Recommendations for Office 365 backups?

Posted by ltwally@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 95 comments

I have a small biz client asking for an Office 365 backup solution.

It needs to cover the following: Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Teams. This would include things like permissions, calendars, mailbox-rules, etc etc.

Backups do not need to cover the more Azure oriented items (PC's in Intune/Defender/etc, VM's, SQL, and so forth), but ideally can fully restore a user-account. Worst-case would be creating a new user account and running a restore from a dead user to that account.

We should also be able to export the above services outside of O365 (eg ExO -> PST), and do so with some granularity (individual files/folders in SPO, folders or even emails in ExO, etc etc)

My go-to has been afi.ai for a while. However, it's also been a while since I've taken anything else out for a spin.

I believe the client would be open to both on-prem and cloud-based solutions. They do not have a plethora of on-prem servers, and do not have on-prem AD. Any on-prem solution would likely mean new hardware. They are bandwidth-limited on their upstream. Cost will be a factor.

Any recommendations?

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JLVIT90@reddit

Veeam m365 to Wasabi. Don’t forget to backup your Entra ID as well. Also Intune backup using Tenuvault is an almost free solution. Look into that 👌

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enlitenn@reddit

Bro so we only manage the azure related cost only right we don't need to pay for user based or tool based right.

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4lexfdr@reddit

Used Dropsuite a few years ago, it was pretty good then so I imagine it's still a good option now.

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enlitenn@reddit

Bro so we only manage the azure related cost only right we don't need to pay for user based or tool based right.

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bjc1960@reddit

We use AFI.AI - no issues, no drama.

IT has enough drama, any less is good.

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ballzsweat@reddit

That storage algorithm though! I’m always increasing my quota…

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bjc1960@reddit

we are deleting old users. We export the PST to a storage account so we don't keep paying for separated people

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Gilacha@reddit

You can only disable Account on MS365, remove licence and convert at the same time with an script, the mailbox to a sharedmailbox, and use the hiddefromaddressbook AD option, so emails and Onedrive are preserved (one drive files are preserved always, with de retention configured in Sharepoint sites) , even if user is diabled for years, archived mailbox are saved to.

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Gilacha@reddit

And if the user returns to activate, just convert shared to mailbox again and asign licence, in 5 minutes is activated again, and you can put an autoreponse message replying "Non Staff User, please contact bla bla"

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Vadim_Zubkov91@reddit

As far as I know, Afi doesn’t support BYOC storage for Microsoft 365 backup (like S3, Azure, Wasabi, etc.). If that’s incorrect, please feel free to correct me.

If using your own storage is important to your setup, consider MSP360 Backup for Microsoft 365. It’s a storage-agnostic solution that covers the main M365 workloads.

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Mysterious-Ad7547@reddit

We used a company called Skykick which has changed name now but I cannot remember to what. Works well restored loads of times and all good.

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VNJCinPA@reddit

Bought by Connectwise, you'll find it there

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Embarrassed_Most6193@reddit

Spin.ai covers all M365 components you mentioned, restoring accounts and files following the previous hierarchy. Might be +1 to your poc lists.

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Adorable_Sugar_723@reddit

Honestly, I’d stick with afi.ai–class M365 backup tools. If you want a secure delivery and access layer for recovered data, you could also layer on MyWorkDrive. It might be handy if bandwidth is tight or you want restores outside of Microsoft’s cloud. Hope that helps.

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Adorable_Sugar_723@reddit

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Middle_War_9117@reddit

AvePoint

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mini4x@reddit

We use Rubrik, not teh cheapest solution, but we were already using it to backup our NetApps / VMware - Product works as expected.

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kenrichardson@reddit

Also using Rubrik and happy with how it works and the support when I've needed them. I can't say that about many of my vendors and tools.

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PS_TIM@reddit

Same rubrik. It works fairly well

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itsam@reddit

same, been happy with them

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Paymentof1509@reddit

I tested M365 Backup and it was pure garbage. Super slow, inconsistent and delayed notifications, and the inability to restore a single sharepoint file (you have to restore the entire site, grab your file, put it on a local drive, then upload it to the original Sharepoint location). Then do some PowerShell magic to delete the restored site. I’m currently testing Dropsuite and so far, so good.

