Computers & Electronics

Advice on choosing Windows Backup software (for local backups and cloud backups) for a small business

  • Last Updated:
  • Dec 5th, 2022 1:07 am
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.

Advice on choosing Windows Backup software (for local backups and cloud backups) for a small business

Hello:

I'm looking to help a family member who has a small business put together a backup solution for their data (not their OS). Their data needs are modest (circa 2 TB).

I've read that experts recommend the 3-2-1 rule for backup:
  • three copies of your data
  • two local (on different devices)
  • one off-site.

So for most people, this means
  • the original data on your computer
  • a backup on an external hard drive (on premises)
  • a backup on a cloud backup service


So my understanding is that for safety's sake they should run:

1. a local backup using 2 X Western Digital 8TB USB drives they swap out monthly (one drive is always kept off-site.)

2. A cloud backup solution
Update: Backblaze seems to be the Cloud-based solution that fits my needs.

I'm not against using 2 different vendors or a single vendor - I just want what's best for them from a software standpoint (within price reason).

If any person with a strong IT background has a software solution they could recommend (doesn't matter if it's a single or two different software to handle above), or sees a flaw in the strategy I have recommended above, please let me know.

I'll create 2 different posts below
  1. One that addresses what I'm looking for with a local (on premises) backup software recommendation
  2. One that discusses the Cloud backup software solution (which is more straight forward).

Thank you.
Last edited by TheTVguy on Nov 28th, 2022 4:34 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
17 replies
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
----- Local (on premises) backup software

As I mentioned in my initial post my understanding is that for safety's sake they should run a local backup where they swap out monthly one of the drives (and one drive is always kept off-site.)
So the plan is to use 2 X Western Digital 8TB USB drives .

What I'm looking for from a on premises backup software is:
  • file based: imaging is too radical and space consuming for my needs. I care about personal data, not system settings. Possibility to include or exclude files or directories.
  • versioning: I want to be able to extract a file or folder from a selection of versions, ranging from very old copies to very recent ones (and being able to restore a previous version of a file from file explorer like with "file history" would be a bonus).
  • automatic space management: I give the software a free external disk and it has to fill it. When the disk is full it gives me options about file priority, with automatic versions deletion, keeping a minimum number of versions for every file, but considering file dimensions and variability in time
  • continuous backup (modified, added files get backed up immediately)
  • configurable destination (I guess it's a given)
  • backup encryption

Some programs I've read people have suggested in some of the other threads I don't think they hit on all the above points (but maybe I'm wrong?)

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/

EaseUS ToDo Backup 2022
https://www.easeus.com/backup-software

Macrium Reflect 8 Home
https://www.macrium.com/black-friday?x- ... d=v8-013cb

R-Drive Image 7 – Best overall
https://www.drive-image.com/

Thanks
Last edited by TheTVguy on Nov 26th, 2022 5:53 am, edited 6 times in total.
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
----- Cloud backup software / subscription

This category appears to be a lot more simpler and I've seen a lot of review sites recommend Backblaze Cloud Storage - seems like a good fit no?
https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html

The Wire Cutter / Sweethome also recommends Backblaze:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/revi ... p-service/

Only downside seemingly is that one has to setup a private encryption key in Backblaze for extra protection (not a big issue)
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Sr. Member
Mar 28, 2003
810 posts
111 upvotes
Toronto
TheTVguy wrote: ----- Cloud backup software / subscription

This category appears to be a lot more simpler and I've seen a lot of review sites recommend Backblaze Cloud Storage - seems like a good fit no?
https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html

Only downside seemingly is that one has to setup a private encryption key in Backblaze for extra protection (not a big issue)
I would strongly recommend backblaze. In the last year, I lost two drives and was able to get all the data back. Had to purchase new drives and download and reassemble the data in the to right folders, but the data was all safe.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
CoinSaver wrote: I would strongly recommend backblaze. In the last year, I lost two drives and was able to get all the data back. Had to purchase new drives and download and reassemble the data in the to right folders, but the data was all safe.
Thanks my family member signed up with Backblaze :)
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
Can anyone advise me with the other part of this equation? See below:

----- Local (on premises) backup software

As I mentioned in my initial post my understanding is that for safety's sake they should run a local backup where they swap out monthly one of the drives (and one drive is always kept off-site.)
So the plan is to use 2 X Western Digital 8TB USB drives .

