Forum Discussion
Back-up tools for Office 365
Started this question a while back on Yammer. What tools do you use to back-up mail and files stored in Office 365?
The fact that your files are back-upped inside and outside the datacenters of Microsoft only protects you against hardware and software failures on Microsofts side. It will not protect you against accidentally deleted files and mails, which is discovered after 30+ days or after the site trashbins have been emptied.
At least that's what I think. Anyone has an answer? My customers are typically small companies, under 10 users. Sometimes even just 1 to 3.
I use de SkyKick Back-up tools in my own O365 tenant. Which was an offer in the Microsoft Partner Mail recently.
When it comes to backup Office 365 Backup solutions there you can easily get more than 100 3rd party tool to backup. Among them, each has there own pros and cons. The one I liked was SysTools Office 365 backup & restore tool that helped me to create the backup of office 365 to PST and EML format. This tool is the cheapest tool in the list and one can easily test this utility by downloading the free demo version.
Hi Stephen Mag,
Your contribution is appreciated! :-)
I think the main issue in this topic is that all the tools we find are only partial able to back-up data. Of course, for many companies files and email are still the most important types of data. But as we move more and more to the other tools, we need a back-up tool we can install now and that covers everything across Office 365, not just files and email. We don't want to change back-up tools every year :-)
Yes, I agree with you but investing $19 on SysTools Office 365 Backup & Restore for the unlimited period of time is not a bad idea as it can be useful in various scenarios. Also, it covers most of the things like backup office 365 files, mailboxes, contacts, calendars, manage multiple users accounts, export to PST and EML format, import multiple pst file to office 365.
Hi Stephen Mag, your solution is Exchange ONLY! And only export. For Import you need to buy another tool. :-D
TonyRedmond: One last note here. Throttling is already addressed with App Pools and as I said, scalability through Azure. I'm not convincing you, just sharing some facts. :-) Have a great X-mas time.
Hi, Robse
Working with SysTools, I personally tried this Office 365 Backup and Restore tool and found that user can easily take backup and Import it into office 365. As you can see in the image both options are given:
Free demo version is available so you could try this tool once before coming to any solution.
Thanks
Hello Micheal,
For your Office 365 export and archiving needs, I would suggest you to try free trial version of Vyapin Office 365 Management Suite and Office 365 Archiver.
For Backup, Archive, reuse your Office 365 mail items, folders, boxes, user data, tasks and more you can use Vyapin Office 365 Export Tool.
To Archive SharePoint sites and libraries along with the corresponding schema and metadata, You can try Office 365 Archiver.
- Looks like a very limited tool to export information at a client level. What evidence exists that this is a tool that can do enterprise level backup?
Yes, you are correct, it is not a complete enterprise level back up, not yet. The tools are evolving and we are currently working on other elements of O365, should get there soon. However, for users who are looking for specific back up needs in SharePoint online and Exchange online, these tools may be of help.
My boss told me to do research on some Office 365 mailbox backup solutions. Read some good comments on CodeTwo, Cloudally, CloudBacko etc. All seem quite nice, except their prices vary a lot. How do you compare them with SkyKick? Care to share your experience in any of them? Which one is problem-free? Much appreciated :-D
I see these tools falling more and more behind as Microsoft release more features and services.
An example is Spanning. As of today it still does not even support SharePoint team sites (just OneDrive sites). In fact they have not added any functionality in a year. Based on that alone I think Dell/EMC has no interest in Office 365 backups which tells me, beyond my own experiance, that the market is weak. I only see smaller niche players popping up tyring to fill this need, but no one is even close to a good solution.
When you combine the native administrative controls (Retention policies, Version control, Recycle Bins, Holds, and Alerts) and built in coverage with things like NDP and nightly backups, you can get pretty comprehensive coverage to protect against data loss across Office 365 services.
Thanks for all your answers. Guess the best solution has yet to be created. Allthough the question stays active, my customers seem to be a lot more relaxed about backups then they should be. The customers I had in mind when asking you about this where doing manual "backups" by copying synced document libraries to a external harddrive. Now, I know this isn't the best way, but I assumed they would at least copy the files to a folder named with the backup date and this creating several weeks/months of backups. Apparently, they just copied it to the same folder, overwriting the files... :smileylol:
My biggest fear are crypto virusses, encrypting thousandths of files. As far as I know that would create a situation where you would have to use version history to set back the files manually one by one. There is no possibility to do this in one action for all files...
My biggest fear are crypto virusses, encrypting thousandths of files. As far as I know that would create a situation where you would have to use version history to set back the files manually one by one. There is no possibility to do this in one action for all files...
The crypto viruses fears me too.
I saw that in the admin panel from OneDrive there was an option to exclude files for synchronisation.
Is ithis a first start to exclude files form a crypto locker virus? When there is a list of those extensions you can make a first start.
As far as recovery in this situation you are able to recover files. In this instance it ecnrypts the files locally, they are synced and are added as an additoinal version. So you can roll back to previous version and maintain access to the data.
SharePoint libraries that don't have version control enabled could potentailly still be a target. In this sitatuion you would be forced to request a restore from Microsoft, and they would resotre the entire site (assuming you notice within a day or two that this occured). If you let it linger, and you get outside of Microsoft's 14 day backup window, you could potentially lost access to those files.
Even in an instance where something was able to delete files entirley, you still have the abiliyt to restore those. If you enable legal holds on your data - then copies are kept in hidden libraries in each site, and you have yet another avenue for data restore.
