Tutorial: Protect Azure Elastic SAN volume with operational backup by using the Azure portal

Azure Backup provides operational backup for Azure Elastic SAN volumes through an Azure Backup vault. You can configure backup schedules, retain recovery points, and restore data to a new volume when needed.

This tutorial describes how to protect Azure Elastic SAN volumes with operational backup by using Azure Backup via Azure portal.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

• Verify prerequisites for Elastic SAN backup.
• Configure operational backup.
• Run an on-demand backup.
• Track backup jobs.

Prerequisites

Before you protect an Azure Elastic SAN volume with operational backup by using the Azure portal, ensure that you meet the following prerequisites:

• Use an existing Elastic SAN volume, or create a new one.
• Check if the Elastic SAN volume is present in a supported region.
• Verify if the Elastic SAN volume size is 16 TB or less.
• Use an existing vault in the subscription that's the same as the Elastic SAN volume, or create a new one.
• Use an Elastic SAN backup policy. To create one, see Quickstart: Create an operational backup policy for Azure Elastic SAN volume.

For supported scenarios and limitations of Azure Elastic SAN volume operational backup, see the support matrix.

Configure operational backup for Azure Elastic SAN volume by using the Azure portal

To configure operational backup for an Azure Elastic SAN volume, follow these steps:

1. In the Azure portal, go to Resiliency, and select + Configure protection.

2. On the Configure protection pane, select Resource managed by as Azure, Datasource type as Elastic SAN volumes, Solution as Azure Backup, and select Continue.

   

3. On the Configure Backup pane, on the Basics tab, ensure that the Datasource type is selected as Elastic SAN volumes.

4. Under Vault, select Select vault to choose the Backup vault.

   Note

   A Backup vault uses a system-assigned managed identity to create and manage snapshots.

5. On the Backup policy tab, under Backup policy, select the policy to use for data retention, and select Next.

   If you want to create a new backup policy, select Create new. To learn more, see Quickstart: Create an operational backup policy for Azure Elastic SAN volume.

6. On the Datasources tab, select Add to choose the Elastic SAN instance for backup.

   

7. On the Select resources to backup pane, select an Elastic SAN instance from the dropdown list, and select Add.

   The list shows only instances that belong to the same subscription and region as the vault.

   

8. On the Add backup instance pane, filter by Volume group, select a volume from the list, and select Add.

   Note

   • You can select multiple volumes in a single backup request. Azure Backup creates a separate backup instance for each selected Elastic SAN volume and associated backup policy. A backup instance represents the pairing of an Elastic SAN volume and a backup policy. You can use the autogenerated backup instance name or provide a custom name.
   • By default, Azure Backup stores restore point snapshots in the same resource group as the Elastic SAN volume. You can select a different resource group to store the snapshots.

9. After you add the backup instances, backup readiness validation starts on the Configure Backup pane, under the Datasources tab.

   Validation errors appear if the selected Backup vault's managed identity doesn't have the Elastic SAN Snapshot Exporter and Disk Snapshot Contributor roles assigned.

10. To assign the required roles, on the Configure Backup pane, on the Datasources tab, select Assign missing roles.

    Note

    If you don't have Role-Based Access Control Administrator permissions, the Assign missing roles option is disabled.

11. On the Grant missing permissions pane, select the scope at which you need to grant the access permissions, and select Next.

12. When the role assignment is complete, on the Configure Backup pane, on the Datasources tab, select Revalidate.

13. On the Review + configure tab, review the configuration details, and then select Configure Backup to finish the backup configuration.

You can track the progress of the backup configuration under Backup instances.

Run an on-demand backup for Azure Elastic SAN volume by using the Azure portal

To run an on-demand backup for an Azure Elastic SAN volume, follow these steps:

1. Go to Resiliency, and select Protection Inventory > Protected items.

2. On the Protected items pane, filter Datasource type by Elastic SAN volumes, and select the Elastic SAN instance you want to back up.

3. On the selected Elastic SAN instance pane, under Associated items, select a protected item from the list.

   

4. On the selected protected item pane, select Backup Now.

   

When a backup job finishes, the service creates a Managed Disk incremental snapshot (restore point) in the snapshot resource group with the name pattern AzureBackup_<datasource guid>_<timestamp>. The backup policy retains the restore point according to the retention duration you set.

Track backup jobs for Azure Elastic SAN volumes

To view Azure Elastic SAN volume operational backup jobs, follow these steps:

1. Go to Resiliency, and select Monitoring + Reporting > Jobs.
2. On the Jobs pane, filter Datasource type by Elastic SAN volumes.

Next steps

• Restore Azure Elastic SAN volume backup by using the Azure portal or Azure CLI.
• Manage Azure Elastic SAN volume backup by using the Azure portal or Azure CLI.