What I'm looking for from a on premises backup software is:
  • file based: imaging is too radical and space consuming for my needs. I care about personal data, not system settings. Possibility to include or exclude files or directories.
  • versioning: I want to be able to extract a file or folder from a selection of versions, ranging from very old copies to very recent ones (and being able to restore a previous version of a file from file explorer like with "file history" would be a bonus).
  • automatic space management: I give the software a free external disk and it has to fill it. When the disk is full it gives me options about file priority, with automatic versions deletion, keeping a minimum number of versions for every file, but considering file dimensions and variability in time
  • continuous backup (modified, added files get backed up immediately)
  • configurable destination (I guess it's a given)
  • backup encryption

Some programs I've read people have suggested in some of the other threads I don't think they hit on all the above points (but maybe I'm wrong?)

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/

EaseUS ToDo Backup 2022
https://www.easeus.com/backup-software

Macrium Reflect 8 Home
https://www.macrium.com/black-friday?x- ... d=v8-013cb

R-Drive Image 7 – Best overall
https://www.drive-image.com/

Thanks
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Deal Addict
Dec 22, 2007
1657 posts
1316 upvotes
Mississauga
probably a little more costly initially but consider a nas server.. they can back and also add some controls to whom can access data. i played around with TrueNas and you can have it back to another truenas server. bonus is that server could be at their house so they save on putting it in the cloud while still having the data offsite.

i have a friend and i cringe at his setup for his business but they dont want to spend money even after they had a drive failure *shakes head*
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
7311 posts
1672 upvotes
Toronto
I use Acronis True Image 2020, it has all the bullet point features you want with the exception of automatic space management as the program is not aware of the amount of storage left. Space management is upto the user, you do have controls like how many versions to save before it gets deleted.

I do backups once a day, I do not know how well continuous back works and how much of a resource hog it is.

All my important stuff is synched daily to a USB HDD, then I do an incremental daily backup to my NAS (Unraid with parity) and that incremental daily backup gets saved to the cloud.

if I have a data loss I usually just quickly copy the data from the sync, this usually takes 1-10 minutes depending on the amount of data. If I have to restore from my incremental backups that take maybe 30-60 minutes depending on the amount of data. If I had to go into cloud storage then that might take a day or two maybe, I have yet to need to restore from the cloud.
I workout to get big so I can pickup bricks and ****.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
toalan wrote: I use Acronis True Image 2020, it has all the bullet point features you want with the exception of automatic space management as the program is not aware of the amount of storage left. Space management is upto the user, you do have controls like how many versions to save before it gets deleted.

I do backups once a day, I do not know how well continuous back works and how much of a resource hog it is.

All my important stuff is synched daily to a USB HDD, then I do an incremental daily backup to my NAS (Unraid with parity) and that incremental daily backup gets saved to the cloud.

if I have a data loss I usually just quickly copy the data from the sync, this usually takes 1-10 minutes depending on the amount of data. If I have to restore from my incremental backups that take maybe 30-60 minutes depending on the amount of data. If I had to go into cloud storage then that might take a day or two maybe, I have yet to need to restore from the cloud.
So does Acronis have the file history feature? (Where in Windows Explorer you can right-click to go to a previous version of the document?
"versioning: I want to be able to extract a file or folder from a selection of versions, ranging from very old copies to very recent ones (and being able to restore a previous version of a file from file explorer like with "file history" would be a bonus)."

I last used Acronis in 2013 and it didn't have that feature ... and looking at their website the language doesn't make it clear...

thx
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 17, 2004
7311 posts
1672 upvotes
Toronto
TheTVguy wrote: So does Acronis have the file history feature? (Where in Windows Explorer you can right-click to go to a previous version of the document?
"versioning: I want to be able to extract a file or folder from a selection of versions, ranging from very old copies to very recent ones (and being able to restore a previous version of a file from file explorer like with "file history" would be a bonus)."

I last used Acronis in 2013 and it didn't have that feature ... and looking at their website the language doesn't make it clear...

thx
For daily incremental backups like I do, I can browse by date of backup. I do not know how it works for continuous backups as I never use it.
I workout to get big so I can pickup bricks and ****.
Deal Addict
May 19, 2003
3674 posts
2028 upvotes
Everything you want can be done with a Synology. Synology has two apps, Hyper Backup and Cloud Station which will do everything you want. Automatic sync, versioning and remote backup to cloud service of your choice. A better option is simply to buy a second Synology and remotely sync to that as your offsite backup instead of paying for a monthly cloud.

Last edited by shutterbug on Nov 29th, 2022 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 21, 2018
9652 posts
10924 upvotes
Vancouver
For part of our multi-stage backup system we use SecondCopy. It does continuous backup of new and changed files to secondary storage, and allows you to keep a selectable number of historic versions of each file. We then do a nightly offline backup of SecondCopy's archive, providing an extensive reachback capability. This is combined with separate off-site backup of the drives by a separate mechanism.

We don't like cloud backup because it's expensive, unreliable, and hogs bandwidth.
Deal Addict
Dec 11, 2008
2356 posts
1558 upvotes
Toronto
I don't think that anyone has covered it so here goes.

Any backup that requires someone to do something is guaranteed to fail.
I've given up on my clients actually doing what they say they'll do when it comes to backups. No matter how "important" the backup is someone will get lazy. Yes, even the owners of the company.

Local Backups
If you're buying a desktop computer, buy one with 2 drives. An SSD or NVMe as the boot drive and an HDD as a second drive for backups.
If you have an existing computer with only 1 drive and have the space, add a second drive.
If you can't physically add a second drive to the existing PC's (laptop and desktop) go with a network storage drive (preferably with at least mirrored HDD's), NAS or small server (you can use an old PC for small networks of users). Make sure the drives are in an area that they cannot be easily taken/stolen.

To protect all of the above in Windows 10-11, turn on Filehistory and make sure that you set the history to something reasonable like a few months. Not forever. (saves on wasted space and from keeping a thousand copies of a file that you edit routinely).

Online Cloud Backups
If you have an Office 365 license, use Onedrive and sync your important folders to your Office 365 account for every user that you want protected.
You can use Dropbox to do the same though but Dropbox can be more expensive.
While you can try to do something similar with Google Workspace, I find that there are a lot of problems with it and it's finicky.

Use Backblaze for cloud storage but it's nothing like Onedrive or Dropbox. This is only for encrypted cloud based backups. You cannot just login and open a file and expect to work on it when using Backblaze.
Backblaze will charge for the amount of data backed up but keep in mind that Backblaze is pretty much one of the best bangs for the buck.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
Canuck_TO wrote: I don't think that anyone has covered it so here goes.

Any backup that requires someone to do something is guaranteed to fail.
I've given up on my clients actually doing what they say they'll do when it comes to backups. No matter how "important" the backup is someone will get lazy. Yes, even the owners of the company.

Local Backups
If you're buying a desktop computer, buy one with 2 drives. An SSD or NVMe as the boot drive and an HDD as a second drive for backups.
If you have an existing computer with only 1 drive and have the space, add a second drive.
If you can't physically add a second drive to the existing PC's (laptop and desktop) go with a network storage drive (preferably with at least mirrored HDD's), NAS or small server (you can use an old PC for small networks of users). Make sure the drives are in an area that they cannot be easily taken/stolen.

To protect all of the above in Windows 10-11, turn on Filehistory and make sure that you set the history to something reasonable like a few months. Not forever. (saves on wasted space and from keeping a thousand copies of a file that you edit routinely).


Online Cloud Backups
If you have an Office 365 license, use Onedrive and sync your important folders to your Office 365 account for every user that you want protected.
You can use Dropbox to do the same though but Dropbox can be more expensive.
While you can try to do something similar with Google Workspace, I find that there are a lot of problems with it and it's finicky.

Use Backblaze for cloud storage but it's nothing like Onedrive or Dropbox. This is only for encrypted cloud based backups. You cannot just login and open a file and expect to work on it when using Backblaze.
Backblaze will charge for the amount of data backed up but keep in mind that Backblaze is pretty much one of the best bangs for the buck.
Thanks for the reply. I'm fine with the Backblaze online backup system since it will only be the emergency backup if stuff goes bad (e.g. huge earthquake in vancouver) since they will be rotating USB local backups to an offsite location near them.

So the sticking point is the local backups that will be done on 2 WD Mybook USB drives that are rotated in and out monthly. (I'm going to also encourage them to setup a synology NAS for a third backup destination).

One last question with file history: How exactly does it store the files on the destination disk?
e.g. let's say your pc's hard drive is completely destroyed, and you have to install another hard drive and reinstall Windows. Is the file history on the destination drive saved as just a bunch of files (like on a USB stick) or is it a proprietary format like Acronis uses?
Just trying to understand how easy it would be to restore file history data if their PC for example was destroyed.

thx
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Deal Addict
Dec 11, 2008
2356 posts
1558 upvotes
Toronto
TheTVguy wrote: Thanks for the reply. I'm fine with the Backblaze online backup system since it will only be the emergency backup if stuff goes bad (e.g. huge earthquake in vancouver) since they will be rotating USB local backups to an offsite location near them.

So the sticking point is the local backups that will be done on 2 WD Mybook USB drives that are rotated in and out monthly. (I'm going to also encourage them to setup a synology NAS for a third backup destination).

One last question with file history: How exactly does it store the files on the destination disk?
e.g. let's say your pc's hard drive is completely destroyed, and you have to install another hard drive and reinstall Windows. Is the file history on the destination drive saved as just a bunch of files (like on a USB stick) or is it a proprietary format like Acronis uses?
Just trying to understand how easy it would be to restore file history data if their PC for example was destroyed.

thx
Keep in mind, none of these backup strategies allow you to reinstall Windows. This is where you should use Acronis or a similar program to make a clone or image backup of the boot drive or system.
Acronis allows you to make a cloud backup but it takes time. Remember this is dependant on your upload speeds.
So, if you have a 1Gb connection, your upload speed may actually be about 5Mb-15Mb on a 10-30Mb connection. you may find that It may be quicker but I usually see about 50% of the actual bandwidth.

File History will store the files in the current folder structure. You'll see additional folders and files that are used as part of the backup but that should not be in your regaular data folders (Documents, Desktop ...)
Also, depending on how old your system is, you can use the old Windows Backup (from Windows 7) and the Filehistory backup (Windows 10-11). You could use the Windows Backup to do weekly full backups on top of the Filehistory backup or you could use a program like Cobian Backup (https://www.cobiansoft.com/)

If you use Cobian Backup, you can set it to maintain a specific number of separate backups and it will maintain these backups without your intervention. I've been using Cobian with clients for years and one method that works for network drives is to make the drives use the same IP address. You only have to worry about 1 backup configuration.
Deal Addict
May 19, 2003
3674 posts
2028 upvotes
If you get a Synology that supports BTRFS this is the best solution. BTRFS is a file system and works with the file versioning so that only changes to files are recorded. Then you're not wasting space with multiple copies of files.
Plus the desktop apps are free. If you use Acronis you'll have to buy licenses for every machine. The Synology apps just sit in the background and sync whatever you want on your desktop with the Synology and then further
sync with the offsite NAS. If you need to dig up a previous file, you go into the Version Explorer on the Synology and restore that copy.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
Canuck_TO wrote: Keep in mind, none of these backup strategies allow you to reinstall Windows. This is where you should use Acronis or a similar program to make a clone or image backup of the boot drive or system.
Acronis allows you to make a cloud backup but it takes time. Remember this is dependant on your upload speeds.
So, if you have a 1Gb connection, your upload speed may actually be about 5Mb-15Mb on a 10-30Mb connection. you may find that It may be quicker but I usually see about 50% of the actual bandwidth.

File History will store the files in the current folder structure. You'll see additional folders and files that are used as part of the backup but that should not be in your regaular data folders (Documents, Desktop ...)
Also, depending on how old your system is, you can use the old Windows Backup (from Windows 7) and the Filehistory backup (Windows 10-11). You could use the Windows Backup to do weekly full backups on top of the Filehistory backup or you could use a program like Cobian Backup (https://www.cobiansoft.com/)

If you use Cobian Backup, you can set it to maintain a specific number of separate backups and it will maintain these backups without your intervention. I've been using Cobian with clients for years and one method that works for network drives is to make the drives use the same IP address. You only have to worry about 1 backup configuration.
Ah thanks RE: Windows restore - my take is if they actually have to go through the process of restoring Windows, might as well reinstall it from scratch so it runs as optimally as possible. The data is the the only point of concern. thanks.

Thanks a lot for the information you provided, very helpful :)
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.
Member
User avatar
Dec 19, 2021
230 posts
767 upvotes
Vancouver, B.C.
shutterbug wrote: If you get a Synology that supports BTRFS this is the best solution. BTRFS is a file system and works with the file versioning so that only changes to files are recorded. Then you're not wasting space with multiple copies of files.
Plus the desktop apps are free. If you use Acronis you'll have to buy licenses for every machine. The Synology apps just sit in the background and sync whatever you want on your desktop with the Synology and then further
sync with the offsite NAS. If you need to dig up a previous file, you go into the Version Explorer on the Synology and restore that copy.
I think long term I want to help them with a Synology strategy, but in the short term I needed a quick and easy solution to make sure they are protected today.

I've stayed away from looking at NAS for a few years now so to go back down the Synology rabbit hole, I don't mind doing it but just don't have the time to investigate right now.

thx
Current Home Theatre enthusiast/hobbyist; former industry consultant.

Top