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coolgiftson7@reddit

For a small biz that wants full coverage of Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Teams with granular restores and export options, another one to look at is BDRShield’s Microsoft 365 backup. It backs up mailboxes (incl. calendars, contacts, rules), OneDrive, SharePoint sites and Teams data, and lets you restore at multiple levels – whole mailbox/site, or down to individual emails and files.

You can restore back into the same tenant or another user, and there are options to export Exchange data to PST/EML plus calendar/contacts formats if you need data outside M365 for leavers or long‑term archiving.

Licensing is per‑user for SaaS backup, with the option to keep data on‑prem (disk/NAS) or in BDRShield Cloud/S3/Wasabi/etc., which can work well when bandwidth and cost are concerns for smaller clients.

Full disclosure: I work on the BDRShield team, so take this as another data point rather than a neutral recommendation.

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CloudBackupGuy@reddit

VMOBACKUP.COM uses Veeam. Data is outside of Microsoft. Free for 10 users or less.

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MDParagon@reddit

We use Datto Saas Backup

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bbbbbthatsfivebees@reddit

Datto SaaS is certainly an option, but I wouldn't highly recommend it after their acquisition by Kaseya a few years ago. Their new shtick is locking MSPs into 3 year contracts.

Their support has also definitely gone downhill since the Kaseya acquisition. It used to be that you'd call in and you'd get a tech that only specialized in maybe one or two products who could solve your issue in 20 minutes, but recently I've called in for help with Datto BCDR, SaaS, and Autotask and got the same support tech every time.

Certainly still a knowledgeable tech, but nowhere near what Datto's support was 3-4 years ago.

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TTGmaDz@reddit

+1 great solution

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Cbeckstrand@reddit

We have been happy with Dropsuite.

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repooc21@reddit

I onboard with them this week!

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raptorboy@reddit

afi is the best imo

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Thin-Armadillo-3995@reddit

Afi is solid but have you looked at Veeam for O365? Pretty comprehensive for all those services and the granular restore options are decent

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Cloudraa@reddit

veeam is great but their 365 product is an absolute mess that needs to be rebuilt every time you dare to update it lol

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Simong_1984@reddit

This is exactly what we do. Between that and the built in version history, I sleep well at night.

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Godcry55@reddit

Veeam backup for Microsoft 365.

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Splask@reddit

The o ly issue woth this is that if somwthing like a Team doesn't have anything owner it might throw errors.

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TwilightKeystroker@reddit

Set an Ownerless Groups Policy in M365 Org Settings so it automatically notifies teams members to claim ownership!

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Splask@reddit

I'm not interested in some random Team member claiming ownership lol. We have access reviews and such that accomplish the same thing.

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TwilightKeystroker@reddit

You mentioned error resolution and not access control, "LOL"

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Godcry55@reddit

This guy architects lol

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katzners@reddit

I use keepit.com

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denmicent@reddit

Commvault is great for M365 backups in my experience.

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Sorry-Rent5111@reddit

Cohesity. It just works.

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Sorry-Rent5111@reddit

Sorry for some reason cost counts was cut off. They are not cheap.

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Asleep_Spray274@reddit

Have you considered the built in service

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/backup/backup-overview?view=o365-worldwide

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BWMerlin@reddit

Having a quick read it appears you cannot restore OneDrive or SharePoint files yet which is such a basic requirement of a backup tool that not having that ability is laughable.

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Asleep_Spray274@reddit

Sorry, where you seeing you can't restore file?

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BWMerlin@reddit

Feature summary, there is no granular file restore for OneDrive or SharePoint.

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Asleep_Spray274@reddit

It says restore granularity to one drive and SharePoint sites

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BlueOdyssey@reddit

Yep with the disclaimer ‘coming soon’. Ie you can’t do it today.

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Asleep_Spray274@reddit

That's restore via file versions. That's different to direct restore straight back to the one drive account or share point site

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dai_webb@reddit

We currently use Veeam for M365 on-premise and it works really well. We plan to move to Veeam Data Cloud next year to remove the hassle of managing the on-prem server and storage.

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-c3rberus-@reddit

We use Druva, works great.

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MPLS_scoot@reddit

What is your current license status? if M365 E5 retention policies will more than cover you.

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CobraPuts@reddit

Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 unless you’re motivated to manage infrastructure. They charge per seat, so will not be expensive for small biz

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ambscout@reddit

We got a very good deal with Spanning. Much better than the crap (Skykick) we had from Intermedia that was more expensive...

