Frequently Asked Questions

Product Information & Technical How-To

What is the XFS file system and why is it used for backups?

XFS (eXtended File System) is a high-performance file system designed for scalability and reliability. It supports large file systems, high-performance I/O, journaling for data integrity, online resizing, snapshot capabilities, efficient storage allocation, and built-in checksumming. These features make XFS suitable for enterprise applications that require consistent, reliable backups of large datasets. Note: XFS is best fit for high-performance and large-scale environments; teams with simpler needs may consider other file systems.

How do I achieve consistent backups using XFS and EBS snapshots with N2WS?

To achieve consistent backups, use the xfs_freeze command to suspend the XFS file system before taking an EBS snapshot, and unfreeze it immediately after the snapshot starts. With N2WS Backup & Recovery, you can automate this by providing backup scripts: a "before" script (to freeze), an "after" script (to unfreeze), and an optional "complete" script. These scripts are invoked during the backup policy execution and can be customized for your environment. Note: Freezing the file system temporarily pauses write operations, which may impact running applications for a few seconds.

What are the required scripts for consistent XFS backups with N2WS?

N2WS Backup & Recovery supports three types of backup scripts: a "before" script (invoked before snapshots, typically to freeze XFS), an "after" script (invoked after snapshots start, typically to unfreeze XFS), and a "complete" script (invoked after snapshots complete). These scripts can be customized or left empty if not needed. For XFS, the "before" script uses SSH to run xfs_freeze -f on the target instance, and the "after" script uses xfs_freeze -u to resume operations. Note: Scripts must be carefully tested to avoid unintended downtime or errors.

How can I verify the consistency of my XFS backup?

After restoring a backup, you can verify XFS file system consistency by running the xfs_check command on the unmounted volume. For disk partitions, use xfs_check -d <partition>; for logical volumes, use xfs_check -d <lvvolume>. This command reports any file system issues but does not repair them. Note: Automated consistency checks can be scripted using N2WS CLI tools. Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.

Features & Capabilities

What features does N2WS Backup & Recovery offer for AWS and Azure backups?

N2WS provides automated backup and recovery for AWS, Azure, and hybrid environments, near-instant recovery, immutable backups, cost optimization (up to 92% savings on long-term storage), compliance and security features, multi-cloud management, granular restore, and advanced reporting. It supports petabyte-scale data management and is used by over 1,000 organizations. Note: Some advanced features may require specific editions or configurations; see the pricing page for details.

Does N2WS support automation and integration with other tools?

Yes, N2WS offers a RESTful API for custom integrations and automation, CLI access for advanced workflows, and integrations with third-party monitoring tools like Datadog, Splunk, and Bocada. It also supports integration with various data management and reporting tools. Note: API and integration capabilities may require technical setup; see the API documentation for details.

What security and compliance certifications does N2WS have?

N2WS is independently certified for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and is SOC compliant by inheritance (leveraging AWS and Azure compliance). It supports HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP, ITAR, and CJIS frameworks. Customers can request a copy of the ISO certificate by contacting customer.success@n2ws.com. Note: For full compliance details, see the Trust Center.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using N2WS Backup & Recovery?

N2WS is designed for cloud directors, IT managers, and managed service providers (MSPs) in enterprises, public sector, healthcare, finance, retail, education, and nonprofit organizations. It is especially valuable for teams managing petabyte-scale data, requiring compliance (e.g., HIPAA, FedRAMP), or needing cost-effective, automated backup and disaster recovery. Note: Smaller organizations with basic backup needs may find simpler solutions sufficient.

What business impact can customers expect from using N2WS?

Customers can achieve up to 92% savings on long-term backup costs, reduce compute costs by up to 50%, minimize downtime with near-instant recovery, and simplify compliance with automated reporting. N2WS supports petabyte-scale data management and unified multi-cloud operations. Note: Actual savings and impact depend on configuration and usage; detailed limitations not publicly documented.

What pain points does N2WS address for backup and disaster recovery?

N2WS addresses high disaster recovery costs, downtime and data loss, ransomware threats, manual backup processes, compliance challenges, complexity in multi-cloud environments, scalability for large data volumes, and long-term backup costs. Features like immutable backups, automation, and intelligent storage tiering directly target these issues. Note: Some pain points may require advanced configuration or specific editions.

Implementation & Support

How long does it take to implement N2WS and how easy is it to start?

Implementations can be completed in as little as two weeks, supported by dedicated Customer Success Managers, onboarding calls, and detailed documentation. N2WS can be deployed as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) from AWS Marketplace or via CloudFormation templates. A 30-day free trial is available without a credit card. Note: Implementation time may vary based on environment complexity.

What technical documentation is available for N2WS users?

N2WS provides a comprehensive user guide, release notes, RESTful API documentation, upgrade guides, and IAM permission files. These resources cover deployment, configuration, automation, and compliance. Access documentation at docs.n2ws.com/user-guide and API documentation. Note: Some advanced topics may require direct support from N2WS.

Competition & Comparison

How does N2WS compare to AWS Backup?

N2WS offers immutable backups, cross-cloud recovery (AWS and Azure), granular restore (file/folder-level), custom disaster recovery retention, multi-tenancy for MSPs, and intelligent storage tiering (up to 92% cost savings). AWS Backup lacks immutable backups, cross-cloud support, file/folder-level restore, and multi-tenancy, and requires Lambda scripting for automation. AWS Backup provides preconfigured report templates, while N2WS offers customizable compliance reports and integrations with Datadog and Splunk. Choose N2WS for advanced automation, multi-cloud, and compliance needs; AWS Backup may suffice for basic AWS-only workloads. Note: N2WS may require more initial setup for advanced features.

Customer Proof & Case Studies

What feedback have customers given about N2WS's ease of use?

Customers such as Shane H (MSP) report, "It's very simple to use and we are an MSP for multiple companies. Support is great and quick to respond." Julian Ware (City of Oakland) says, "You’re just clicking and going. And, to me, that’s what the modern world of backup is." These testimonials highlight ease of deployment, intuitive interface, and automation. Note: Some advanced features may require technical expertise.

Can you share specific case studies of organizations using N2WS?

Yes. For example, Skechers standardized backup and recovery across a multi-cloud estate, St. John's University improved backup reliability and reduced costs, DB Systel (Deutsche Bahn) automated backup for petabyte-scale data, and the City of Oakland secured AWS infrastructure with automated backups. See more at N2WS case studies. Note: Outcomes vary by organization and implementation.

What industries are represented in N2WS's customer base?

N2WS customers include enterprises (Johnson & Johnson, Dyson, HP, Western Union), retail (Skechers, Dressbarn), public sector (City of Oakland, Bahrain Ministry), education (St. John's University), transportation (Deutsche Bahn), nonprofits (Best Friends Animal Society, Goodwill), healthcare (Philips, Merck), finance, and IT software companies. See more at case studies. Note: Industry-specific requirements may affect implementation details.

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Consistent Backup Using XFS File System & EBS Snapshots

Learn how to automate your Amazon Web Services (AWS) backup process using simple scripts and XFS Freeze with N2WS Backup & Recovery.
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Welcome to a world where data security meets efficiency! In the digital realm, where every piece of information is invaluable, the importance of consistent backups cannot be overstated. If you’re navigating the vast landscape of file systems and storage solutions, you’ve likely encountered the XFS file system and EBS snapshots. Today, we’ll delve into the realm of seamless data protection, exploring how the combination of XFS and EBS snapshots can revolutionize your backup strategy.

What is XFS?

XFS (eXtended File System) is a high-performance file system that comes with several benefits, making it a popular choice for various applications.

Here are some key advantages of XFS:

  1. Scalability: XFS is designed with scalability in mind, allowing it to handle large amounts of data and high-performance workloads. As your storage requirements grow, XFS remains efficient and effective.
  2. Support for Large File Systems: XFS supports extremely large file systems and files, making it well-suited for applications that involve handling massive datasets, such as scientific research, media production, and data analytics.
  3. Excellent Performance: XFS is optimized for high-performance I/O operations, making it ideal for scenarios where fast data access is crucial. This is particularly advantageous in situations requiring quick read and write operations, such as databases and content delivery systems.
  4. Journaling: XFS uses a journaling file system, which enhances its reliability by keeping track of changes before committing them to the main file system. This helps prevent data corruption in the event of unexpected system failures or crashes.
  5. Online Resizing: XFS supports online resizing, allowing you to expand or shrink the file system without unmounting it. This flexibility is valuable for dynamic storage environments where changes to storage capacity need to be made without disrupting services.
  6. Snapshot Capabilities: XFS supports the creation of snapshots, enabling you to capture the state of the file system at a specific point in time. This feature is especially useful for backup and recovery purposes, providing a consistent and point-in-time copy of your data.
  7. Efficient Storage Allocation: XFS uses a delayed allocation mechanism, optimizing how it allocates disk space. This helps reduce fragmentation and enhances overall storage efficiency.
  8. Checksumming: XFS includes built-in checksumming to detect and correct data corruption. This contributes to the file system’s reliability by ensuring the integrity of stored data.

