Enterprise Backup Software

Enterpise backup software differentiates itself from end user or home oriented backup software as it usually handles more than one workstation. Enterprise backup software is designed to back up the data from an entire network, which can even be heterogeneous (which means that it has workstations running on more than one operating systems). Enterprise grade backups should also be able to differentiate backups from different workstations and servers as one of them might crash but not all of them. It also has some kind of access control to prevent users from accessing other people’s backups, since one department may not have access to another department’s information (you can bet the CEO wouldn’t like the sales department to be able to read his private files, right?).

Some enterprise backup software will even include a centralized interface where the system administrator, IT department or whomever is in charge of backups, can schedule, manage and verify backups from all workstations and servers. Imagine a large company with over 300 workstations and 20 servers, if the backup schedule has to be changed, the systems administrator would have to go to each workstation or server, make sure that it’s not in use by its user and then modify the schedule. It would take tays or even weeks to do so. With a centralized management system, it can be done in just a few minutes as all workstations and servers will download a copy of the settings to use from the main server.

However don’t let all this apparent complexity mislead you and make you think that enterprise backup software has to be so expensive that only Fortune 500 companies can afford it. There are some very decent enterprise grade backup softwares available as open source and/or freeware. One of such free softwares is AMANDA, which is open source, it’s able to handle clients running different operating systems and it get the job done in a very efficient way. Setting it up can take some reading and some hours to customize it so that it back ups what you want it to back up and the way you want it to back up, but once it’s set up you can just sit and relax, knowing that it will work continuously and that all important information is being backed up.

If you decide to go for a commercial product and benefit from upgrades, notifications and commercial support, then one of your safest bets is Acronis’ suite of enterprise and business backup products, as they’ve been around for a while and have a lot of knowledge. They will also assist you if you happen to face any problems while restoring a backup, as they know that their customers are paying for their support and quick response times.