Azure – You can now use Azure Data Box with Azure Backup

You may already know Azure Backup, the backup solution for both on-premises and cloud based workloads hosted in Azure, and Azure Data Box, the solution to offload large amount of data from on-premises datacentres to Azure using encrypted drives.

Well, now both solution can work together, helping you to offload your large backup stored on-premises to Azure Backup using Azure Data Box.

The principles are the same as for any existing Azure Data Box scenario and are summarized in the below diagram

To start using this solution, you need to have an existing Azure Backup vault, have ordered an Azure Data Box and download and install the latest MARS (Microsoft Azure Recovery Service) agent here https://aka.ms/azurebackup_agent

You need to prepare your Azure Data Box by following the unpack documentation available here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-au/azure/databox/data-box-disk-deploy-set-up

Then you have to mount the Data Box:

• Enable the Client for NFS on the server where the MARS is being installed
• Using psexec (https://download.sysinternals.com/files/PSTools.zip) using a command prompt executed with the Run As Administrator, execute the command

psexec.exe -s -i cmd.exe

• Finally follow the documentation (available here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-au/azure/databox/data-box-deploy-copy-data-via-nfs#connect-to-data-box) to mount the Data Box using the command

mount -o nolock \<DeviceIPAddress><StorageAccountName_PageBlob X:

When asked for setting up the initial backup during the MARS configuration, you have to choose Transfer using Microsoft Azure Data Box disks

Once the transfer to the Azure Data Box disks is finished, just returned the drives to Microsoft.