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nicknick81@reddit

We use Drop Suite, anyone have opinions?

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TheFluffiestRedditor@reddit

I’m hesitant to use any product which chose .ai for their domain.

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Disillusioned-Ocelot@reddit

Barracuda backup?

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Meklon@reddit

Another +1 for Barracuda Cloud to Cloud - not mega money and the UI isn't web portal isn't awful

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jommastafibb@reddit

We use barracuda cloud to cloud and it works issue free for us. Backs up OneDrive, SharePoint, teams, entra id.

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kirizzel@reddit

AvePoint

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Cheddaren@reddit

Cove backup by N-able works good. I would recommend to stay away from Veeam as much as possible. Their solutions hasn’t aged well imo. We’ve tried Dropsuite and Veeam before but ended up with Cove. We are an MSP for reference

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B1ackh3art@reddit

Datto

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snookpig77@reddit

HYCU for O365, in my instance they even provided the storage or you can bring your own.

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stonecoldcoldstone@reddit

if you're in any way connected to education look into redstor

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itskdog@reddit

Yeah, our ISP even gave it to us free for setting up a 5 year commitment (which we were planning on doing anyway as we'd just done a 5 year commitment on their VoIP service as well)

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Busy-Photograph4803@reddit

We use Barracuda. It’s been great so far. Has a lot of other features that come with the backup portion.

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godspeedfx@reddit

We use backupify, which is owned by kaseya now, but the product didn't change after the acquisition so we haven't felt the need to switch.

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InflateMyProstate@reddit

We recently switched from Veeam 365 with Backblaze to Veeam Cloud and it’s actually saved us money. Easy setup and we don’t pay for backend storage.

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3tek@reddit

I use Avanan. Seems to work well for when I need it.

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Ill-Mail-1210@reddit

We use cove, through n-able. This covers everything you have mentioned and takes multiple backups throughout the day. We skirted with datto’s offering but the pain in switching all our clients and potentially losing historical backups was too great a risk.

That’s one thing to keep in mind - once you are tied in, and have months or years of historical data, it’s very hard to switch as all these things are proprietary and you can’t shift historical backups to another provider.

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thebearjuden@reddit

Make your life easy and get Spanning. 5 minutes to set up and it takes care of auto-add and protect on mailboxes, shared mailboxes, teams, and SP. Cheap as dirt too.

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bbqwatermelon@reddit

I went through a demo with them and liked it. It is inside the M365 environment so bypasses a lot of graph api throttling for better performance. However that is placing all your eggs into the M365 basket which may be an important boundary for DR planning.

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thebearjuden@reddit

Spanning copies data out of MS - its backed by AWS storage last I knew. Which is awesome considering they don't charge egress fees when you download, restore, etc.

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bbqwatermelon@reddit

Thanks for that, have been meaning to circle back with them and that gives me more incentive.

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Rockshoes1@reddit

Veeam and synology do a pretty good job.

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e_sandrs@reddit

and you can look at a Wasabi target if you want cloud storage (with all the usual costs and caveats).

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Various_Bed2214@reddit

Barracuda Networks cloud to cloud backup and Entra ID Premium backup

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fforootd@reddit

I use cubebackup and I am happy, no thrills just works

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fraghead5@reddit

I use cloudally for everything except for Azure-AD/entra ID I use Quest-on-demand for that. 250 user small cloud only saas only company.

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port_dawg@reddit

AFI has been fantastic for m365 backups….

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ThatBlinkingRedLight@reddit

I use druva for cloud and synology active backup for local

I have also used Veeam and synology as the storage and it worked very well

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Zedilt@reddit

Synology nas with their Active Backup for Microsoft 365.

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lower_intelligence@reddit

Great product - but holy hell they fucked up with the original setup. Everyone should read through this before going down this route...

https://modzero.com/en/blog/when-backups-open-backdoors-synology-active-backup-m365/

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ltwally@reddit (OP)

Wow. I'd heard about this, but hadn't known the depth of it. And, Synology's response only makes it worse. It's hard to trust them, as a company, after they shrug off that big of a f-up.

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DarkAlman@reddit

Veeam 365 works really well

Backups can be local or direct to cloud

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You're cheap bastards: Spanning

You have a good Dell rep: Druve (also whitelabeled by Dell).

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