Kubernetes backup support is here with Cloud Backup

Backing up persistent data in Kubernetes has always been one of the major challenges for using the container platform. Now NetApp has new cloud backup services to back up that data without any additional overhead: Cloud Backup now offers back up support for Kubernetes storage.

Let’s take a look at what this new functionality brings both to Kubernetes and to Cloud Volumes ONTAP deployments running in Kubernetes environments.

Click below to read about:

• What Cloud Backup Offers as a Kubernetes Backup Solution
• How Kubernetes Backup Works
• Enhancing Cloud Volumes ONTAP-based Kubernetes Backup and Restore
• Getting Started Now with Cloud Backup Kubernetes Cluster Protection

What Cloud Backup Offers as a Kubernetes Backup Solution

The new Cloud Backup support for Kubernetes solves a long-standing problem with the platform: Kubernetes doesn’t offer any built-in data protection.

In most cases, data in Kubernetes is ephemeral, and is intended to be deleted when the life of the pod ends. But for stateful applications that require data to persist, that isn’t an option. This stateful data needs to both persist and be backed up consistently. Back up functionality needs to either exist in the native cloud storage being used or in the data center. But for sizable persistent data sets, such as databases, these options can be inefficient, costly, or unmanageable.

Cloud Backup is a backup-as-a-service (BaaS) from NetApp that creates block-level, incremental forever backup copies that are fully automated, easy to restore, and stored cost-effectively using AWS, Azure, GCP object storage, or on-prem in StorageGRID appliances.

For Kubernetes users there are a number of standout benefits among the capabilities you get with Cloud Backup:

• Fully automated, block-level Kubernetes backup and restore
  There is a higher level of data protection ensured with block-level backup, which is faster, more dependable, and less costly than file-based backup, which isn’t sufficient to meet the demands of large data sets.
• Lower backup costs
  Backing up to object storage offers a much less expensive way to ensure data is protected than keeping backups stored in cloud-block storage or in physical tapes on-prem. Archive tier support for all three major clouds is also available.
• API control
  For DevOps-centric teams, which is the case in many Kubernetes deployments, all of Cloud Backup’s operations can be managed through RESTful API calls instead of through the Cloud Manager GUI. This gives you programmatic backup capabilities for persistent volumes, allowing your backups to be treated as infrastructure-as-code (IaC).
• Metadata backup
  Cloud Backup not only backs up the data in Kubernetes persistent volumes themselves, but also the settings and the metadata (including the PersistentVolumeClaim), meaning the data is easily accessible and can be restored at the granular level.
• ONTAP efficiencies
  ONTAP users can make sure costs for transferring and storing backup copies don’t add up to more than the primary data set by retaining all of the persistent data’s existing storage efficiencies.

How Kubernetes Backup Works

The Cloud Backup architecture for Kubernetes

Using Cloud Backup for Kubernetes is easily done through the Cloud Manager interface. In a few clicks you can find your cluster, set up its back up policies, or monitor the current level of protection for that cluster.

In the screenshot below, you can see how Cloud Manager can find your Kubernetes working environments.

Discovery of Kubernetes clusters as working environments

Once you find the cluster that you want to back up, you can adjust the settings to automate the backup process:

Kubernetes cluster backup settings

If you need to check the current level of backup protection for a Kubernetes cluster, you can select it in Cloud Manager and get a full report status of each individual persistent volume in that cluster:

Checking cluster backup status

Enhancing Cloud Volumes ONTAP-Based Kubernetes Backup and Restore

Besides native Kubernetes deployment, Cloud Backup is fully integrated with Cloud Volumes ONTAP, and this is where some of the greatest benefits can be achieved using the service. While Cloud Volumes ONTAP has itself made huge improvements in how Kubernetes data can be protected, Cloud Backup takes this to the next level.

Cloud Volumes ONTAP users now have another way to back up than just relying on SnapMirror® copies. The main difference is that the copies in Cloud Backup are automatically stored in object-based storage—there’s no need to tier the data from block to object, no matter which cloud your deployment is based in. Essentially, you’re cutting out one step and saving a lot of time in the process.

• Cloud Backup is fully integrated with Trident, making it possible to back up your persistent volumes as they are dynamically provisioned.
• Kubernetes backup capabilities extend to Cloud Volumes ONTAP deployments that leverage Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
• Persistent data and metadata can be restored on a granular level to the same cluster or to different clusters. This is possible in both in AWS and Azure, with support for GCP coming soon.

Getting Started Now with Cloud Backup Kubernetes Cluster Protection

Don’t wait until too long to set up a more flexible and efficient back up method for your Kubernetes clusters.

Cloud Backup is now available to try out today, absolutely free: Sign up for a free trial of Cloud Backup here.