Microsoft

Five Windows Server backup tools you can count on

By // February 20, 2012, 12:16 AM PST // jlwallen

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  • Introduction

    If you have a Windows server and you're not backing it up, you are tempting fate. It's only a matter of time before something brings that server down and takes your data with it.

    Luckily, several reliable backup solutions are available for the Windows Server environment. They aren't perfect, but they can be depended upon to keep your data safe.

    Note: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

  • Acronis Backup and Restore

    Acronis Backup and Restore is the backup tool I use the most. It's costly but well worth it. The newer version does a great job of ensuring that there is room on your external drive for your latest backup. You can overwrite the old backup or go by the traditional cleanup rules established in Acronis Echo.

  • Acronis Backup and Restore

    If you decide to use Acronis, you should also get the Universal Restore feature. It lets you take a full image of a backup and restore it to any hardware that meets the requirements of your platform. Acronis also has add-ons for Exchange and SQL Servers.

  • Symantec Backup Exec

    Symantec Backup Exec is a powerful backup solution. Its at-a-glance calendar lets you know when your backup has succeeded. If you're using Symantec Backup Exec across a network (to back up clients/hosts), you can feel safe because it uses SSL for all network backup connections.

  • Symantec Backup Exec

    Like Acronis, Symantec offers solutions for Exchange and SQL. And its ability to manage Vaults (backup destinations) is superb. Just make sure that if a Vault is physically (and permanently) removed, you remove it from within the backup software. Otherwise, it will cause problems.

  • Carbonite

    Carbonite is primarily for online backup (although the Business and BusinessPremier plans allow you to back up to an external drive). It's meant to back up data only. Carbonite is probably one of the most reliable online backup tools and can back up email, documents, POS files, financial data, pictures and other multimedia, and more.

  • Carbonite

    To use Carbonite with Windows Server, you'll need to get  the BusinessPremier Plan ($229.00 per year). It will allow you to include as many servers running Window Server 2003/2008/2011 as you like. Unlike Acronis, you won't be backing up an image of your server with Carbonite -- it's a data-only backup tool. But it's an excellent addition to any onsite backup solution.

  • Windows NT Backup

    Windows NT Backup is the free backup solution that comes with any Windows Server. It  only does data backup and doesn't offer many of the bells and whistles of the other tools. But it's one of the only truly reliable backup solutions that will clear the Exchange logs for you.

  • Windows NT Backup

    I always set up an NT Backup to run once a week (or month, depending upon the needs), just to have it clear the Exchange logs. Otherwise, a lot of unnecessary data would be included in my backups, and their size would get out of hand.

  • ShadowProtect 4 (Server)

    ShadowProtect 4 is probably the least-known product in this list. But it falls into place next to Acronis as a feature-rich tool that can do everything -- including recover to dissimilar hardware. ShadowProtect 4 also includes an easy-to-use tool that allows you to consolidate backup image files and convert the backups to either .VHD or .VMDK virtual machines.

  • ShadowProtect 4 (Server)

    ShadowProtect 4 offers granular recovery, so you can quickly recover individual files from within a backup. And unique to ShadowProtect is the Virtual Boot technology, which provides for automatic failover to a virtual server.

Introduction

If you have a Windows server and you're not backing it up, you are tempting fate. It's only a matter of time before something brings that server down and takes your data with it.

Luckily, several reliable backup solutions are available for the Windows Server environment. They aren't perfect, but they can be depended upon to keep your data safe.

Note: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

Related Topics:

Microsoft Enterprise Software Software Collaboration Mobility Cloud Hardware

By Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic and Linux.com. He’s an avid promoter of open source and the voice of The Android Expert. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.