The Best Virtual Machine Backup Software

In recent times, virtual machines (VMs) have become a vital part of modern enterprise IT infrastructure.

Many organizations now rely on virtualization and VMs to run their business applications, databases, and even containerized workloads. The applications generate huge amounts of data that need to be protected. Because of the uniqueness of this kind of environment, the traditional data protection and backup solution are no longer enough. This is where VM backup software comes into play.

VM backup software is an application that enables companies to backup and restore all the files that are associated with a VM.

Here is our list of the best virtual machine backup software: 

1. Vembu BDR Suite EDITOR’S CHOICE Offers a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution designed to protect the data across diverse IT environments that include virtual machines, physical, cloud workloads and SaaS applications. Start a 30-day free trial.
2. Veeam Backup & Replication One of the leading developers of backup, recovery, and data management solutions.
3. Hornetsecurity VM Backup Designed to provide backup, recovery, and replication of Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines (VMs).
4. Nakivo Backup and Replication A backup solution designed to protect modern virtual environments such as VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Nutanix AHV VMs.
5. Veritas NetBackup An enterprise backup and recovery software built to protect the data center environments.
6. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual A backup solution that is specifically designed for backing up virtual machines (VMs).
7. IBM Spectrum Protect An enterprise data protection platform that provides a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery.
8. Iperius Backup A backup solution for Windows desktop and servers, cloud storage, databases, and virtual machines.
9. Unitrends Backup A virtual appliance that provides backup, replication, deduplication, archive, and instant recovery services.
10. MSP360 Managed Backup Comes with centralized management, monitoring, reporting, and integration support for AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, and Microsoft Azure.

VMs usually run as guests on hypervisors that emulate a computer system and allow multiple VMs to share a physical host hardware system. The most popular hypervisors are VMware ESX, Microsoft Hyper-V, and others including cloud-based virtual machines. Virtual machine backups can be performed in many ways, either through a backup agent installed in the guest operating system or by way of integration from the hypervisor that allows for agentless backups.

By ensuring regular VM backups, an organization can achieve full VM protection and business resilience even in the aftermath of a disaster. With many organizations virtualizing more and more of their enterprise workloads, supporting and protecting these workloads, especially in multi-cloud and geographically diverse environments can be challenging for most organizations. In this article, we present the ten best VM backup software out there. We hope this will help you figure out the right one for your business.

The Best Virtual Machine Backup Software

1. Vembu BDR Suite (FREE TRIAL)

Vembu is one of the leading players in the backup and disaster recovery market. Their flagship product—Vembu BDR Suite, offers a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution designed to protect the data across diverse IT environments that include virtual machines (VMware and Hyper-V), physical (Windows, Linux, Mac), cloud workloads (AWS, Azure) and SaaS applications (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace).

Key Features:

• Virtualization Backups: Backup VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM
• Backup to Cloud: AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud
• Constant Copying: Keeps the repository up to date
• V2V Migration Possible: Copy from one virtualization brand to another
• Instant VM Restore: The restore process takes less than 15 minutes

Why do we recommend it?

Vembu BDR Suite is available in editions to backup many different technologies but its VM backup edition is probably the most tempting because it has a Free edition. The tool is able to protect VMware and Hyper-V hypervisors with continuous updates. The system can be used to migrate or replicate VMs.

The Vembu system is agentless and provides image-level VM backup and replication for Hyper-V standalone hosts and cluster servers. Data transfers are protected and optimized by encryption, compression, and deduplication Each repository update triggers a verification process to scan for corruption.

This package provides application-aware backups with log truncation and repositories can be used for cross-platform migration (V2V). A restore is completed in minutes.

The Vembu BDR Suite is priced per CPU-Socket or VM or server basis and there is a free version that is limited to backing up 10 VMs. The system is available for installation on-premise, offsite, or on a private cloud.

You can automate and test your backup and restoration strategies, including restoring in a full VM state or more granularly for added control.

Who is it recommended for?

The Free edition of Vembu BDR Suite will protect upto 10 VMs of Hyper-V or VMware management. This is a good offer for small businesses. Vembu offers a 50 percent discount on a subscription to cover 10 CPU sockets, which equates to 100 VMs. this also makes the service affordable to small businesses.

Vembu provides flexible licensing options that cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes and types. The Vembu BDR Suite is available for a full-featured 30-day free trial to enable you to test drive the product before making a financial commitment.

