Importing and Exporting Folders (Seeding)
This section describes how to import and export customer's data to and from the CTERA Portal.
In this section
Importing Folders Over NFS
When an end user has a lot of information to back up, the initial backup to the cloud can take a long time. You can speed up initial backup for your customers by offering a backup seeding service. Customers who are subscribed to this service can store the files they want to include in the initial backup on a selected hard drive called a seeding hard drive, and then deliver the seeding hard drive to you, the CTERA Portal owner.
Note: The seeding hard drive can optionally be encrypted using strong encryption (AES-256 + RSA) so even if the drive is lost, there is very little risk to the customer’s sensitive information while in transit.
You then perform backup seeding, that is, you create the customer's initial backup by importing folders directly from the hard drive you received.
The CTERA Portal includes a special utility for performing backup seeding over the NFS protocol. The import is performed by attaching the seeding hard drive to a seeding station, which is a CTERA Cloud Storage Gateway that is connected to the CTERA Portal's LAN.
Note: All CTERA Cloud Storage Gateway models are supported.
To import folders over NFS:
Note: You only need to perform this step once, in order to prepare the seeding station and the seeding hard drives.