Top 5 Reliable Windows Server Backup Software | 2024

Windows Server data backup is pretty important for business or IT experts. Find the most suitable solution from these 5 backup software.

Ivy

By Ivy Updated on December 28, 2023

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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. 

Best Windows Server Backup Software

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

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. AOMEI Backupper Server (paid yet affordable)

AOMEI Backupper Server is the best server backup software with friendly GUI. There are six backup types available in AOMEI Backupper - System BackupDisk BackupPartition BackupFile BackupCloud 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 AOMEI Backupper here: 

Download Free Trial Windows Server & PC
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(PS: For unlimited PCs and servers, try AOMEI Backupper 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. AOMEI Cyber Backup (limited free)

AOMEI Cyber 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 AOMEI Cyber Backup here:

Download Free TrialEasiest Enterprise Backup Software
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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:

1. Backup Server OS with AOMEI Backupper

Launch AOMEI Backupper. Click on “Backup” and select “System Backup”. Choose the destination path to store the backup image. Finally, click “Start Backup” to create a system image on the server computer.

System Backup

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.  

Schedule Settings

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.

Enable Automatic Backup Cleanup

💡 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 AOMEI Backupper.

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

Restore System

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.

2. Backup client Windows Server using AOMEI Cyber Backup

Run AOMEI Cyber Backup. Log in with AOMEI Cyber Backup account or Windows account.

Click Source Device > Windows > Add Windows Device to add the Windows Server device that you want to backup.

Add Windows Device

Click Backup Task on the left menu bar and select Backup Task > Create New Task. Follow the wizard to create system/disk/partition backup as per your need.

Create New Task

3. Backup files in Windows Server via Cobian Reflector

Open Cobian Reflector and click the New task (+) button.

Add New Task

In the General tab, name your backup task and choose a desired backup type.

General Tab

Click the Files tab to add the files or folders you want to backup. Also, set backup schedule under the Schedule tab and enable compression and encryption under the Archive tab as necessary. Finally, click OK to run the backup.

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 AOMEI Cyber Backup. If you need all-around backup solutions for Windows Server, try AOMEI Backupper Server.

AOMEI Backupper 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!

Ivy
Ivy · Editor
Ivy is an editor of AOMEI Technology, she covers backup & restore,hard disk & partitions management and cloud files transfer and so on for AOMEI. She is an outgoing girl and enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. She loves traveling, eating, reading and so on. She usually hangs out with friends at her leisure time.