Hyper-V Backup Designed for IT Professionals

BackupChain is a fully automated Windows Server and Hyper-V backup software for virtual machine backups and physical Windows Server backups.
BackupChain offers several key features to save time and storage space, such as built-in deduplication and full CPU core usage.

• Licensed per host: Hyper-V backup of unlimited VMs
• Works on all Hyper-V and Windows Server 2022 - 2008 / R2 incl. Windows Core
• Cluster Shared Volume and attached storage support
• Granular Backup and Restore for VHDX and VHD formats
• No agents necessary inside VMs.
• 24/7/365 Pro. Tech Support in Baltimore, MD, USA (Chat, Phone, Email )

Install BackupChain and Run Fully Automatic, Live VM Protection within Minutes After Your Download

BackupChain performs live Hyper-V backups of an unlimited number of VMs without any interruptions. Simply use the virtual machine tab and check the VMs you want backed up:

BackupChain supports VMs stored on a Cluster Shared Volume, local disk, a failover cluster, and remotely attached storage. VMs may be backed up simultaneously for VM-wide consistency or sequentially (default). Sequential protection ensures your server's resources are only used to a minimum. BackupChain does that by protecting one virtual machine at a time. This is great feature especially when you have a larger system with numerous VMs and want to minimize the system impact of your data protection processes.

You can also back up and restore Hyper-V snapshots, even on new hosts; all you need to do is select the VM in the screen shown above and the task configuration will automatically be updated.

Targets: Virtual machines can be stored to a local folder or disk, external drive, a network share, or via FTP using BackupChain's efficient deduplication algorithm which dramatically reduces processing time, bandwidth, and space requirements.

 

No Need to Install Agent Software inside Virtual Machines

When you use BackupChain you can access virtual machine files from the host. This method of accessing VM data is called "Granular Backup" and part of BackupChain Server Enterprise Edition.

You can Clone and Restore Virtual Machines on Different Hosts

Virtual machines may be restored anywhere as well as on the original host in a side-by-side configuration. Identifier clashes are automatically avoided using BackupChain's clone VM function when restoring (this is the default option).

Sequential and Simultaneous Virtual Machine Backups

In order to reduce system stress on your host, you can run protect VMs in sequence, one by one, rather than all of them simultaneously. Running VM protection tasks sequentially dramatically reduces stress on your host server. BackupChain also includes a simultaneous option for those users who require multiple-machine point-in-time consistency, which is useful when VMs run software that uses transactions across several machines.

Go Back in Time and Restore Previous Virtual Machine Versions or Older Data File Versions

BackupChain Hyper-V backup may be configured to hold on to any number of virtual machine backups. This means you can go back in time to a previous version of your data file or even an entire virtual machine. When you need to restore, you can restore entire virtual machines, individual disks, or files that were stored inside the VM at the time when it was copied or processed. See Granular Backup & Granular Restore sections below.

Automatic Protection and Recovery of Hyper-V Snapshots

Virtual machines containing snapshot chains are fully supported. You can even restore snapshots to new host servers (of similar CPU architecture and Windows version).

Option: Instantly Boot VMs from Your Target Folder

When you set up a new BackupChain task, you can use file-level deduplication, ZIP (or variants of ZIP) compression, encryption, or no processing at all. The latter option allows you to instantly boot VMs directly from your target folder because all files are stored in their native format. Simply create a new VM in Hyper-V's Management and point it to the VHD / VHDX file needed to boot.

Protect Virtual Machines Running Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server

BackupChain utilizes VSS to ensure application consistent Hyper-V Backups of your virtual machines and other data services running on your server. Backing up live Exchange 2007 or later and SQL Server 2005 and later is hence no problem because these are VSS aware services. You can use the Granular Backup and Granular Restore features discussed below to take folder backups of Exchange and SQL services from host without installing BackupChain in the VM. Using the Granular Restore feature you can restore point-in-time versions of Exchange or SQL Server data without restoring the entire virtual machine.

Granular Backup and Granular Restore

Granular Backup and Granular Restore are available in BackupChain Server Enterprise Edition and work with all modern virtual machine platforms, such as Hyper-V, VMware, and VirtualBox.

Granular Backup is an innovative new feature that allows you to back up individual files stored within a virtual machine. You can access VM files from the host but there is no need to install software inside the virtual machine (e.g. it's agent-less).

In order to use Granular Backup, you install BackupChain on the host and select files or folders inside the virtual machine's file system, see screenshots below:

First you select the virtual disk file. Supported are VHDX, VHD, VDI, and VMDK:

 

Then simply select the files or folders you want backed up inside the virtual machine:

 

 

Granular Restore is a useful feature to cut down on recovery time dramatically if you only need a parts of your virtual machine data restored. You can open your full virtual machine backups (deduplicated and compressed, or plain format) using BackupChain's Restore Screen and simply double click on a file to restore it, without restoring the entire VHD file. Alternatively you can select several files and folders and extract them to a new folder. The extraction process achieves this without restoring the entire virtual machine.

As you can see in the screenshot below, using Granular Restore only takes a couple of clicks and the files become available in less than a minute, even if you have over a dozen incremental deltas:

Note: Both Granular Hyper-V Backup and Granular Restore are features only available in BackupChain Server Enterprise Edition.

