How to Backup and Restore Windows Server Easily in 3 Methods?

Server backup and recovery refer to the processes of creating data copies from the server contents and recovering the server with backups against data loss. A number of things, including hardware failure, power outages, data corruption, human mistake, natural disasters, accidental deletion, and cybercriminal threats like hacking, theft, malicious activity, etc., can result in data loss. Physical servers are also susceptible to those factors.

Servers are crucial parts of any organization because they gather and provide users with requested files or information, so, the necessity of backing up Windows Server needs no further elaboration. In this post, I’ll describe 3 easy ways to back up and restore Windows Server for your reference that apply to Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2022. One is the internal Windows Server Backup and another is a multi-functional server backup solution.

Microsoft launches Windows Server Backup to perform basic backup and recovery tasks for the installed server, which copies a full server, chose volumes, the system state, individual files or folders, and a backup for bare metal recovery, and restores them to specific locations like NAS as needed.

How to Install Windows Server Backup?

1.     In the Server Manager, start the Add Roles and Features Wizard and click Next on the Before You Begin page.

2.     In the Installation Type section, leave the Role-based and Feature-based installations as default and click Next.

3.     Click Next on both Server Selection and Server Roles pages.

4.     In the Features section, choose Windows Server Backup and hit Next.

5.     On the Confirmation page, click Install. Click Close after the installation.

How to Backup and Restore Windows Server Backup?

Method:1 Backup Using Windows Server Backup

1.     Launch Server Manager> Tools> Windows Server Backup. In the Windows Server, click Start> Administrative Tools> Windows Server Backup.

2.     Enter the Backup Operator credentials and click OK if you are asked in the User Account Control dialog.

3.     Choose Local Backup.

4.     Click Backup Once in the Action section to open the wizard.

5.     On the Backup options page, select Different options> Next.

6.     On the Select backup configuration page, select Full server (recommended)> Next.

7.     On the Specify destination type page, choose Local drives or Remote shared folder> Next.

8.     On the Select Backup Destination page, specify the backup location.

9.     On the Confirmation page, click Backup and wait for the process. Click Close.

Method 2: Backup Using Wbadmin.exe

Wbadmin.exe is a command-line tool to back up and restore OS, volumes, files/folders, and applications.

Start an elevated command prompt to enter the commands and press ENTER.

wbadmin start backup -backuptarget:<Drive_letter_to store_backup>: -include:<Drive_letter_to_include>:

Method 3: Backup Using Vinchin Backup & Recovery

Vinchin Backup & Recovery is a professional backup solution for the backup and recovery of 12 virtualizations like VMware, Hyper-V, XenServer, oVirt, Oracle OLVM, etc., 6 databases, NAS, and physical servers.

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

You can configure a scheduled server backup job to automate the process and choose from various backup types including Full, Incremental, Differential, and Forever Incremental Backup.

You can enable data reduction technologies to reduce at least 50% of the backup size and encrypted transfer with the SSL technique or save data per restore point/ day for retention.

You can also enable anti-ransomware Backup Storage Protection with Vinchin to defend against malware threats.

1.     Download the 60-day free trial of the latest Vinchin Backup & Recovery 7.0 and license the host.

2.     Go to Physical Backup> Server Backup> Backup and select the source host. You can expand the selected host on the right pane to choose partitions.

3.     Select the backup node and storage for the job.

4.     Customize backup strategies like schedule, data reduction, retention policy, encrypted transmission, and more.

5.     Review and click Submit. The job will run as scheduled.

Method:1 Recovering Using Windows Server Backup

1.     Start Windows Server Backup and select Local Backup.

2.     On the Action page, choose Recover… to open the wizard.

3.     On the Getting Started page, choose the source backup location and click Next.

4.     On the Specify Location Type page, choose Local drives or Remote shared folder and click Next.

5.     On the Select Backup Date page, choose the data of a backup to use for recovery and click Next.

6.     On the Select Recovery Type page, select Application and click Next.

7.     On the Select Items to Recover page, choose Exchange. You can click View Details to see the components and select Do not perform a roll-forward recovery of the application database if it’s a recently created backup.

8.     On the Specify Recovery Option page, choose the destination location and click Next.

9.     On the Confirmation page, see all the settings and click Recover. Then Close the wizard.

Method 2: Recovering Using Wbadmin.exe

You must be a member of the Backup Operators/ Administrators group, or have the proper permissions to perform a recovery.

Right-click the command prompt and select Run as administrator:

wbadmin start recovery -version:<VersionIdentifier> -items:{<VolumesToRecover> | <AppsToRecover> | <FilesOrFoldersToRecover>} -itemtype:{Volume | App | File} [-backupTarget:{<VolumeHostingBackup> | <NetworkShareHostingBackup>}] [-machine:<BackupMachineName>] [-recoveryTarget:{<TargetVolumeForRecovery> | <TargetPathForRecovery>}] [-recursive] [-overwrite:{Overwrite | CreateCopy | Skip}] [-notRestoreAcl] [-skipBadClusterCheck] [-noRollForward] [-quiet]

Method 3: Recovering Using Vinchin Backup & Recovery

Vinchin Backup & Recovery allows server users to perform a fast recovery with multiple transfer threads, enable Encrypted Transfer for safe data transit, and restore passwords needed if an encryption password is set at the time of backup creation for data security.

It also allows users to save another offsite backup copy as a standby to mitigate risks.

1.     Go to Physical Backup> Server Backup> Restore and select the restore point from backups.

2.     Choose the target host and click Connection Test next to it.

3.     Configure recovery strategies like speed controller schedules, multiple transfer threads, and encrypted transfer, and provide a password set during the backup creation with Data Encryption enabled.

4.     Review and confirm all the details.

Verdict

Sever backup and recovery are also essential for organizations on the internet filled with cyber threats. I introduced 3 ways to back up and restore Windows Server easily in this article including Windows Server Backup, Wbadmin.exe, and Vinchin Backup & Recovery.

But Windows Server Backup has limited backup options and can be challenging when restoring on a network location, while Wbadmin.exe may be a little tricky without a GUI. You can select the affordable and smart server backup solution Vinchin Backup & Recovery with a bunch of strategies to simplify all the work for you.