2. Veeam Backup & Replication

Veeam is one of the leading developers of backup, recovery, and data management solutions. Veeam Platform is available in two packages: Veeam Availability Suite (monitoring and backup capabilities) and Veeam Backup & Replication. The Veeam Backup & Replication is a commercial backup application that provides backup, restore, and replication functionality for virtual machines, physical servers, and workstations as well as cloud-based workload. It was designed to provide VM backup for VMware vSphere, Nutanix AHV, and Microsoft Hyper-V.

Key Features:

• Protects Multiple Virtualization Brands: Backup VMware, Hyper-V, Red Hat, and Nutanix
• Server Backup: Backup cloud and physical servers
• Recovery Automation: Instant VM recovery
• Repositories Can Be Used to Move VMs: Use for replication and migration

Why do we recommend it?

Veeam Backup & Replication is a security system to protect hypervisors run by Hyper-V, VMware, Nutanix AVH, or Red Hat VM. The package can also back up endpoints running Windows, Linux, and macOS, the AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud systems, and the Salesforce and Microsoft 365 SaaS platforms.

The software manages backups and image-based VM replication for both the virtualization layer and the physical machine. It backs up VMs at the image level using a hypervisor’s snapshots to retrieve VM data. Backups can be full or incremental. The available backup methods include forward incremental-forever backup, forward incremental backup, and reverse incremental backup. Additionally, there is an option to perform active full and synthetic full backups.

Who is it recommended for?

This service has a free version, the Community Edition, which can back up 10 instances of each VM type. This is an appealing service for small businesses. The paid packages add on monitoring services and the top edition includes automated recovery from the backup in the event of data loss or system destruction.

Veeam provides flexible licensing options that support both perpetual and subscription-based licensing models. A free custom demo and a 30-day free trial are available on request.

3. Hornetsecurity VM Backup

Hornetsecurity (formerly Altaro) is a company that develops backup solutions. Their flagship solution—Hornetsecurity VM Backup, was designed to provide backup, recovery, and replication of Hyper-V and VMware virtual machines (VMs). Hornetsecurity VM Backup prides itself as a fast, affordable, high-performance backup and replication solution, which can be installed in less than 15 minutes, without the need for complex configurations, software dependencies, or steep learning curves.

Key Features:

• Continuous Data Protection: Provides ransomware protection
• Multiple Simultaneous VM Backups: VMware and Hyper-V
• Live Backups: Send to repositories on Wasabi or AWS S3

Why do we recommend it?

Hornetsecurity VM Backup provides protection for VMS formed by Hyper-V and VMware. You can host your backup repository on Wasabi or AWS. Speed for transfers is aided by deduplication and WAN optimization.

Hornetsecurity VM Backup supports Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) and VMware vCenter. You can schedule backups and specify backup retention policies for individual VMs. The service has native integration with multiple cloud storage providers such as MS Azure, Amazon S3, and others. Transfers and storage are protected by AES-256 encryption.

With Hornetsecurity, you can perform daily backups of your VMs and replicate them to multiple backup locations simultaneously. You can back up numerous VMs at once, and you can back up live VMs and specify backup retention policies for individual VMs. Hornetsecurity also provides solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs)  to offer Hyper-V, VMware, and physical Windows server backup services.

Who is it recommended for?

This backup system interfaces with the native backup mechanisms of Hyper-V and VMware, which means that it is essentially a frontend for existing systems. That reduces the risks of incompatibility, so it is a reliable service. There is no free version, but you can get a free trial.

Hornetsecurity offers both perpetual and subscription-based licensing. Hornetsecurity VM Backup is available for a free 30-day trial to enable you to test drive the product before taking the plunge.

4. Nakivo Backup and Replication

Nakivo is a company that develops data protection and site recovery software for SMB and enterprise markets. The NAKIVO Backup & Replication software is a backup solution designed to protect modern virtual environments such as VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Nutanix AHV VMs.

Key Features:

• Manages Multiple Virtualization Brands: Backs up VMware, Hyper-V, and Nutanix
• Application-Aware: Choose application-specific backups, file backups, or full disk copying
• Repository Verification: Constant status monitoring

Why do we recommend it?

Nakivo Backup and Replication is a software package that runs as a virtual appliance. You can install it on Windows, Linux, or AWS. This system will back up Hyper-V, VMware, and Nutanix AHV. It can also update physical servers, NAS, and AWS EC2.

Deploy in minutes on a range of platforms: on Windows / Linux OS on a NAS to create a powerful backup appliance as a VMware vSphere / Nutanix AHV virtual appliance as an Amazon Machine Image. As soon as you install the solution, a configuration is simple, and you can start your first backup in minutes.

