# Getting Started with e3 Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

## Getting Started with e3 Cloud Backup

### Overview

**e3 Cloud-to-Cloud Backup** is a cloud backup service that transfers data directly from a third-party cloud storage provider into your **eazyBackup e3 Object Storage** account — no local agent, no intermediate download, no bandwidth from your office.

Use it when you need to:

* **Migrate** data from another cloud provider (AWS S3, S3-compatible storage, SFTP/SSH) into e3 Object Storage.
* **Protect** an existing cloud workload with a scheduled, independent backup copy in Canadian storage.
* **Consolidate** data from multiple providers into a single, predictable, always-hot destination.

> **Supported sources today:** Amazon S3 (AWS), S3-Compatible Storage, and SFTP/SSH Server. Google Drive and Dropbox are coming soon.

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### Before You Begin

To use e3 Cloud Backup, you must have an **e3 Object Storage** account and at least one **destination bucket** where your cloud backups will land.

#### Step 1 — Create an e3 Object Storage account

1. In the eazyBackup sidebar menu, click **e3 Object Storage**.
2. If you don't already have a storage account, you'll be prompted to create one. Follow the prompts to activate your account.

#### Step 2 — Create a destination bucket

1. Navigate to **e3 Object Storage → Buckets → Create Bucket**.
2. Give the bucket a name you'll recognize (for example, `cloudbackup`).
3. **You do not need to enable versioning manually.** The cloud backup engine will enable versioning automatically if your retention policy requires it.

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### Creating Your First Cloud Backup Job

#### Step 3 — Open e3 Cloud Backup

From the eazyBackup sidebar menu, click **e3 Cloud Backup**.

#### Step 4 — Add a User

Users in e3 Cloud Backup represent the backup identity that owns jobs, credentials, and reports.

1. Click **Users** in the e3 Cloud Backup sidebar.
2. Click the **Add User** button in the top right.
3. Complete the **Add User** wizard:
   * **Username** — a unique identifier for this backup user.
   * **Backup Type** — choose one of:
     * **Cloud Backup Only** — S3, AWS, SFTP, Google Drive, Dropbox. *(Select this for cloud-to-cloud workflows.)*
     * **Local Agent Backup** — File, Disk Image, Windows Agent.
     * **Both (Cloud + Local Agent)** — full access to all backup types.
   * **Email (for reports)** — where job notifications will be sent.
4. Click **Create User**.

#### Step 5 — Open the user and create a job

1. In the User Directory, click the user row to open the user management page.
2. Click **Create Job** and select **Cloud Backup**.

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### Configuring the Cloud Backup Job

#### Source configuration

**Source Type** — select the provider you're backing up from:

* Amazon S3 (AWS)
* S3-Compatible Storage
* SFTP/SSH Server
* *Google Drive, Dropbox, Local Agent (Windows) — coming soon*

> **⚠️ Use READ-ONLY access keys.** Do not use access keys with write, delete, or modify permissions. Create dedicated read-only credentials specifically for backups. Write-enabled keys are not required and are not recommended.

For AWS or S3-Compatible sources, enter:

* **Region** (e.g., `ca-central-1`)
* **Access Key ID**
* **Secret Access Key**
* **Bucket Name** — click **Load buckets** to fetch the list of buckets from the remote provider, or type the bucket name manually.
* **Path/Prefix (optional)** — see below.

**What is a prefix?**

A **prefix** works like a folder path inside a bucket. Object storage doesn't technically have folders — it uses prefixes on object names to simulate them. For example, if your source bucket contains `invoices/2025/jan.pdf` and you set the prefix to `invoices/`, only objects under that "folder" will be backed up. Leave it blank to back up the entire bucket.

#### Destination configuration

* **Destination Bucket** — select the e3 bucket you created in Step 2.
* **Destination Prefix (optional)** — e.g., `backups/source-name/`. If the prefix doesn't exist, the cloud backup engine will create it automatically.

#### Backup Mode

Choose how data is written to the destination:

| Aspect             | Sync (Incremental)                                             | Archive (Compressed)                                                       |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Strategy**       | Mirrors source to destination, only transferring changed files | Creates a tar+compressed stream per run, uploaded as a single archive file |
| **File structure** | Preserves source directory structure in destination            | Single compressed file per run                                             |
| **Incremental?**   | Yes — only changes are transferred on subsequent runs          | No — creates a full archive every run                                      |
| **Use case**       | Ongoing file synchronization and migrations                    | Point-in-time snapshots                                                    |

> **⚠️ Use Archive mode with caution.** Because Archive creates a full compressed copy on every run, storage usage can grow very quickly. For most workloads, **Sync (Incremental)** is the right choice.

#### Retention Policy

Choose how long backups are kept:

* **No Retention** — nothing is deleted automatically.
* **Keep Last N Runs** — the service queries all active cloud jobs with retention policies and automatically cleans up expired data so that only the last N runs are retained.
* **Keep for N Days** — the service enables **bucket versioning** and applies an **S3 Lifecycle Rule** to the destination bucket to expire old versions after N days.

#### Schedule

Choose when the job should run:

* **Manual** — no automatic runs; the job only runs when you click **Run now**.
* **Daily** — runs at a specific time each day.
* **Weekly** — runs on one or more selected weekdays at a specific time (multi-day selection supported).

#### Job Name

Give the job a descriptive name (e.g., `AWS to e3 Backup`) and click **Create Job**.

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### Running and Monitoring the Job

Once created, your job appears on the **User Management → Jobs** tab. Each job card shows the source, destination, mode, schedule, next run, and last run.

* **Automatic runs** — the job will execute on the schedule you configured.
* **On-demand runs** — click **Run now** on the job card to start a backup immediately.

From the job card you can also edit the job, pause it, view run history, delete it, or download logs.

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### Need Help?

If you run into issues setting up your first cloud backup job, reach out to the eazyBackup support team through the **Support** link in the client area sidebar.