How to Backup & Restore Server with Windows Server Backup?

Microsoft Windows was one of the most popular operating systems for servers and data centers that dominated nearly half of the global market share according to IDC Research. Known as a user-friendly and compatible operating system, the Windows server is widely used in enterprise environments across various industries. So, the protection of Windows servers against data loss is essential as well.

Microsoft launched Windows Server Backup to create backup copies of your important data and system files of the server and restore the backups accordingly. In this article, we’re going to explore this tool in depth about its definition, features, pros and cons, and above all, backup and restore Windows server with it.

What is Windows Server Backup?

Windows Server Backup is a built-in tool that enables users to perform backup and recovery tasks with a set of wizards. You can use this feature to back up all or selected volumes, the system state, the whole server, individual files/folders, or a backup designed for bare metal recovery, and restore those data to external drives like NAS specifically.

Features

• Backup Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs).
  

• Schedule server backups to run automatically.

• Backup and restore virtual machines on Hyper-V hosts.

• Backup and restore volumes, folders and files, system state, etc.

• Create and manage backups for the local computer or a remote computer.

• Perform block-level full and incremental backups for volumes greater than 2TB.

Pros

• Easy to use: The backup solution has a simple user interface that makes it easy to configure and manage backups.

• Flexible backup options: Supports full and incremental backups.

• Cost-effective: Since Windows Server Backup is included with Windows Server, there are no additional costs for using it.

Cons

• Limited features: Performs basic backup and recovery tasks that cannot meet complicated needs.

• Few recovery options: The backup solution can only perform complete data recovery, which may be time-consuming and not ideal for organizations with strict recovery time objectives.

• No cloud backup: Windows Server Backup doesn't have a built-in option for cloud backup, which may be a disadvantage for organizations that require off-site backup storage.

How to Backup with Windows Server Backup?

1.     Install Windows Server Backup. Launch Server Manager> Add Roles and Features Wizard> click Next until the Features section> tick Windows Server Backup> Next>Install> Close.

2.     In the Server Manager, go to Tools> Windows Server Backup.

In the Windows Server, go to Start> Administrative Tools> Windows Server Backup.

3.     Click Local Backup> Backup Once in the Actions pane of Windows Server Backup to start the wizard.

4.     On the Backup Options section, select Different options and click Next.

5.     On the Select Backup Configuration section, choose full server or custom volumes and files for backup and click Next.

6.     On the Select Items for Backup section, click Add Items for the desired objects including system state, bare metal recovery, etc. You can click Advanced Settings here for more options. Click Next.

7.     On the Select Destination Type section, choose Local drives or Remote shared folder and click Next.

8.     On the Select Backup Destination section, select a volume to store the backup, and an external disk attached to the system is also listed as one.

9.     Confirm all settings and click Backup to start. Then click Close after the process.

Schedule Windows Server Backup

This is another way to start Windows Server Backup, you can also use the Server Manager to launch the utility as shown above.

1.     In the Windows search bar, enter Run and hit the spacebar to input wbadmin.msc to launch the utility.

2.     In the Windows Server Backup, click Backup Schedule.

3.     On the Select Backup Configuration section, choose full server or custom volumes and files for backup and click Next.

4.     On the Specify Backup Time section, select how often and when you want to run backups and click Next.

5.     On the Select Destination Type section, choose Local drives or Remote shared folder and click Next.

6.     Confirm all settings and click Finish.

How to Restore with Windows Server Backup?

1.     In the Windows search bar, enter Run and hit the spacebar to input wbadmin.msc to launch the utility.

2.     In the Windows Server Backup, click Recovery Wizard.

3.     Select the backup location to restore and click Next.

4.     Select the backup date to use for recovery and click Next.

5.     Choose the recovery types from File and folders, Volumes, System state, Applications, and Hyper-V, and click Next.

6.     Select the original or another location for the recovery and click Next.

7.     Confirm the summary and click Recover. After that, click Close.

The Alternative to Windows Server Backup

Windows Server Backup is a basic backup and recovery tool for server users, but it cannot provide delicate and intelligent backup and recovery services for complex IT infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to find a professional Windows server backup alternative solution such as Vinchin Backup & Recovery, which integrates complete protection for 10+ virtualizations, 6 databases, NAS, file, and Windows & Linux servers.

It is compatible with Windows 8 ~ 11 and Windows Server 2008R2 SP1 ~ 2022.

It features automatic server backup on schedule and multiple backup types (Full, Incremental, Differential, and Forever Incremental Backup) through 50% of data reduction and encrypted transfer during the backup process. You can enable data encryption with the AES-256 algorithm to protect the backups. You can also archive backups to public clouds for safety and compliance.

It also delivers fast server recovery with customized transfer threads and encrypted transfer for safe transmission. A password is needed for recovery if the backup job is configured with data encryption.

You can safeguard your server data by sending an offsite backup copy to another physical environment or enabling the anti-malware Backup Storage Protection of Vinchin to reject any unauthorized visits from accessing.

Download the 60-day full-featured free trial of the new v7.0 now:

Windows Server Backup

1.     In the Vinchin Backup & Recovery, navigate to Physical Backup> Server Backup> Backup and tick in the backup source box from the licensed host list.

2.     Select the backup node and the storage on it to run the backup job.

3.     Specify your backup strategies.

General Strategy:

Mode: choose to Backup as scheduled or Once-off backup

Schedule: customize your backup options and time.

Speed Controller: control the backup speed within certain limits.

Data Storage Policy: enable Data Deduplication, Compression, and Encryption.

Retention Policy: keep backups per Restore point/Day.

Advanced Strategy: adjust your Transfer Threads for fast transmission.

Transmission Strategy: enable Encrypted Transfer with the SSL technique and select a Transmission Network connected with the target.

Advanced Strategy: enable Valid Data Extraction to reduce data size.

4.     Review the summary and submit it. The job will run on schedule or immediately according to the mode.

Windows Server Recovery

1.     In the Vinchin Backup & Recovery, navigate to Physical Backup> Server Backup> Restore and choose the restore point from Windows backups.

2.     Select the target host from the list box and click Connection Test next to it.

Configure the target volume: turn on Rebuild Partition based on needs and select a volume with enough storage.

3.     Specify your recovery strategies.

General Strategy:

Speed Controller: control the backup speed within certain limits.

Advanced Strategy: adjust your Transfer Threads for fast transmission.

Transmission Strategy: enable Encrypted Transfer with the SSL technique and select a Transmission Network connected with the target.

4.     View all settings and submit the job.

Conclusion

Maintaining frequent and valid backups for Windows servers to restore is critical in the prevention of data loss and system downtime. You can backup the Windows server to NAS or external hard drives. Microsoft has a backup utility called Windows Server Backup for basic backup and recovery tasks.

But it cannot perform complex jobs as a specialized server backup software does. Vinchin Backup & Recovery provides scheduled server backup, multiple backup options, smart strategies, and anti-ransomware data protection for server protection.