Who is it recommended for?

This system is suitable for any size of business. It is offered on a perpetual license or on a subscription plan. The service is accessibly priced for SMBs although there isn’t a free version. Nakivo also provides an edition for managed service providers (MSPs) with a multi-tenanted architecture.

NAKIVO Backup & Replication comes in several editions from Basic to Enterprise Plus to meet the data protection needs of organizations of any size. The license is perpetual and based on per CPU socket with one year of Standard Support. A free 30 minutes live demo and a 30-day free trial are available on request.

5. Veritas NetBackup

Veritas is a well-known enterprise data and storage management software company. Veritas offers a range of advanced capabilities to handle data management across VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, and Red Hat Virtualization environments.

Key Features

• Backup Multiple Hypervisor Brands: VMware, Hyper-V, Red Hat, and Nutanix
• Data Deduplication: Speeds up transfers and saves storage space
• Not Just for Recovery: Use for migration and replication

Why do we recommend it?

Veritas NetBackup is a service that integrates Veritas secure cloud storage for backup repositories. This is a sophisticated system that includes orchestration for recovery, which means that if an attack or an accidental deletion is identified by a monitoring service, Veritas will automatically put back the original data.

The Veritas NetBackup is an enterprise backup and recovery software built to protect the data center environments. The product backs up data to disk, tape, and public clouds, and protects VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisors. Key features offered by NetBackup include data deduplication, replication, and snapshot services.

Who is it recommended for?

This package is a high-end service and it will probably be too expensive for small businesses. This system can back up Hyper-V, VMware, Nutanix AHV, and Red Hat VM. Secure storage space is included in the price and both deduplication and encryption are employed for both data transfers and storage.

NetBackup supports a vast array of environments and the infrastructure stack including cloud platforms, databases, storage, and virtual systems to unify your entire data protection strategy. NetBackup is also available as part of an integrated backup appliance known as NetBackup appliance, which performs source and target deduplication. NetBackup appliances come preinstalled with all necessary hardware and software components and can be set up within minutes. Various recovery and disaster recovery (DR) options are available to help you recover from backups and unavoidable disasters.

6. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual

Uranium Backup is a product of Nanosystems—an Italian-based software development company. Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is the backup solution that is specifically designed for backing up virtual machines (VMs).

Key Features:

• Backup VMware and Hyper-V: One of eight backup editions
• Incremental and Parallel: Backup other technologies at the same time
• Hot Backups: Backup locked and open files

Why do we recommend it?

Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is one of eight editions of the Uranium Backup service. The company offers a free edition, but that backs up files and folders and it doesn’t have VM backup capabilities. The Pro Virtual edition is the second most expensive of the Uranium Backup packages.

Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is targeted at SMBs and can use it to back up, replicate, and recover VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines.

Who is it recommended for?

Uranium Backup Pro Virtual is a software package for installation on Windows or Windows Server. The system is charged for by an annual subscription but that isn’t “per” any factor. You can back up as many VMs as you like for no extra charge. The package back up Hyper-V and VMware.

Uranium Backup provides flexible licensing options from Basic edition to Gold edition to cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes and types. A single license will allow you to perform an unlimited number of backups. A free 21-day trial of the Gold edition is available for download.

7. IBM Storage Protect

IBM Storage Protect is an enterprise data protection platform that provides a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. IBM Storage Protect provides scalable data protection for physical file servers, applications, and virtual environments. It enables backups and recovery for virtual, physical, and cloud environments of all sizes. Backups can be managed by IBM Storage Protect Operations Center, VMware vSphere Client, or third-party software.

Key Features:

• Focused on File Servers: Offers file, physical server, and cloud account backup
• Virtualization Backup: Backs up VMware and Hyper-V
• Not Just for Recovery: Use for migration and replication

Why do we recommend it?

IBM Storage Protect has a long list of components, which makes it a complicated package. There are a range of enhancements and adaptations available for a higher fee, such as enhanced transfer speeds and multiple copies for rollback points. The service is all tied together by the Operations Center.

IBM Storage Protect Operations Center provides server administrators with the visibility required to manage backups with ease. Server administrators can restore individual virtual machines from the VMware vSphere Client or launch the IBM Storage Protect VMware graphical user interface to schedule, monitor, and perform backups. IBM Storage Protect container storage pools enable external cloud and object storage without additional hardware or gateways on popular cloud environments such as IBM Cloud, Amazon S3, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and others. IBM Storage Protect Plus is used to restore VM snapshots to the original or alternate hypervisor.

