VMware vSphere Backups to Amazon S3

Publication date: June 15, 2023 (Document history)

This paper acts as an introduction to the features, Amazon Web Services (AWS) services, and architectural components relevant when you back up an on-premises virtualization environment based on VMware vSphere to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). It shows examples that use products and features from AWS Backup and AWS Partner Network (APN) partners Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, and Druva to show you common approaches taken by AWS or APN Technology Partners. This paper is intended for solution architects familiar with VMware virtualization. You should have a knowledge level equivalent to a VMware Certified Professional in Data Center Virtualization for vSphere version (VCP-DCV).

Introduction

Since the release of vSphere 4.0, VMware has offered several mechanisms for conducting agentless backups, known collectively as the vSphere Storage APIs for Data Protection (VADP).

In the time since VADP’s release, many customers have benefitted from the use of this interface; it has become fundamental for VMware specialists when they address the recoverability needs of a design. At the same time, even more customers want to take advantage of the benefits of storing their backup data in the cloud.

This paper examines the common architectural approaches taken by AWS Backup and APN Technology Partners when using VADP to back up virtual machines (VMs) to Amazon S3.

For a list of terms and definitions used in this paper, refer to Appendix - Terms and definitions.

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