Full Graphical User Interface on Hyper-V Server and Windows Server Core Installs

BackupChain offers a full graphical user interface even when you connect to a Windows Core Server via Remote Desktop. Just as on a regular Windows Server you can back up virtual machines stored on local drives, iSCSI, SAN, and Cluster Shared Volumes to any local, network, or FTP targets with smart deduplication (delta compression) technology that saves costs, resources, and time. ZIP, uncompressed, and other formats are also available. Database server and regular file replication are also supported.

BackupChain may be installed and runs on all Microsoft Windows Server variants with full graphical user interface:

1. On Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 / 2016 / 2012 / 2008 / R2, Microsoft's free server operating systems.

2. On Microsoft Windows Server 2022 to Server 2008 Full Installation

Cluster Shared Volumes and Storage Area Network Drive Support

All BackupChain Server Editions support Cluster Shared Volume backups as well as attached SAN and iSCSI drives.

 

Local, Network, and Remote FTP Targets for Virtual Machine Protection

Since virtual machine images (VHD or VHDX files) tend to be fairly large, they need efficient processing. Ideally the target location should be another SCSI drive, an eSATA external drive, an USB drive, or another machine on a Gigabit network. BackupChain supports all these as well as FTP and FTPS targets to enable data centers to move their virtual machines offsite without sacrificing performance. When backing up VMs over FTP, BackupChain uses deduplication and uploads only the file contents that have changed since the last cycle.

Incremental and Differential Backups with File-Level Deduplication

Incremental means that the replication process will only process files that changed; however, in the case of virtual machines, the files are so large that it is not an option to retain a full copy of each VM at each replication cycle. BackupChain offers in-file delta compression technology to ensure Hyper-V backups use only minimal amounts of space. This type of compression reduces the load in the target location but also bandwidth requirements because only the actual change within the VM is stored. This is why BackupChain is perfectly suited for remote virtual machine protection, even via FTP. Because BackupChain's replication technology does not require a local history of VMs from previous cycles, your VM hosts can run on minimal hardware. You can easily move incremental and differential backups over the Internet since most VMs change only minimally each day.

 

Best Compression Rates using Multiple CPU Cores

Regular data compression is a standard feature in most archiving programs; however, when it comes to virtual machines, it is necessary to provide the best compression rate within a reasonable amount of time. In order to keep the replication time to a minimum, optimal resource usage is necessary. BackupChain offers full CPU utilization with or without CPU or CPU core number limitations. BackupChain compresses and encrypts target files (optional) with AES-256 (HIPAA compliant encryption) and utilizes all CPUs and CPU cores simultaneously. This technology draws the highest possible data rate from the RAID controller as possible. Note that throughput speeds may be limited to reserve enough resources for other services.

 

Flexible Multithreaded Task Scheduling

BackupChain offers a flexible scheduler that permits complex schedule settings and concurrent execution. This feature allows administrators to utilize their resources to fullest extent possible and create data copies at complex intervals as needed.

 

Remote Replication and Restore Feature

BackupChain is the only virtual host protection software with a built-in FTP server and client, which are the building blocks needed to set up an private remote synchronization system. Virtual machines can thus easily be backed up and restored offsite over the Internet at a remote location without the need for additional software. Administrators concerned about security can switch on the military-strength encryption feature (AES) and transmit over FTPS as an option.

 

Boot Virtual Machines Directly from the Target Folder

For users who don't need compression, the BackupChain Hyper-V Backup Wizard also allows you to configure data protection tasks without file processing if you want to boot your virtual machines directly from the target location; hence, VHDs and all other files are available in their original format so you can connect them directly to a new host server without a restore operation.

 

The Simplest Drive Rotation

You may use BackupChain on any drive or folder you want and freely rotate between them, i.e. you can unplug one USB drive and plug in another without updating the task configuration. There is no need to dedicate or format a drive specifically for BackupChain. For example, if you want to freely rotate USB drives, configure their drive letter to be the same for all drives, for example F:. Then simply unplug and plug in the next drive. There is no limit to how many drives you can rotate with and there is nothing you need to configure in BackupChain, it's fully automatic. All BackupChain needs to know for a restore is inside the target folder. In addition, you only need one of those drives to do a full restore. Note, you can change a drive's drive letter using Windows Disk Management.

 

Download Your Risk-Free, Fully Tech. Supported Trial Version Now

Download your trial version now, it's fully functional, requires no reboots, and is fully supported by our tech support department. Technical support and development are based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and available by email, live chat (use button on BackupChain's main page), and phone.

BackupChain offers a full user interface even on core installations of Windows and supports cluster shared volumes, iSCSI, and SAN. It comes with deduplication support, an advanced scheduler, FTP support, and Granular Backup, an innovative new technology which allows you to selectively back up files residing in virtual machines from the host without installing agents.

BackupChain can be installed on all versions of Windows: Windows Server 2022 / 2019 / 2016 / 2012 / 2008 / R2, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, and all Core installations of Windows.

U.S. tech. support for BackupChain is available (9 AM - 5 PM EDT) by phone, email, and live chat; a 24/7 support option is also available for Platinum license holders.

 

Download a full function 20 day trial of BackupChain from our download page and run your Hyper-V backups in minutes!