Overall, XFS is a robust and versatile file system that excels in handling large-scale, performance-intensive workloads, making it a preferred choice for many enterprise-level applications and systems.

Using XFS Freeze and EBS Snapshots

The command “xfs_freeze” is used to suspend or resume access to an XFS File system thus maintaining consistency. When the filesystem is suspended, all data is flushed to disk and then no IO is allowed on it, which can cause applications using this filesystem to pause, hang, and eventually fail. When performing backup using EBS snapshots, you can freeze the filesystem right before the snapshot is taken, and then unfreeze it right after the snapshot starts.

Since EBS snapshots are consistent for their point-in-time, the fact that the IO on the file system continues while the EBS snapshot is still being created does not affect the content of the snapshot. The actual command to use to freeze the XFS file system is:

xfs_freeze

This command stops new access to the file system and creates a stable image on disk. 

xfs_freeze -f 

The -f flag is used to freeze a specified XFS file system, so that new modifications cannot be undertaken. When the freeze command is applied, all ongoing transactions in the file system are allowed to complete. New write system calls are stopped, and other calls which can modify the file system are stopped.

All data, metadata, and log information are written to disk.  Any process trying to write to the frozen file system waits till the file system is unfrozen. 

xfs_freeze -u 

The -u flag is used to unfreeze the file system and allow IO to resume. Any file system modifications that were blocked by the freeze are unblocked and allowed to complete.

Using xfs_freeze with N2WS Backup & Recovery

N2WS Backup & Recovery is an enterprise-class backup and recovery solution for the EC2 cloud. It performs backups using AWS EBS snapshots and supports backup scripts to perform quiescence of applications and file systems.

When you activate backup scripts for a backup policy, you provide 3 scripts:

  1. the “before” script that is invoked right before the snapshots are taken,
  2. the “after” script that is invoked right after the EBS snapshots start,
  3. and the “complete” script which is invoked after the snapshots are completed.

You can use all 3 scripts or some of them. If you do not need a script, you can provide an empty one that does nothing. Read more about using backup scripts with N2WS in our documentation.

In the case of XFS, we need to freeze the file system in the “before” script and unfreeze it in the “after” script. Since the script is invoked on the N2WS server and not on the backed-up instance, we use SSH to connect to the backed-up instance and perform the operation.

So, the “before” script looks like this: 

#!/bin/bashssh -i <path to the pem file of the relevant key-pair> <username>@<server address> “sudo xfs_freeze -f <path to the file system mount point>”if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then  echo “Failed freezing XFS filesystem” 1>&2  exit 1else  echo “xfs freeze succeeded” 1>&2fi 

The “after” script looks similar, except the unfreeze option: 

#!/bin/bashssh -i <path to the pem file of the relevant key-pair> <username>@<server address> “sudo xfs_freeze -u <path to the file system mount point>”if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then  echo “Failed unfreezing XFS filesystem” 1>&2  exit 1else  echo “xfs unfreeze succeeded” 1>&2fi 

We direct output to “stderr” since N2WS will collect the output and allow us to view it from the web console. Since the time span between invoking these two scripts is a few seconds at most, it should not interfere with any operations in the production environment.

Checking for File System Consistency

Finally, after backup you may want to make sure that the backup of the XFS file system is consistent. You can do that by recovering the volume or the entire instance and run the “xfs_check” command while the device is unmounted. 

xfs_check

If the filesystem is on a disk partition, the xfs_check command is: 

xfs_check -d partition

You’ll replace partition with the device name for the partition. For example:

/usr/disk/dsk1

If the filesystem is on an lv logical volume, the xfs_check command is: 

xfs_check -d lvvolume

You’ll replace lvvolume for the device file for the logical volume. For example:

/usr/disk/lv1

The xfs_check command does not repair any reported filesystem consistency problems, it only reports them. You can automate the whole test process by using N2WS’ CLI (more details here) To see the different editions with pricing and details, refer to N2WS pricing on our website. 

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