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Key updates to Azure Backup Server

By Pallavi Joshi, Program Manager II, Azure Backup
This post talks about new features provided by Azure Backup Server.

Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS) is a cloud-first backup solution to protect data and workloads across heterogeneous IT environments of enterprises. It is available as a free download with Azure Backup without the requirement of System Center License or SQL license for server DB. The latest update released for Azure Backup Server ensures that customers are able to centrally monitor all their backup entities, perform agentless backups, secure data against cyber threats like ransomware, machine compromise, and recover from them. Azure Backup Server now goes a step further and provides security based mechanisms to safeguard all the operations that impact availability of cloud data.

If you are new to Azure Backup Server:

  • You can download Microsoft Azure Backup Server and start protecting your infrastructure today. It is available as a free download with Azure Backup without the requirement of System Center or SQL license for the server DB.
  • Learn more about Azure Backup Server using these short videos to get started.

Key features

Azure Backup Server recently added the following enterprise grade features to strengthen security, provide a centralized view of backup entities, and support key workloads:

  1. Central monitoring –  Customers can now monitor their on-premises assets backed up in Azure Backup Server from portal. Recovery Services vault now provides a centralized view of backup management servers, protected servers, backup items, and their associations. This gives a simple experience to search for backup items, identify Azure Backup Server they are associated to, view disk utilization, and other details related to these entities.
  2. Security features – Azure Backup recently announced Security Features, available as part of latest update. These features are built on three principles – Prevention, Alerting, and Recovery – to enable organizations increase preparedness against attacks and equip them with a robust backup solution.
  3. VMware support – Azure Backup Server also contains support for VMware backup. This capability provides agentless backups, seamless discovery, and auto-protection features.
  4. Availability in new regions – Azure Backup is already available in multiple regions. Customers can now backup data to new regions as well including Canada, UK, and West US2.

Getting started

To start leveraging these features, navigate to the links, and videos below.

Central monitoring

To start using central monitoring for Azure Backup Server, you must create a Recovery Services vault, download latest Azure Recovery Services Agent, and register Azure Backup Server to this vault. If your Azure Backup Server is already registered to Recovery Services vault, you can start leveraging these features by upgrading Azure Backup Server to update 1 and installing latest Azure Recovery Services Agent (minimum version 2.0.9062).

Azure Backup Server - central monitoring

Security features

The video below explains how to get started by enabling Security features and how to leverage them in Azure Backup Server.

VMware backups

Please go through 4 simple steps to protect VMware VMs using Azure Backup Server. The first video in the series is linked below.

Related links and additional content