Backup Workloads

On this page, you can find an explanation of how to create, edit, delete Backup Workload and instructions for other steps to manage it in the Cloud Console.

Table of contents

• Table of contents
  • Introduction
  • Backup Workloads page
  • Create Backup Workload
  • Workload details page
  • Edit Backup Workload
  • Delete Backup Workload

Introduction

A Backup Workload is a task that ensures the safety of one or more Virtual Machines according to a defined policy. Backup Workload policy also control the number of backups by deleting oldest ones based on retention policy settings and creating new backups according to the schedule, if it is enabled.

You can create as many backup workloads as you need, but each VM can only be included in one workload.

Backup Workloads page

To get to the Backup Workloads page, select the Backups from the VIRTUAL DATACENTER block in the side-bar menu:

On this page you can find all created Backup Workloads in the current Project, with the Create button, Search bar and Actions icon, which opens a list of available management actions for the selected workload:

Actions icon opens the next list of available management actions:

• Edit - this option is used to reconfigure the policy and schedule of the backup workload;
• Delete - this option is for workload removing;

Additionally, from this page, you can navigate to the detail page of each created workload by clicking on its name. There, you will find detailed information about its policy and schedule and gain access to backup and restore options, among other management actions for the selected workload. More information about the Workload details page will be provided in the following sections.

Create Backup Workload

To create new Backup Workload, do the following:

• open the Backup Workload page and click on the CREATE WORKLOAD icon in the upper left corner;
• fill in the form on the next opened Create Workload window:

• Name - set a name for the Workload; 
• Description - set a description for the Workload;
• Instances - specify one or more instances to include in the workload. Ensure that none of the selected instances are already part of another workload;
• Backup Workload Type - select between Serial or Parallel workload type.
  Serial - runs backups in specific order;
  Parallel - runs backups simultaneously.
• Retention Policy Type - select your retention method: either by the “number of backups to keep” or the “number of days to retain” each backup;
• Retention Value - set either the “number of incremental backups to keep” or the “number of days to retain backups”, depending on the chosen Retention Policy Type;
• Full backup interval - choose how often to perform a full backup:
  • Always full - perform a full backup every time;
  • Never full - only perform incremental backups;
  • After number of incremental backups - specify the number of incremental backups after which a full backup will be performed.
• Scheduler Settings - configure the scheduling of backups:
  • Enable Scheduler - check this option to activate the backup schedule;
  • Start and End Date - define the start and end dates for the backup schedule;
  • Time for Incremental Backups - specify the UTC time to start incremental backups;
  • Interval - determine how frequently backups should occur.

After these steps, the newly created Workload will be added to the Backup Workload page and you can click on its name to navigate to the Workload details page to view all necessary information about it, including created backups and assigned VMs, initiate a backup outside the schedule, and access each backup’s details page. More information about the Workload details page will be provided in the following sections.

Workload details page

To open the Workload details page, click on the Name of the corresponding workload on the Backup Workloads page:

This action will redirect you to the Workload details page, where you can find workload details area with actual information about it, panel with available quick actions on the selected workload and 3 tabs:

WORKLOAD INFO TAB - shows the workload’s general information, such as workload type and retention policy type; schedule details; storage usage, which includes total amount of full and incremental backups with its memory usage:

ASSIGNED VM TAB - lists all protected virtual machines by this workload. These VMs will have backups created according to the workload’s schedule, allowing for future restoration from any of these backups:

From here it is possible to change list of assigned VMs to this workload and to navigate to the protected VM details page directly by clicking on the VM name. More information about this page you can find here - Virtual Machine details page.

CREATED BACKUPS TAB - shows all backups created according to the workload’s schedule for the VMs assigned to this workload:

From here it is possible to work with the created backups (cancel, delete, restore VM from it), create backup on demand and navigate to the Backup details page by clicking on the backup name, where you can find all necessary information about it, start restores of the corresponding VMs and see the list all already created restores. More information about this page you can find here - Backup details page.

Edit Backup Workload

To edit the Backup Workload, do the following:

• identify Workload, that you want to edit, on the Backup Workloads page;
• click on the Actions icon and select the Edit in the list of available options;
• update all desired workload settings, including name, assigned VMs, retention policy and schedule on the next opened Edit Workload window, and click on the EDIT icon:

After these steps, the selected Workload will be updated.

Also, you can edit the Workload from the Workload details page, by clicking on the appropriative quick actions icon there:

Delete Backup Workload

To delete the Backup Workload, do the following:

• identify this unnecessary Workload on the Backup Workloads page;
• click on the Actions icon and select the Delete in the list of available options;
• confirm the Workload deletion on the next opened Confirmation window.

After these steps, the selected Workload will be deleted.

Also, you can delete the Workload from the Workload details page, by clicking on the appropriative quick actions icon there: