Azure storage guide

Microsoft Azure is a cloud storage solution that can be used as a backup destination by BackupAssist ER. To use this cloud storage, you need to create an Azure account, then log into the Azure portal to create or open a storage account and get the connection string that BackupAssist ER will use.

Azure account

To create an Azure account, go to https://azure.microsoft.com/. You can select Start for free or review the purchase options. Once you have created your account, you can log into the Azure portal and manage your storage.

Storage accounts and containers

A storage account is like a destination in Azure that BackupAssist ER jobs can use. Within a storage account are containers (called blobs) and each backup job uses its own container. A BackupAssist ER job will create its container using the name you provide in the backup job. A container cannot be used by different jobs, but different jobs can use the same storage account.

Connection strings

Each storage account has a pair of connection strings - codes that are used by applications like BackupAssist ER to locate and access a storage account. Each application will use the same string but two strings are provided so that you can regenerate a new string with invalidating the string currently being used.

Using Azure with BackupAssist ER

This section explains how to create a storage account and how to get a connection string.

To learn more, see the official Microsoft Azure documentation.

How to create a storage account

If you do not have a storage account for your backup job, you will need to create one.

To create a storage account:

1. Log into your Azure account. and open the portal.

2. From the portal's Home page, click Storage accounts.

   You can select Storage accounts from the Azure services menu or the hamburger menu on the top left.

   

3. Click Add + on the Storage accounts page.

   

4. Review and update the storage account creation fields.

   Use the progress button at the bottom of the screen to review each page. The Basic page contains fields that require input.

   Considerations:

   • For Account kind select BlobStorage.
   • If you do not have a Resource group, use Create new to create one. This resource group can be used for all storage accounts that you create for BackupAssist ER.
   • Some of the selections made can affect the cost of your storage. To learn more, see our Estimating cloud storage guide.
   • Once you have reviewed and updated the required fields, select Create and Azure will create and deploy the storage account.

   

How to get an Azure connection string

If you already have a storage account, you can use one of its connection strings for your backup job.

To get an Azure connection string:

1. Log into your Azure account and open the portal.

2. From the portal's Home page, select Storage accounts.

   You can select Storage accounts from the Azure services menu or the hamburger menu on the top right.

3. Choose the storage account that you want to use.

   This will open the storage account and display the menus and options used to manage that account.

4. Select Access Keys from the Settings menu.

   The page will display the keys available. Each key has a key code and a connection string.

   

   Note

   Each BackupAssist ER job will use the same string. Microsoft recommends regularly rotating and regenerating your keys so two strings are provided so that you can regenerate a new string without invalidating the string being used.

5. Use the copy button to take a copy of the connection string that you will use.

The string can now be entered into the storage location tab when you create a disk to disk to cloud backup job.

Backing up to Azure with BackupAssist ER

To create a BackupAssist ER Cloud backup job using Microsoft Azure storage, follow the steps in the Create a local and cloud backup guide.

When filling in the Storage Location tab, complete the following Microsoft Azure configurations for Storage location 2 (Azure cloud):

• Container - Enter a name for your Azure container. BackupAssist ER will use this name to create the container. Provide a different name for each job as a different container must be used by each backup job. The name can only user lower-case characters, numbers and dashes.

  To learn more about the naming conventions see the "Container Names" section in Microsoft's naming guide.

• Connection string - enter the connection string for the storage account that you want this backup job to use. To get the connection string, log into the Azure portal, select the Storage account from the Resources list and select Access keys from the list of Settings. Under each key is a Connection string. Use the copy button to select a connection string from one of the key sections and paste it into the Connection string field.

• Account status - Select the Check account button. This step uses the information provided to test the connection to the cloud destination, and then creates the cloud container that the backup job will use.

• Throttle speed - This option is used to set the average upload speed limit. To set the average speed, tick the box next to Set the average speed, then enter the value by typing it in or using the up / down arrows. When the limit is set, the instantaneous speed can go over or under that limit, but the average speed (over time) would stay under the defined limit.

  

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