Top 5 Reliable Windows Server Backup Software | 2024

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Why Windows Server backup software important?

Suffering from data loss, more and more people realize the importance of backup, especially for server users. Usually, many enterprise stores customers' information, business profiles, working projects etc on a server computer. And they cannot afford the cost of losing data in a serious disaster, such as, system crush, virus infection, hacker attack, hard disk failure, and human error, etc.

Luckily, creating regular backups with best Windows Server backup software save lives in those situations. An administrator could make everything back to life by simply restoring backup images created before, saving time, effort and money.

In addition, a well-configured system backup image could be used to deploy a large scale of computers from network, or perform bare metal recovery, no need to install Windows on those machines one by one.

• 2 built-in backup tools in Windows Server
• Best 3 Windows Server backup software (free & paid)
• How to create a backup in Windows Server

2 built-in backup tools in Windows Server

The Windows built-in backup software is the priority choice for many users, since they are usually free for use. And just like Windows PCs, the server system also has its own backup software. You can use Windows Server Backup (WSB) or the command-line version of it - Wbadmin.

In general, the previous one will be the first choice due to its intuitive interface and easy-to-use backup guide. But if you want to customize a backup task, the wbadmin will be a better choice. Please check the following contents.

	Windows Server Backup and Wbadmin
Backup Solutions	Backup the operating system, disk, partition or individual files.
Backup Types	Full backup or incremental backup.
Backup Versions	WSB only supports one schedule backup while Wbadmin creates multiple schedules with specified parameters.
Backup Storage Devices	Local disks, external hard drives, USB flash drives, and NAS devices, etc. Note the scheduled backup on network share will only be completed with full backups.
Backup Schedule	WSB only support "Once a day" or "more than once a day" while the wbadmin is more flexible.

Both Windows Server Backup and Wbadmin have their own advantages and disadvantages, for example, Windows Server Backup has a user-friendly guide and restricted scheduled task while Wbadmin is more flexible but difficult to operate for common users. Is there any software that integrates with intuitive interface and flexible schedule settings?

Best 3 Windows Server backup software (free & paid)

This part will show you two easy-to-use server backup programs. Read on to learn more.

1. Qiling Disk Master Server (paid yet affordable)

Qiling Disk Master Server is the best server backup software with friendly GUI. There are six backup types available in Qiling Disk Master - System Backup, Disk Backup, Partition Backup, File Backup, Cloud Backup and Outlook Backup. It supports backing up to local disk, external drive, USB flash drive, cloud drive, network location, etc.

You can create automatic backups with different schedule settings, such as Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, and USB plug in. The program uses VSS technology when creating backups, which means even open or in-use files can be backed up. Both Windows Server and PC systems are supported, including Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008, 2003 and Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP.

Pros	Cons
+ Backup all kinds of data on your PC + A wide range of backup locations + Support full/incremental/differential backup + Versatile schedule settings + Compress, split, encrypt backup images + Create bootable rescue media	- Only 30-day free trial. After that, you need to pay from $149.00 per year.

Download Qiling Disk Master here:

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & Servers, 100% Secure

(PS: For unlimited PCs and servers, try Qiling Disk Master Technician Plus edition. The biggest advantage of it is to deploy system image to multiple computers simultaneously, even for dissimilar hardware. Also, you can create a portable version of this software on a removable device and use it on any computer without installing again.)

2. Qiling Backup (limited free)

Qiling Backup, the best enterprise backup software, provides a convenient and reliable solution for centralized backup management of all Windows operating systems. You are allowed to create backup tasks for a bunch of Windows PCs and Servers and manage them from one central console.

Pros	Cons
+ Centralized management + System/disk/partition backup + Full/incremental/differential backup + Daily/weekly/monthly backup	- The free edition supports backing up maximum 3 PCs and 1 Server. - Does not support file backup.

Download Qiling Backup here:

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & Servers, 100% Secure

3. Cobian Reflector (free)

Cobian Reflector, the successor to Cobian Backup, is a free file-backup program designed for Windows PC and Server systems. It can be run as a service or as a regular application. You can use it to make automatic backups for your directories and files. You are able to backup to some other location in the same computer, to the network and even to an FTP server. Backup compression and encryption are also supported.

Pros	Cons
+ Support a dummy backup for test + Backup to local/network location or FTP server + Versatile schedule settings + Industry-standard encryptions such as AES 128, 192, and 256	- Only support file/folder backup

Download Cobian Reflector here.

How to create a backup in Windows Server (step-by-step guide)

In this part, I'll show you how to create a system backup and file backup in Windows Server separately:

Backup Server OS with Qiling Disk Master

Launch Qiling Disk Master. Click on "Backup" and select "System Backup". Choose the destination path to store the backup image. Finally, click "Proceed" to create a system image on the server computer.

If you'd like to create an automatic backup, click "Schedule Backup" in the bottom and select a backup frequency -Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers or USB plug in.

For a long-term backup task, the backup disk may be full due to accumulated backup images and limited space. To alleviate or completely resolve this issue, you can set high compression level, customized splitting, automatic backup cleanup, etc. Among them, the last one is the most thorough way, because it will delete old backups automatically to release disk space.

💡 Tip on how to restore system:

With a backup image in hand, you can restore system image to new hard drive to get your computer back. If your computer is not bootable, you need to create bootable media with Qiling Disk Master.

Then, start your computer from this bootable drive, switch to the Restore tab, select backup image and destination drive, then click Proceed to execute the recovery process.

If you want to restore system to new computer with different hardware, please check if the Universal Restore feature is enabled. It helps you install all the necessary drivers for system startup.

Summary

Although Windows Server has its own backup software, it's restrictive and error-prone. In this case, it's suggested to use third-party server backup software. If you only want to backup specific files or folders, try Cobian Reflector. If you want to backup multiple devices, try Qiling Backup. If you need all-around backup solutions for Windows Server, try Qiling Disk Master Server.

Qiling Disk Master Server allows you to backup system/disk/partition/files and customize a scheduled task with different frequencies, or upon a specific event or USB drive. More surprisingly, it helps you minimize disk space usage by default and provides you with more advanced features to do so, such as differential backup, automatic backup cleanup, etc.

Actually, it can also be used as server cloning software which allows you to clone OS or an entire disk in Windows Server. Don't hesitate to give it a try!

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