Long-term retention - Instead of switching backup copies from disk to tape and moving the tape to an off-site location, you can use Azure for short-term and long-term retention. Azure doesn't limit the length of time data remains in a Backup or Recovery Services vault. You can keep data in a vault for as long as you like. Azure Backup has a limit of 9999 recovery points per protected instance. See the section in this article for an explanation of how this limit may impact your backup needs. Which Azure Backup components should I use? If you aren't sure which Azure Backup component works for your needs, see the following table for information about what you can protect with each component. The Azure portal provides a wizard, which is built into the portal, to guide you through choosing the component to download and deploy. The wizard, which is part of the Recovery Services vault creation, leads you through the steps for selecting a backup goal, and choosing the data or application to protect. Azure Backup components should I use? If you aren't sure which Azure Backup component works for your needs, see the following table for information about what you can protect with each component. The Azure portal provides a wizard, which is built into the portal, to guide you through choosing the component to download and deploy. The wizard, which is part of the Recovery Services vault creation, leads you through the steps for selecting a backup goal, and choosing the data or application to protect. Benefits Limits What is are Back up files and folders on physical or virtual Windows OS (VMs can be on-premises or in Azure) No separate backup server required. Backup 3x per day Not application aware; file, folder, and volume-level restore only, No support for Linux. Files, vault Application-aware snapshots (VSS) Full flexibility for when to take backups Cannot back up Oracle workload. Files, up up up
VM required backup with no backup infrastructure needed at disk level Cannot back up on-premises disks (using What are the deployment scenarios for each component? Component Can be deployed in Azure? Can be deployed Target storage supported Azure Backup (MARS) agent Yes The Azure Backup agent can be deployed on any Windows Server VM that runs in Azure. Yes The Backup agent can be deployed on any Windows Server VM or physical machine.1 Azure Backup vault System Center DPM Yes Learn more about . Yes Learn more about . Locally attached disk, Azure Backup vault, tape only) Azure Backup Server Yes Learn more about . Yes Learn more about . Locally attached disk, up up
Azure Backup vault Azure IaaS VM Backup Yes Part of Azure fabric Specialized for . No Use System Center DPM to back up virtual machines in your datacenter. Azure Backup vault Which applications and workloads can be backed up? The following table provides a matrix of the data and workloads that can be protected using Azure Backup. The Azure Backup solution column has links to the deployment documentation for that solution. Each Azure Backup component can be deployed in a Classic (Service Manager-deployment) or Resource Manager-deployment model environment. Important Before you work with Azure resources, get familiar with the deployment models: . Data or Workload Source environment Azure Backup solution and folders Windows Server ,1 (+ the Backup agent), (includes the Azure Backup agent) Files and folders Windows computer (+ the Azure Backup agent), (includes the Azure Backup agent)
workloads workloads Retention options Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Maximum recovery points per protected instance 9999 9999 9999 9999 Maximum retention period Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency Recovery points on local disk Not applicable 64 for File Servers, 448 for Application Servers 64 for File Servers, 448 for Application Servers Not applicable Recovery points on tape Not applicable Unlimited Not applicable Not applicable What is a protected instance A protected instance is a generic reference to a Windows computer, a server (physical or virtual), or SQL database that has been configured to back up to Azure. An instance is protected once you configure a backup policy for the computer, server, or database, and create a backup copy of the data. Subsequent copies of the backup data for that protected instance (which are called recovery points), increase the amount of storage consumed. You can create up to 9999 recovery points for a protected instance. If you delete a recovery point from storage, it does not count against the 9999 recovery point total. Some common examples of protected instances are virtual machines, application servers, databases, and personal computers running the Windows operating system. For example: