Vembu Backup for Endpoints [sponsored]

For some organizations, it was business as usual, and for others, it wasn’t. But the shift to remote or distributed work is here and is here to stay. This shift comes with many benefits but also challenges. 

One is data protection on the endpoints that are everywhere and nowhere simultaneously.

To address this issue, Vembu has a solution called Backup for Endpoints, which we’ll look at in this blog post.

Key features

Backing up endpoints requires different features in comparison to servers. For example, servers are typically always on and always connected. On the other hand, endpoints can be turned on or off during the day on multiple occasions while being connected in different conditions. 

• Files/Folders Backup – Backup individual files and folders from your Windows or Mac endpoints to the Vembu BDR Backup Server for free.
• Flexible Scheduling options – Vembu provides Continuous Data Protection for backing up files and folders on a minute-by-minute, hourly, daily, or weekly basis.
• Interruption-free Backup – After an interruption, Vembu will intelligently resume the backup from where it left off.
• Deleted File Retention – Retain any number of deleted files/folders based on its version count or the number of versions created within a time frame.In-built Compression & Encryption – All backups are compressed by the VembuHIVE file system & encrypted using the AES-256 bit algorithm both in flight and at rest.
• Restore anywhere – Instantly restore the entire backup files/folders to the original location or an alternate location.
• Bandwidth Throttling – This feature allows you to throttle the speed of the backup data transfer for a selected time, and helps in reducing the network traffic.Email Notification – Enable email notifications to receive notifications about the current status of the configured backups (like success, failure, missed, etc.)

Prerequisites

Before you can begin backing up your endpoints, you must ensure you meet the following prerequisites. First, as Backup for Endpoints is a client/server solution, you need to have the server side of BDRSuite up and running and install the client on one of the supported operating systems listed below:

• Windows (64-bit) – Windows Server 2012 & above, Windows 8.1 & above
• Debian Linux(64-bit) – Debian Linux 10.0 & above, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS & above
• Redhat Linux(64-bit) – CentOS 7.0 & above, CloudLinux 7.10 & above, Fedora 32 & above, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 & above, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 & above
• macOS Mojave 10.14 & above

Installing the Backup for Endpoint software

All right, enough words, time for some action! For the sake of this blog post, I will be using a virtual Windows 10 desktop on which I’ll install the Backup for Endpoint solution.

There are two ways to install the software on a Windows machine, one is to deploy it straight from the BDRsuite console, and the second is from the command line.

Luckily the steps to get to the point of making a decision are the same.

From the BDRsuite console, go to Endpoints, Data Sources, and select Add Microsoft Windows. 

On the right side, you’ll spot a big red button stating Add Microsoft Windows. Click this, and a menu will pop out from the side.

Here you’ll either fill in the IP address or hostname of the machine you want to add. Other than that, you need to specify the credentials used.

Last but not least, you can select the deployment method.

Seeing as doing it from the command line opens the door to forms of automation, I decided to take this route. 

This means I need to get the installer on the machine and simply run the following command, which I can fire off from any deployment solution at hand:

[msiexec /i BDRSuite_Delegation_Service_5_3_0_0.msi /qn ISENDPOINTENABLED=”1″ BACKUPSERVERINFO=”{backup server hostname}” BUILDTYPE=”14″]

A quick refresh in the BDRSuite console shows that the software is installed and ready for use!

Configuring the Backup for Endpoint software

Next up is using the software to create a backup of my machine, which we can do under Endpoints, Backup, Configure Backup, Microsoft Windows.

Fill in the required information and select an existing repository, or create a new one if you haven’t done so in the past.

Click the big red Next button to advance the configuration.

On the next window, select the host(s) to add to this specific backup job.

Next, we need to specify the folders we want to include in the job. I only select the desktop in this demonstration because that is where I store my essential files.

Now we can configure the schedule to our liking. In my case, I chose manual, as I only want to run this once.

And before reviewing everything, we are asked to specify the retention and decide if we want to apply encryption. For now, I’ll stick to the default values.

Time for science!

They say the proof is in the pudding. So now it’s time to test if everything works as it should.

In this case, I created a dummy file on my desktop, which I’ll delete as soon as the backup job is completed.

After starting the job manually, I can see that the job was completed successfully and that two files were included.

Now it’s time to delete the file and try restoring it.

And here we go. Our file is back in the exact location we specified. Easy does it!

In closing

With data being in more places than just the corporate file server. Think of solutions such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, or the local drive. As a result, the importance of having a solid backup strategy grows, and you need a solution that fits your strategy.

The fact that everything integrates into the same console is an excellent strength of the Backup for Endpoint solution. Organizations want to have fewer consoles and not more. 

Another huge plus is the key features that align with how an endpoint is used, which is on a rotating schedule while using network connections that are not always sufficient.

If you’d like to know more about Vembu Backup for Endpoint, take a look at the following product page.