We have a Synology NAS and want to use Active Backup for PCs, servers and M365.
Active Backup for Business comes free with every supported Synology. For small SMB it's seriously capable: image-level Windows, VMs, file servers, M365 and Workspace. The catch is the NAS becomes your single point of failure, so cover that.
Try this first
- 1Confirm your Synology model supports Active Backup and has enough RAM. Below 2 GB it runs, but slow restores and failed tasks follow.
- 2Create a dedicated shared folder on Btrfs as the backup target. Btrfs gives snapshots and checksums, ext4 doesn't. Enable scheduled snapshots on that folder.
- 3Install the Active Backup agent on laptops and servers, connect to the NAS, and set a schedule per machine with sane retention (for example 30 daily, 12 weekly, 6 monthly versions).
- 4For M365: add the tenant via Azure app registration, pick services to back up (Mail, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams) and set a schedule. The first backup often takes days, plan space.
- 5Add a 2nd backup hop: Hyper Backup the Active Backup folder to another location (Backblaze B2, Synology C2, a 2nd Synology). Active Backup alone is 1-1-0, not 3-2-1.
- 6Test a file-restore and a bare-metal restore (P2V recovery from a Synology Image-Boot ISO or Hyper-V import) at least quarterly. Untested is unproven.
When to bring us in
Hundreds of endpoints, mixed sites, application-consistent database restores or sub-hour RTO push Active Backup out of its comfort zone. Veeam, NAKIVO or Acronis are fairer picks then. Ask for a review.
See also
- We have backups but we do not know if they workA backup that cannot be restored is not a backup. Testing matters as much as taking the backup.
- Suspected ransomware: what to do RIGHT NOWThe first 30 minutes are critical. One wrong move spreads the damage. Read before acting.
- Someone accidentally deleted an important folderUsually fine to recover. The trick: do not save anything new on that drive until you know how.
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