If you have enabled universal auditing (which you should do if you have not), you also can create alerts on certain data actions, such as watching for important files that may be deleted. This ensures data owners can restore files in a timely fashion.
Essentially the only scenerios I can envision where you lose data completley is if something get's a hold of a privlaged account, Remove any holds, adjust retention policies, Deletes files, purges the recycle bin, and no one notices within a 7 day period (so you are at the edge of the abilyt to get a restore from Microsoft). That alone is a lot to go thru, and you make the hurdle even larger by ensuring all your privlaged accounts have two factor auth enabled.
I am also looking for a backup tool for my organization, and found this tool that have most of the features we are looking for. Not implemented yet still looking for "the One" all inclusive tool, that do not exist.
Keep it will backup your files and mails. Easy to use for ex support staff.
We cover all of your user generated Office 365 data within:
- Exchange Online (mails, calendar, In-Place Archive, etc.)
- Sites (SharePoint)
- OneDrive
Not a complete backup of office365 in all corners as discussed in this. But i covers the restoring of mailbox, sharepoint, onedrive.
If any find this "Backup Office365 all inclusive tool" i would also like to get notified Thanks.
Hi Nicolai,
I recommend Druva. They backup up all O365 documents, Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint sites, and system/application settings.
If it's still relevant to you, send me a message and I can share more info.
Restoring previous version of SPO/Onedrive files can be automated with powershell, see this script for example.
- Good script for restoring a previous version of the file but you need the file there so I see this script more as an Utility that could complement a backup solution...a backup solution means to be backup and restore a file what means not only the file, but also the metadata & file versions....of course you could also be able to do this by using PowerShell. Indeed those backup tools we are talking about are using behind the scenes the same technology show in the script (for SPO): SharePoint Client Side Object Model
Veeam has a backup tool but that's just for Exchange Online.
AFAIK, the Veeam tool works on the basis of being able to backup data to an on-premises server where the Veeam tools run. This is not the kind of approach that is cloud-friendly. It's OK if you run hybrid environments and use Veeam to support on-premises Exchange, but apart from that...
- Yes, but the SharePoint Online part has a great room for improvement. In regards of a more complete offering I advice Metalogix and Barracuda tools...Metalogix is the most completed one for SPO backups (also ODFB)
Many thanks for mentioning Barracuda Juan.
<Disclaimer: I work for Barracuda>
Unlike many solutions, Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud backup protects Exchange Online, SharePoint Online AND OneDrive, so offers a complete, one-stop-shop solution for Office 365. You can read more about the solution in our white paper here: -
If you're looking for more than just backup, Barracuda also offers "Essentials for Office 365", which is a hosted multi-Layer security, backup, archiving & eDiscovery Service.
- You can use the Layer2 Cloud Connector to keep SharePoint Online lists and libraries in sync with other data sources like databases, ERP/CRM, file shares, or SharePoint on-prem. This includes one-way sync for migration / backup as well as permanent sync in a hybrid environment.
Frank Daske Sure, but that connector only handles basic SharePoint data. That's valuable in its own way, but the point I am making is that backup products need to up their game to deal with the reality that Office 365 is not a cloud equivalent of an on-premises environment. Therefore, backups need to be Office 365-aware instead of application-centric.
Tony, I totally agree at that point. Office 365 is an offering that consists of many services with different APIs and storage. That makes classical backup / restore procedures difficult to apply to. I don't think that we will see a "universal approach" soon...
Druva have expanded their Insync product to include OneDrive and Exchange Online. Sharepoint Online and OneDrive for Business are on the roadmap for next year. http://www.druva.com/products/insync/
An interesting point of difference is their product can also backup other Cloud products, local machines, servers and VMS as well as monitor and alert on compliance issues across all of the places a user is keeping data.
Now that NGSC is robust (https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/OneDrive-for-Business/My-compliments-to-One-Drive-for-Business-Next-Generation-Sync/m-p/22238#M405) you can have a full synchronized copy of each users' ODFB on their local PC. I use Carbonite to backup each ODFB full data set to their cloud every day. Carbonite keeps multipe versions of files for up to 3 months, in case you accidentally delete something. In conjunction with that, once a quarter, I back up each local ODFB to a folder on a USB 3.0 hardware encrypted hard drive, which will never be used again. (The folder will never get overwritten. Additional versions of the folder are added each quarter as space permits). So, I always have a point-in-time backup that captures everything on ODFB before anything is deleted by Carbonite. Here's the hard drive that I use: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0A65621/460/DD2DC2671912409D84A59A3EABAD4044
Since these backups never get overritten, the drive will eventually fill up and need to be retired and replaced. You can safely leave them running overnight, because they keypad on the drive accepts a robust encryption key so, if it gets stolen, it will be difficult for them to access the data.
Carbonite is $60 per year per user, so not onerous for a small business, and well worth the backstop. The encrypted drives are around $200 each. Don't know how many you'll need. Depends on space requirement but, again, a valuable backstop.
Hi, since end of 2018 (approx.) Carbonite does not offer this tool/option anymore...
I used Carbonite also for many many years, and don't really understand that they stopped with this...
I stopped using Carbonite also... because of this.
- Spanning is a great solution for Backing up Office 365 Mail and OneDrive, very easy to use and restore items and can even give end users access to restore their own backups.
- Spanning does a good job for Google Apps and has done their best for Office 365. However, you can't compare Google Apps to Office 365 because things like the Native Data Protection features of Exchange doesn't exist there. It is the existence of features like NDP (if used correctly by tenants) that makes me wonder whether backups are necessary - unless mandated by external influences, such as audit requirements.
