This is an archive version of the document. To get the most up-to-date information, see the current version.

Architecture Overview

The Veeam Backup for AWS infrastructure includes the following components:

Backup Appliance

The backup appliance is a Linux-based EC2 instance where Veeam Backup for AWS is installed. The backup appliance performs the following administrative activities:

Backup Appliance Components

The backup appliance uses the following components:

Backup Repositories

A backup repository is a folder in an Amazon S3 bucket where Veeam Backup for AWS stores image-level backups of EC2 instances and additional copies of Amazon VPC configurations.

To communicate with a backup repository, Veeam Backup for AWS uses Veeam Data Mover — the service that runs on a worker instance and that is responsible for data processing and transfer. When a backup policy addresses the backup repository, the Veeam Data Mover establishes a connection with the repository to enable data transfer. To learn how Veeam Backup for AWS communicates with backup repositories, see Managing Backup Repositories.

Important

Backup files are stored in backup repositories in the native Veeam format and must be modified neither manually nor by 3rd party tools. Otherwise, Veeam Backup for AWS may fail to restore the backed-up data.

Encryption on Backup Repositories

For enhanced data security, Veeam Backup for AWS allows you to enable encryption at the repository level. Veeam Backup for AWS encrypts backup files stored in backup repositories the same way as Veeam Backup & Replication encrypts backup files stored in backup repositories. To learn what algorithms Veeam Backup & Replication uses to encrypt backup files, see the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide, section Encryption Standards. To learn how to enable encryption at the repository level, see Adding Backup Repositories.

Veeam Backup for AWS also supports scenarios where data is backed up to S3 buckets with enabled Amazon S3 default encryption. You can add the S3 bucket to the backup infrastructure as a backup repository and use it as a target for image-level backups. For information on Amazon S3 default encryption, see AWS Documentation.

Worker Instances

A worker instance is a Linux-based EC2 instance that is responsible for the interaction between the backup appliance and other components of the Veeam Backup for AWS infrastructure. Worker instances process backup workload and distribute backup traffic when transferring data to backup repositories.

Veeam Backup for AWS automatically launches a worker instance in Amazon EC2 for the duration of a backup or restore process and removes it immediately after the process is complete. For each AWS Region where worker instances will be launched, you can configure network settings — specify the Amazon VPC, subnet and security group to which the worker instances must be connected. If worker settings are not configured for an AWS Region, Veeam Backup for AWS will use the default settings of the AWS Region to launch worker instances and to perform data protection and disaster recovery operations.

Veeam Backup for AWS launches one worker instance per each EC2 instance specified in a backup policy or restore task. For data protection operations, the type of the worker instance is selected automatically based on the size of the largest EBS volume attached to the processed EC2 instance. To minimize cross-region traffic charges, depending on the data protection and disaster recovery operation, Veeam Backup for AWS launches the worker instance in the following location:

Operation

Worker Instance Location

Default Worker Instance Size

Creating image-level backups

AWS Region in which a processed EC2 instance resides

  • c5.large — if the size of the largest EBS volume is less than 1024 GB
  • c5.xlarge — if the size of the largest EBS volume is 1024-1250 GB
  • c5.2xlarge — if the size of the largest EBS volume is more than 1250 GB

EC2 instance restore

AWS Region to which an EC2 instance is restored

Volume-level restore

AWS Region to which the volumes of a processed EC2 instance are restored

Creating archived backups

AWS Region in which a standard backup repository with backed-up data resides

  • c5.2xlarge — if the total EBS volume size of the processed instance is less or equal 6 TB (6144 GB)
  • c5.4xlarge — if the total EBS volume size of the processed instance is more than 6 TB (6144 GB)

File-level restore from cloud-native snapshots or snapshot replicas

AWS Region in which a snapshot is located

  • t2.medium

File-level restore from image-level backups

AWS Region in which a backup repository with backed-up data resides

  • t2.medium

Worker Instance Components

A worker instance uses the following components:

Security Certificates for Worker Instances

Veeam Backup for AWS uses self-signed TLS certificates to establish secure communication between the web browser on the local machine and the FLR for Veeam Backup browser on the worker instance during file-level restore. A self-signed certificate is generated automatically on the worker instance when the restore session starts.