Best Virtual Machine Backup Software for Hyper-V and VMware

Selecting a reliable backup solution can make all the difference in a cyber-attack event or data disaster that could destroy your existing Hyper-V or VMware environment. Thus, choosing a suitable virtual machine (VM) backup is crucial for protecting your data and maintaining data integrity for the smooth running of your business.

However, with several backup software options available, choosing the best can be challenging. Luckily, this article provides an overview of the best five VM backups for Hyper-V and VMware and their features.

Acronis Advanced Backup

Acronis Advanced Backup is designed to protect diverse virtual environments. It supports regular workloads like Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, Red Hat virtualization, and Oracle and even more workloads like MySQL, Oracle DB, and SAP HANA. Its standout feature is the ability to migrate virtual machines (VMs) between different hypervisors and perform physical-to-virtual and virtual-to-physical conversions. The intuitive interface simplifies backup creation and restoration, enabling non-technical users to perform one-click recoveries, thereby reducing IT intervention.

Features 

• Delivers near-zero recovery point objective with cloud backup enhancements.
• Combines cloud backup with cyber protection features to secure data.
• Protects more than 20 workload types from a single console.
• Compliance and data protection reporting ensures all workloads and files are accounted for.

Altaro VM Backup

Altaro VM Backup, now called VM Backup, is a simple solution that supports backup storage on various media types or clouds like MS Azure, Wasabi, or other public clouds. It provides high security through a 3-2-1-1 backup that includes immutable cloud storage and also uses 256-bit AES encryption. With Altaro VM backup, you can continually replicate your VM to a remote site, drastically reducing the recovery time objective (RTO). Similarly, continuous data protection allows you to run backups every 5 minutes, improving the recovery point objective (RPO).

Features

• Ransomware protection through immutable cloud storage adds an extra layer of security.
• WAN-optimized replication replicates VMs to a remote site continually.
• Continuous data protection to backup data every 5 minutes.
• Native integration with multiple cloud storage providers.
• Fully supports Cluster Shared Volumes & VMware vCenter.
• Grandfather-father-son archiving (GFS) archives backup versions.
• 256-bit AES encryption for all off-site backup copies.

Cohesity Backup and Recovery Solution

Cohesity Backup and Recovery Solution safeguards VMware, Hyper-V, and Nutanix-based workloads. It offers a unified backup and disaster recovery solution that includes a range of solutions, including ransomware protection for data centers and the public cloud, managed through a single UI. The solution offers comprehensive coverage across VSphere, VMware vSAN, VMware Cloud Foundation, and VMware Cloud Director and is available both as a service and as a self-managed option. Cohesity’s VMware Backup and Recovery provides rapid and effective disaster recovery for VMware environments, enhancing storage policy management and ensuring business continuity.

Features 

• Instant search and mass restoration VMware.
• Continuous data protection ensures near-zero recovery point objective.
• Journal-based backups allow rapid data recovery to clouds or other site.
• immutable snapshots and FIPS certification protect against ransomware and modern cyber threats.
• Data backup and recovery cuts across VMware Cloud on AWS, private, and native public clouds.

Veeam VMware Backup & Replication

Veeam Backup & Replication is a robust data protection and disaster recovery solution for virtual, physical, and cloud environments. It enables the creation of image-level backups for various machines and offers rapid restoration capabilities. The solution’s technology optimizes data transfer and resource consumption, reducing storage costs and minimizing recovery times in disaster scenarios. Veeam Backup & Replication also offers a centralized console that simplifies the management of backup, restore, and replication processes across all supported platforms. It supports the automation and scheduling of routine data protection tasks and integration with alerting and compliance reporting tools. This comprehensive management interface ensures you can conduct data protection operations efficiently and effectively.

Features 

• Software-defined and storage-agnostic solution.
• True agentless protection provides recovery from a single image-based backup without extra overhead.
• Next-generation instant recovery engine.
• 100% ransomware-proof protection against backup corruption.
•  Monitoring and analytics tool for proactive management of VMware backups against malicious activity.

Storware Backup and Recovery

This powerful solution simplifies data protection for mixed virtual environments – supporting both Hyper-V and VMware – while offering unparalleled security and control.

Storware prioritizes the security of your critical data. Advanced encryption, both in transit and at rest, ensures your backups remain protected against unauthorized access, even in the event of a cyberattack. Additionally, Storware offers the flexibility to store backups in multiple locations, following the 3-2-1 rule for ultimate disaster recovery. This allows you to store backups on-premises, on a secondary server, or even in the cloud, providing a robust safeguard against data loss from hardware failure, natural disasters, or ransomware attacks.

Effortless management is at the core of Storware’s design. The agentless approach for VMware environments minimizes deployment time and reduces overhead on your vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. For Hyper-V (2016+), Storware offers a dedicated agent that ensures seamless backups and granular control over your data. The intuitive, centralized interface empowers you to easily manage backups for all your virtual machines, regardless of the underlying hypervisor.

Features

Effortless Backups:

• Agentless design for VMware environments simplifies setup.
• Lightweight Hyper-V agent ensures smooth operation.
• Automated scheduling keeps backups on track.

Reliable Recovery:

• Restore entire VMs or individual files with ease.
• Granular recovery options minimize downtime.
• Built-in Disaster Recovery (DR) testing validates your preparedness.

Enhanced Efficiency:

• Leverage advanced change tracking to reduce storage requirements.
• Eliminate the need for resource-intensive Hyper-V snapshots.
• Streamline backups for a cost-effective solution.

Unmatched Security Features:

• Military-grade Encryption: Protect your data at rest and in transit with AES-256 encryption, ensuring complete confidentiality.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Assign granular permissions for user access, maintaining data integrity and security.
• Deduplication: Reduce storage consumption and optimize backup efficiency by eliminating redundant data across backups.

Storware Backup and Recovery empowers you to:

Ensure data availability:

• Protect your virtualized environment from accidental deletion, hardware failure, or cyberattacks.
• Guarantee business continuity with minimal downtime.

Simplify data management:

• Intuitive interface simplifies backup configuration and recovery processes.
• Centralized management for both Hyper-V and VMware environments.
• Free yourself from complex backup routines.

One License, Comprehensive Protection: With a single Storware license, you gain data protection for all supported backup sources and destinations. No need for complex per-feature licensing.Storware Backup and Recovery is the trusted choice for businesses of all sizes. Download your free trial today and experience the power of reliable VM protection with unmatched security!

Conclusion

A robust virtual machine (VM) backup solution protects data and ensures business continuity during cyber-attacks or data disasters. Thus, selecting the right backup software is crucial. You should watch for vital features like recovery time objectives, recovery point objectives, data protection capabilities, and ease of management. By evaluating these aspects, businesses can ensure they select a backup solution that best meets their needs and provides reliable data protection.