Backup your Endpoints for free with Vembu

Contents

The ability to Backup and Restore your mission-critical data is crucial in today’s world. It seems that malicious attacks on our data such as Ransomware are on the rise, we seem to hear about them on a daily basis.

Recently I have been evaluating Vembu Backup for Endpoints. The primary use case for this was to back up my personal Windows PC, Laptop, and my Lab environment.

Even though I store most of my important data on a cloud service, I am still fearful of potential ransomware attacks on my devices and I would like a copy of my data locally in my lab so that I can restore quickly. I also wanted a zero or low-cost option.

This is where Vembu comes in. They offer their software for free for up to 10 endpoints and after this, it’s still really good value on a per-endpoint basis for additional machines!

Key Features of Vembu Backup for Endpoints

Vembu is a solid backup solution for all kinds of Endpoints, they support Windows, Mac, and Linux via an agent-based backup mechanism (which can be deployed automatically from the server-side software)

Vembu Backup for Endpoints includes the following features:

Backup at File and Folder Level: The agent-based approach means that you don’t need to backup everything in one backup job, You can select key files and folders, saving valuable backup space on your backup repository drive. Also included are encryption and incremental backup options to save space on the backup repository.

Impressive Scheduling with CDP enabling backups every minute, hour, or daily. Great for protection against ransomware.

Interruption-Free: If a backup is stopped, it will automatically re-commence as soon as it can.

Restore Anywhere: Vembu’s Restore Nayware technology is just that. Once you have a backup you can restore the files and folders back to the source machine or to another completely different location.

Getting Started with Vembu Backup for Endpoints

Downloading Vembu’s all-in-one installer for free

The download of Vembu’s software couldn’t be easier, there are no signup forms or any prompts.

Just head over to the website and press download.

No matter which of Vembu’s backup solutions you wish to use, the installer is the same for them all. This makes getting started really easy. Easy yet functional is a common theme with the software.

Installing Vembu’s Backup & Disaster Recovery Software

Even if you wish to deploy a clustered version of Vembu BDR, the installation is almost Next > Next > Next Finish. Once again, Vembu makes installation incredibly easy, how it should be!

And that really is it!

Using Vembu’s Backup & Disaster Recovery Software

After the installation is complete, the application will open automatically.

In this example, I will be taking a disk-based backup of my Ubuntu system in my Lab. However, the solution works with Windows, Linux and Mac Desktop endpoints.

Storage Repository

First, we need to set up a Storage Repository to store backups. This should ideally be on an external system to your source machines. The process for this is fully guided:

Data Sources

After setting up the Storage Repository, we need to specify which Workstations we need to backup.

This is completed via the Data Sources Wizard.

You’ll notice that you can install the agent while registering the workstation with the software.

Backup Jobs

Finally, we can create our backup jobs.

Setting up the job is also fairly simple. There are 4 sections to complete but this is only something you would do once per backup job. If you have the same backup settings for more than one machine, you can add them all to the same backup job to save significant administrative time!

The 4 sections are:

Host Selection
Files/Folders selection
Scheduling
Settings

Each section has its own optional advanced settings for the configuration.

The verdict

I really like the simplicity that comes with the Vembu offering. Everything from the all-in-one installer, right through to the simplicity of setting up backup jobs is really smooth.

The option to back up 10 endpoints at no cost is a great way to gain trust in your backup vendor.

I also like the option to use the other Vembu features from the same UI without installing additional software. These include the Backup and Replication offerings for on-prem workloads and also all the Cloud options too!