SnapMirror cloud backups to object storage
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SnapMirror cloud is a backup and recovery technology designed for ONTAP users who want to transition their data protection workflows to the cloud. Organizations moving away from legacy backup-to-tape architectures can use object storage as an alternative repository for long-term data retention and archiving. SnapMirror cloud provides ONTAP-to-object storage replication as part of an incremental forever backup strategy.
SnapMirror cloud was introduced in ONTAP 9.8 as an extension to the family of SnapMirror replication technologies. While SnapMirror is frequently used for ONTAP-to-ONTAP backups, SnapMirror cloud uses the same replication engine to transfer Snapshot copies for ONTAP to S3-compliant object storage backups.
Targeted for backup use cases, SnapMirror cloud supports both long-term retention and archives workflows. As with SnapMirror, the initial SnapMirror cloud backup performs a baseline transfer of a volume. For subsequent backups, SnapMirror cloud generates a snapshot copy of the source volume and transfers the snapshot copy with only the changed data blocks to an object storage target.
SnapMirror cloud relationships can be configured between ONTAP systems and select on-premises and public cloud object storage targets - including Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage. Additional on-premises object storage targets include StorageGRID and ONTAP S3.
SnapMirror cloud replication is a licensed ONTAP feature and requires an approved application to orchestrate data protection workflows. Several orchestration options are available for managing SnapMirror cloud backups:
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Multiple 3rd party backup partners who offer support for SnapMirror cloud replication. Participating vendors are available on the NetApp blog.
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BlueXP backup and recovery for a NetApp-native solution for ONTAP environments
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APIs for developing custom software for data protection workflows or leveraging automation tools
