What Backup and Recovery Tools Are
Written by MSP Outpost.
In Short
Backup and recovery is the copy of a client's servers, workstations and cloud data that you can bring back when something is deleted, encrypted or destroyed. It is not the same as file sync: a synced folder faithfully copies a deletion or a ransomware infection to every device, while a backup keeps earlier versions you can restore from.
What It Does
- Image backup. Whole servers and workstations captured on a schedule, so a failed machine can be rebuilt, not just its files.
- SaaS backup. Mailboxes, shared drives and collaboration data copied out of the client's cloud platform, which does not keep them for ever.
- Offsite copies. A second copy held in the vendor's cloud or another location, so a fire or a ransomware attack on site does not take both.
- Recovery. Files, folders, whole machines or virtual boots restored, with some products able to run a failed server from the backup while it is repaired.
- Verification. Automatic checks that a backup will actually restore, often with a screenshot of the recovered machine booting.
- Monitoring. One console showing every client's jobs, failures and storage use, with alerts into the PSA.
When You Need One
You need it from the first client. A per device cloud product covering workstations, servers and the client's cloud mailboxes is enough, and a local appliance can wait until a client needs fast recovery of a server.
The console matters now: checking jobs client by client stops scaling. This is when MSPs standardize on one or two products and start testing restores on a schedule.
Recovery time becomes something you sell and are held to, so appliances, virtual boot and documented restore tests earn their cost. Storage and retention across hundreds of machines is now a real line in your margins.
What to Look For
Must Have
- Image-Level Backup
- SaaS Mailbox Backup
- Offsite Copy
- Immutable Storage
- Automated Restore Testing
- Multi-Tenant Console
- PSA Alerting
Worth Having
- Virtual Boot of Failed Machines
- Local Appliance Option
- Bare Metal Restore
- Granular Item Restore
- Per Client Retention Policies
How It Is Priced
Pricing splits between per device or per workload subscriptions and usage based pricing on the storage you consume, and many vendors only quote. Watch for minimum workload counts per order, annual terms, separate charges for cloud storage, retention beyond the default, restore or egress fees, and appliance hardware that is bought or leased on its own term.
Switching
Leaving is harder than it looks because the old backups hold the history: you cannot usually move old restore points to a new product, so you run both until the old retention runs out. Before you sign, settle how long existing backups stay restorable after you cancel, whether you can export them in a usable format, and who owns any appliance.
Questions to Ask a Vendor
- What does a full restore of a server from your cloud cost, and how long does it take to ship or download?
- Can a compromised admin account delete or shorten the retention on existing backups?
- Is storage priced per device, per terabyte, or both, and what happens when a client goes over?
- If I cancel, how long do existing restore points stay available, and at what cost?
- How do you prove a backup will restore, and does that check run on every job?
- What do you back up from the client's cloud platform, and what do you leave out?
