Redirection

As your business keeps growing, the capacity of an AhsayCBS machine may reach its physical limit such as the I/O, disk space, etc. In that case, you may consider adding a machine to solve the problem.

A common practice for server administrator will name their server in the following way when a new server is added for backup service, for example.

                  server1.mybackup.com
                  server2.mybackup.com
                  server3.mybackup.com
                                   .
                                   .

With mybackup.com being the domain name of the backup service in the above example. This is only a solution to resolve physical limit of a server but is not flexible to apply into a highly scalable backup system. This is because if a user has hosted in, for example, server1.mybackup.com and later on wants to add more backup quota, however, only server2.mybackup.com has enough storage for expansion. In that case, you will need to migrate the user to server2 and your backup users will need to change the backup server URL from server1 to server2 in the login screen of the client interface to get access to the new server.

A highly scalable backup system should make this kind of transition seamless to users, for example, you can set up a domain name www.mybackup.com for your client to connect which is able to redirect users to the correct backup server to backup. Our Redirector is exactly designed to work for this solution.

When you setup a Redirector Server:

1. All new clients can use the backup URL e.g. www.mybackup.com when they set up the backup client interface.
2. Administrator can add backup machines to the Redirector as the number of users grows.

The dotted area shows the redirector server group.

                  server1.mybackup.com
                  server2.mybackup.com
                  server3.mybackup.com
                                   .
                                   .
                                   .
                                   .

As the CPU utilization for a Redirector Server is low, you can dedicate one of the AhsayCBS as the redirector host. In the above example, server1.mybackup.com also serves as a redirector host. The domain name www.mybackup.com is also pointed to this server.

Administrator will require setting up the following in the DNS, for example:

Limitation

1. Existing users can continue to back up to their existing server, for example, server2.mybackup.com in the above example. However, if they want to use the redirector feature, they are required to change the connecting host name to e.g. www.mybackup.com. The redirector setup can only benefit new users as you will distribute the URL, i.e. www.mybackup.com to new users, you may not want to bother the existing users on applying the settings immediately.
2. Administrators need to ensure the same username (case sensitive) has not been used within the backup servers in the same redirector group. This limitation includes all the users created by the resellers.

License Information

The pricing unit of AhsayCBS Redirector Server module is per device to be redirected.

Hosting a Redirector

First of all, you need to assign an AhsayCBS to be set up as a Redirector role. In our example, server1.mybackup.com also serves as a redirector host. The domain name www.mybackup.com is also pointed to this server.

In the following steps, we will set up the connection channel between the redirector host and the backup servers. In the AhsayCBS of server1, you need to register your Backup Server(s) with the Redirector in AhsayCBS management console under Redirection > Hosting a Redirector.

1. Slide the switch to the right to enable redirection.

   

2. Click the Create button to add a Backup Server in the Redirector, then enter the login credentials and host name, and the ports of that Backup Server. Click OK to add then click Save to save your changes.

   

3. Repeat the above steps until all the Backup Servers in your environment are registered with AhsayCBS with the Redirector role.

   

   Option: You can dedicate one of the AhsayCBS (Backup Server) to host free trial users, by assigning one of your Backup Servers in the list under “Free Trial Server Settings”.

Joining Redirectors

In the following steps, we will set up the connection channel between the redirector host and the backup servers.

Limitation

Administrators need to ensure the same user name (case sensitive) has not been used within the backup servers in the same redirector group, this limitation includes all the users created by the resellers.

To join your Backup Servers to a Redirector, please enter your AhsayCBS management console under Redirection > Joining Redirectors.

1. Slide the switch to the right to turn on the "Enable high scalability feature".

   

2. Select the protocol. Provide the host name, port number and login credentials of the Redirector machine. Tick the “Use Proxy” checkbox if needed. Click Save to save.

   

3. Repeat the above steps on all other backup server that needs to join the redirector server.

Advanced Setup

Setup Wild Card Certificate

In the Redirector with a number of Backup Servers setup scenario, you need to apply a wild card certificate for all your AhsayCBS servers. When you add a new backup server or Redirector into the redirector server group, you need to apply the wild card certificate to the new server. This is cost efficient and do not require to purchase a new certificate for a new server.

Setup Replication in Redirector Server Group

Since the user profile and local user data are hosted on individual Backup Servers, if you need to setup replication in this environment, you need to setup a dedicated replication profile for each Backup Server. In our example, 4 dedicated replication profiles are required to setup.

Multiple Redirector Setup

The following is an example on setting up a multiple redirector server group. The main reason is to maintain a high availability redirector.

Assumption and Requirement

In this example, we assumed that you are using a DNS round robin setup, when there is a request from the Internet, e.g.: www.mybackup.com, it will be able to redirect either to the first redirector (e.g.: server1.mybackup.com) or second redirector (e.g.: server2.mybackup.com).

For each Redirector Server, it is required to have its own redirector license key. If you setup 2 Redirector Servers, you will need 2 times of your redirector licenses.

Administrator will require setting up the following in the DNS, for example:

When you configure the redirector hosting on the first redirector, which we have described in the Hosting a Redirector section, same configuration is required to apply on the second redirector.

Example

On other backup servers, you need to join the redirector.

Example