Offline Backup workflow in Azure Backup

Overview

With Azure Backup and Azure Import/Export, it is simple and straightforward to upload the data to Azure offline through disks. Instead of transferring the initial full copy over the network, the backup data is written to a staging location. The staging location can be a direct attached storage or a network share. Once the initial copy is completed, using the Azure Import/Export tool, this data is written to a SATA drive which is eventually shipped to the Azure data center. Depending on the size of the initial backup, one or more SATA drives may be required to complete this operation. The Azure Import/Export tool accounts for these scenarios. After the backups are written to the disk, they can be shipped to the nearest data center location for uploading to Azure. Azure Backup then copies the backup data to the backup vault and the incremental backups are scheduled.

Prerequisites

1. It is important to familiarize yourself with the Azure Import export workflow which is listed.
2. Before initiating the workflow, ensure that a Azure Backup vault has been created, vault credentials have been downloaded, Azure Backup agent has been installed on either your Windows Server/Windows Client or System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) server and that the machine is registered with the Azure Backup vault.
3. Download the Azure Publish file settings from  on the machine from which you plan to backup our data.
4. Prepare a staging location which could be a network share or additional drive on the machine. Ensure that the staging location has enough disk space to hold your initial copy. For example, if you are trying to backup a 500GB file server, ensure that the staging area is at least 500GB (though a lesser amount will be used). The staging area is 'transient storage' and is used temporarily during this workflow.
5. External SATA drive writer and an external 3.5 Inch SATA drive. Only 3.5 inch SATA II/III hard drives are supported for use with the Import/Export service. Hard drives larger than 6TB are not supported. You can attach a SATA II/III disk externally to most computers using a SATA II/III USB Adapter. Check the Azure Import/Export documentation for the latest set of drives which are supported by the service.
6. Enable BitLocker on the machine to which the SATA drive writer is connected.
7. Download the Azure Import/Export tool from to the machine to which the SATA drive writer is connected.