Who is it recommended for?

IBM Storage has a number of editions. You can subscribe to just one, some, or all of them and they all plug into the Operations Center console for administration. The VM backup system is called IBM Storage for Virtual Environments and it will back up VMware and Hyper-V hypervisors.

IBM provides a perpetual or subscription-based licensing model. A free online demo and a 30-day free trial are available on request.

8. Iperius Backup

Iperius Backup is a backup solution for Windows desktop and servers, cloud storage, databases, and virtual machines. It allows automatic scheduled backups and replication of VMware ESXi, vCenter, Hyper-V, MySQL/SQL Server, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, S3, and more. With a single installation, you can back up any Hyper-V or ESXi server in your network, without having to install any software agents. It can perform incremental, differential, and hot backups of VMware virtual machines.

Key Features:

• Multiple VM brands: Backup VMware and Hyper-V
• Choice of Backup Strategies: Full, incremental, or differential
• Hot Backups: Backup live systems

Why do we recommend it?

Iperius Backup is a software package that is packaged in a range of editions, which includes a version for virtualizations, which is called Iperius Backup Advanced VM. This is an almost identical service to Uranium Backup because it runs on Windows and Windows Server and is sold on a perpetual license.

Who is it recommended for?

This is a very appealing service for small businesses. It is reasonably priced and it doesn’t impose a rate per VM – it has no limit on the number of VMs that you can back up with it. This service will protect VMs provided by Hyper-V and VMware.

With its perpetual license model which can be purchased online, and centralized management through Iperius Console, you can easily monitor server and VM backups. Iperius Backup is also available as freeware.

9. Unitrends Backup

Unitrends is an American company that develops backup and disaster recovery appliances and related products. Unitrends products include several physical appliances ranging from small desktop backup appliances to large rack-mounted backup appliances, and virtual appliances for VMware and Hyper-V marketed as Unitrends Backup.

Key Features:

• Backs Up Multiple Hypervisor Types: VMware, Hyper-V, and Citrix
• Deployment Options: Hardware or virtual appliance
• Cloud Account Hosting: Run on AWS or Azure

Why do we recommend it?

Unitrends Backup is a product of Kaseya, the well-known brand of tools for managed service providers. There are a number of deployment options for the Unitrends system, which include an appliance and a software package. Rather than producing editions for different technologies, the Unitrends service is one package for all resources.

Unitrends Backup software is a virtual appliance that provides backup, replication, deduplication, archive, and instant recovery services. It is supported on VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, or XenServer. It can also be deployed as a virtual machine within the Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services cloud.

Who is it recommended for?

You can back up VMware, Hyper-V, and Citrix Xen systems with this tool. This system is designed for use by IT departments but there is a version for MSPs, however. The option to get an appliance to hold your repository is a unique feature among the tools on this list.

Unitrends also offers a multi-tenant public cloud-based service that offers off-premises disaster recovery in a single-tenant private cloud deployment methodology. A free online demo and a 30-day free trial are available on request.

10. MSP360 Managed Backup

MSP360 Managed Backup prides itself as a “powerful cross-platform backup and disaster recovery that leverages the public cloud to enable a comprehensive data protection strategy”.

Key Features:

• Backup Virtualizations: VMware and Hyper-V
• Backup Cloud Systems: SaaS packages, such as Microsoft 365
• Designed for Managed Service Providers: Multi-tenanted architecture

Why do we recommend it?

MSP360 Managed Backup isn’t a managed service and the provider sometimes includes “managed” in the name and sometimes leaves it out. Instead, this is a backup system that is designed for use by managed service providers (MSPs) when servicing their clients. The package will back up a range of technologies.

MSP360 Managed Backup comes with centralized management, monitoring, reporting, and integration support for AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, and Microsoft Azure. With MSP360 Managed Backup, you can easily backup your VMware and Hyper-V virtual machine workloads, as well as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Windows, Linux, macOS, among others.

Who is it recommended for?

This package is designed for use by managed service providers. It is a cloud-based package so the MSP doesn’t have to host the software. Backup repository space is also included in the price of the plans. The package can back up servers, VMs from Hyper-V and Vmware, and the data on the Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace platforms.

The MSP360 Managed Backup solution was designed with the MSP needs in mind. Once signed up for the service, you can access the control panel, where you are free to use your cloud storage or free trial storage from MSP360 AWS or Wasabi service. A free trial is available on request.