US 2 for a volume located in West US 2 are sent to Azure storage also located in West US 2. Azure NetApp Files doesn't support backups or backup replication to a different region.

  • There can be a delay of up to 5 minutes in displaying a backup after the backup is actually completed.

  • For volumes larger than 10 TB, it can take multiple hours to transfer all the data from the backup media.

  • Currently, the Azure NetApp Files backup feature supports backing up the daily, weekly, and monthly local snapshots created by the associated snapshot policy to the Azure storage. Hourly backups aren't currently supported.

  • Azure NetApp Files backup uses the Zone-Redundant storage (ZRS) account that replicates the data synchronously across three Azure availability zones in the region, except for the regions listed where only Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) storage is supported:

    • West US

    LRS can recover from server-rack and drive failures. However, if a disaster such as a fire or flooding occurs within the data center, all replicas of a storage account using LRS might be lost or unrecoverable.

  • Using policy-based (scheduled) Azure NetApp Files backup requires that snapshot policy is configured and enabled. See Manage snapshots by using Azure NetApp Files.
    A configured snapshot policy for snapshots is required for the volume needing backup. The policy will also set the number of backups stored in Azure storage.

  • If an issue occurs (for example, no sufficient space left on the volume) and causes the snapshot policy to stop creating new snapshots, the backup feature won't have any new snapshots to back up.

  • In a cross-region replication setting, Azure NetApp Files backup can be configured on a source volume only. Azure NetApp Files backup isn't supported on a cross-region replication destination volume.

  • Reverting a volume using snapshot revert isn't supported on Azure NetApp Files volumes that have backups.

  • See Restore a backup to a new volume for other considerations related to restoring backups.

  • Disabling backups for a volume will delete all the backups stored in the Azure storage for that volume. If you delete a volume, the backups will remain. If you no longer need the backups, you should manually delete the backups.

  • If you need to delete a parent resource group or subscription that contains backups, you should delete any backups first. Deleting the resource group or subscription won't delete the backups. You can remove backups by disabling backups or manually deleting the backups.

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