x360Recover - Direct-to-Cloud (D2C)

Axcient x360Recover Direct-to-Cloud (D2C) provides chain-free, image-based backup and disaster recovery for end user desktops and laptops, as well as client servers and workstations.

Direct-to-Cloud now delivers the full-featured backup of traditional x360Recover, but without the expense of deploying or managing a local appliance. 

How does it work? 

With the release of x360Recover version 10.4.0 and agent version 2.26 or newer, the vault has now been enhanced to provide all the backup services normally only present on the appliance.

This means that you can deploy the agent on your protected endpoints configured to send backups directly to the Cloud vault.  The agent has been enhanced to include identity management and authentication to enable the vault to operate securely as a multi-tenant backup target.

Features available in Direct-to-Cloud (D2C) 

• Workstation protection: Chain-free, image-based backups are sent directly to the Axcient Cloud
• Server protection: Server backups are now supported
• Recovery options:
  • File and folder recovery
  • Virtual disk export with all major hypervisor disk formats supported

Deploying Direct-to-Cloud agents 

To function in Direct-to-Cloud mode, the agent needs to be installed in a special fashion.

Existing users 

To simplify agent deployment in Direct-to-Cloud mode, customized agent installer packages are provided specifically for each of your customer accounts.

1. Login to the Cloud vault and navigate to the Users page on the left menu. 

2. Locate the client you wish to install Direct-to-Cloud agents for and click the Download agent link provided for that customer.

Note:  Users on the vault Users page correspond to existing customer user accounts in the License Portal. 

New users

To deploy Direct-to-Cloud agents to a new customer, you must first log in to the License Portal and create a user account for that customer  When creating a new customer user account in the License Portal, you'll need to specify at least one location. However, Direct-to-Cloud protected systems are not associated with any location and, instead, belong simply to the customer account. 

After creating a new user account in the License Portal, you can access it immediately by navigating to the System Settings -> Licensing page on the vault. Click Sync to update the vault with the new account(s).

Tokens embedded in the downloaded file name

The agent files downloaded from the Users page contain temporary token and identity information embedded in the provided filename.  Do not rename the file when saving, as the specified filename is crucial to configuring the agent installation for Direct-to-Cloud mode.

When deploying Direct-to-Cloud agents, a single downloaded file can be used for installation on multiple endpoints for the same customer, but the embedded token information expires after a few hours. Installation of the agent for additional endpoints later for this customer will require that you download a fresh copy of the installer.

Important:  Direct-to-Cloud agent installers are specific to the customer. You must download a dedicated agent installation package for the customer each time you wish to deploy new agents.

Enhanced vault usability

To provide a friendlier user experience, the vault has been enhanced with unlocked recovery features which were previously hidden to the admin user. 

• With 10.4.0 and newer, the admin user now has direct access to all menu options, including File Browser and the snapshot actions on the Protected System Details page. 
• You no longer need to log in separately as the customer to perform vault recovery operations and can access everything as the admin user.

• Schedules are available on the vault.
• Direct-to-Cloud protected systems will display the Schedule dropdown selection on the Protected Systems page.

Schedule Now and Run Analysis Tool actions are also supported from the Protected System details page.

Recover Direct-to-Cloud endpoints 

For recovery of Direct-to-Cloud endpoints, you have all the options you would normally expect when recovering from the Cloud:

• Virtualize the system in the Axcient Cloud 
• Download a virtual disk image of the protected system in various formats compatible with all major Hypervisor platforms
• Mount a recovery point to perform file and folder recovery using the file browser on the vault

Parallel deployment

The agent has been optimized as much as possible to coexist with other backup solutions during the initial full backup phase of the deployment. 

Note that although the agent is optimized to operate in low memory and low CPU environments, high resource utilization may occur if multiple backup solutions are scheduled to run concurrently.  We recommend adjusting scheduling for multiple solutions so that simultaneous backups do not occur. 

In most cases, you may continue to operate your existing backup solution while the new Direct-to-Cloud agent captures and transmits the initial full backup to the Cloud vault.  Once the full backup is completed and incremental backups are occurring regularly, you may then remove the legacy backup solution from the endpoint and retain the data for historical purposes.

Bandwidth requirements

The agent has been optimized to perform in an Internet / WAN environment but the minimum bandwidth requirements for any given situation will vary, depending on your specific circumstances and expectations. 

Backup consistency has been tested in environments from 1Mbps to 1Gbps to ensure reliable communications across a broad spectrum of service levels.  Generally, the ultimate determining factor for most partners is the time required to complete the initial full backup.  This will vary widely, based upon the total amount of data being sent and the available uplink bandwidth. 

Refer to the following table for a rough estimate of initial backup completion time for various amounts of data at different upload speeds: 

Firewall ports 

Direct-to-Cloud agents require several ports to be open for outbound internet connections between the protected system and the Cloud vault:

Note:  On Axcient-hosted vaults with Scale-Out Cloud, the Cloudserver service is located directly on a storage node in our datacenter.  Storage nodes are assigned dynamically, at the time of protected system registration. 

If you must secure outbound traffic explicitly for protected systems, you can locate the assigned storage node URL in aristos.log for each protected endpoint.

Important:  Storage node locations within our datacenter are subject to change without notification.

Related Knowledgebase Articles

x360Recover - Direct-to-Cloud (D2C) Installation
x360Recover - Supported Configurations and Solutions
x360Recover - How to Virtualize a Protected System in the Axcient Cloud
x360Recover- Recovering with x360Cloud

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