Lucidity AutoScaler is fully compatible with Google Cloud native backup and recovery mechanisms. Virtual machines protected using Google Cloud backup services can be restored without affecting Lucidity’s storage optimization capabilities.
This document describes how Lucidity integrates with the following Google Cloud backup solutions:
Backup and DR Service
Machine Images
These solutions allow organizations to protect and restore Compute Engine virtual machines (VMs) while maintaining compatibility with Lucidity-managed storage environments.
Google Cloud Backup Options for Compute Engine
Google Cloud provides several mechanisms for protecting Compute Engine workloads.
The primary backup approaches include:
Disk Snapshots
Machine Images
Backup and DR Service
Lucidity integrates most effectively with VM-level backup mechanisms, specifically:
Backup and DR Service
Machine Images
Disk snapshots operate at the individual disk level, as Lucidity manages storage through a pooled disk architecture the individual disk level snapshot looses its utility. VM-level backups provide the most seamless experience when restoring Lucidity-managed virtual machines.
Backup and DR Service
Google Cloud Backup and DR Service is a centralized, policy-driven backup platform designed to protect enterprise workloads.
Administrators define backup policies that automatically protect virtual machines according to configured schedules and retention periods.
Backup plans capture snapshots of all persistent disks attached to Compute Engine VMs and store them in Backup Vaults, enabling fast VM restoration when required.
Reference:
Product overview | Backup and DR | Google Cloud Documentation
Backup Consistency Types
GCP Backup and DR Service supports multiple backup consistency models.
Crash-Consistent Backups
Crash-consistent backups capture the state of VM disks at the moment the backup occurs.
This is similar to an unexpected system shutdown, where disk data is preserved but in-memory data may not yet be written to disk.
By default, Compute Engine VM backups are crash-consistent.
Application-Consistent Backups
Application-consistent backups ensure applications flush in-memory data to disk before a backup occurs.
This temporarily pauses application I/O operations to guarantee a consistent backup state.
Lucidity supports both Crash Consistent and Application Consistent Backups.
Reference:
Create Linux application consistent disk snapshots | Compute Engine | Google Cloud Documentation
Create a Windows application consistent disk snapshot | Compute Engine | Google Cloud Documentation
Lucidity Compatibility
Lucidity AutoScaler integrates seamlessly with Google Cloud VM backup solutions.
When a virtual machine previously onboarded to Lucidity is restored using Backup and DR Service or Machine Images, the following behavior occurs:
The restored VM retains its Lucidity configuration
Attached disks remain functional
The Lucidity agent remains installed
The VM automatically appears as managed in the Lucidity dashboard for Windows
For Linux environments, Lucidity Support helps mark VM as managed. Your application is not impacted.
Summary
Lucidity AutoScaler has been fully validated to integrate seamlessly with Google Cloud’s VM-level backup solutions, including Backup and DR Service and Machine Images, across both Windows and Linux environments. In all tested scenarios, restored virtual machines preserved their Lucidity configuration, retained attached disks and metadata, and continued to benefit from Lucidity’s autonomous storage optimization.
For Windows workloads, restored VMs are automatically recognized and reappear as managed instances in the Lucidity dashboard. For Linux workloads, restored VMs require a simple onboarding confirmation from Lucidity Support to re-enable disk management, with no impact to running applications or performance.
This approach ensures organizations can confidently adopt or extend their existing Google Cloud backup strategy without making any changes to how Lucidity is deployed or operated, while maintaining a consistent experience for applications.