The Backup Manager works on all major operating systems.

Here is a full list:

OS Versions
Windows Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 10
Windows Server 2003 SP2
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows SBS 2011
Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2
Mac 10.6 Snow Leopard (64-bit)
10.7 Lion
10.8 Mountain Lion
10.9 Mavericks
10.10 Yosemite
GNU/Linux CentOS-5, 6, 7
Debian 5, 6, 7
OpenSUSE 11, 12
FreeBSD 8.4
9.1, 9.2, 9.3
10.0, 10.1

 

In addition to the 6 major Linux distributions that are regularly tested in-house, it is possible to run the Backup Manager practically on any GNU/Linux x86 and x86_64/amd64 distribution with GLIBC 2.3.2 or higher (with NPTL enabled).

Some features in the Backup Manager are specific to a certain operating system or sometimes the version of an operating system. For example, you will not find the System State data source on Mac and Linux devices. This is because the system state isn’t present on other operating systems except for Windows. Below is a detailed list of version-specific features.

Installation and initial set-up

On Windows and Mac computers, the Backup Manager is installed with the help of an installation wizard. You can run the installation in the following languages: English, Dutch, Russian, German, Spanish, French, or Portuguese.

Linux and FreeBSD users should install the software through the command line. After the installation and initial set-up, the Backup Manager can be accessed both through the command line and through a regular graphic user interface.

Data that can be protected

Practically any file located on a workstation or server can be protected against loss using the Backup Manager. Some files are not subject to backup – for example files from the Backup Manager installation folder and temporary files on Windows.

Complex systems such as databases, virtual machines and content management systems require specific approaches to keep backup data consistent (this guarantees that the system will continue working after recovery). That is why you will find different data sources in the Backup Manager (a separate data source for each type of data). Please find their descriptions below.

Files and folders

What it is: individual files and directories located on the computer that the Backup Manager is installed on.

Supported operating systems: all.

Network shares

What it is: individual files and directories located on a local network resource.

Supported operating systems: Windows. On Mac OS X and Linux, you should permanently connect the network resource to your desktop (it will be recognized as the Files and Folders data source after that).

System state

What it is: the operating system of the computer that the Backup Manager is installed on.

Supported operating systems: Windows.

Oracle

What it is: databases powered by Oracle Database Standard Edition 11g.

Supported operating systems: Windows.

MySQL

What it is: databases powered by MySQL Server 5x.

Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux (GLIBC 2.5 or higher required).

There are 2 types of MySQL backups in the Backup Manager. They are version-dependent.

  1. Cold backups (the MySQL server is stopped for some 30-60 seconds before a backup session starts; it’s necessary that no third-party applications should be keeping the database forcibly open at that time).
  2. Hot backups (the MySQL server keeps functioning while a backup session is running).

Hot backups are handled with the help of Percona XtraBackup (an open-source backup utility for MySQL). Cold backups are performed using the Volume Shadow Copy Service from Microsoft.

MySQL version Windows Mac Linux
MySQL 5.0 Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2003(hot backups)
All versions
(hot backups)
All versions
(hot backups)
MySQL 5.1 Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011(hot backups)
MySQL 5.5 All versions
(cold backups)
MySQL 5.6 Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8 / 8.1
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2(cold backups)

MS SQL

What it is: databases powered by Microsoft SQL Server.

Supported operating systems: Windows (see a detailed compatibility table below).

MS SQL Server version Supported Windows versions
MS SQL 2005 Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8 / 8.1
Windows Server 2003
MS SQL 2008 Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8 / 8.1
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
MS SQL 2012 Windows Vista
Windows 8 / 8.1
Windows Server 2008 R2
MS SQL 2014 Windows 7
Windows 8 / 8.1
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
Windows Server 2012 R2

VMware

What it is: virtual machines running on VMware vSphere (ESXi).

Supported operating systems: Windows Vista and later (64-bit versions for ESX 5.5 and 6.0)

Supported VMware vSphere (ESXi) versions: 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0. Note that access to most backup and recovery options requires a paid version of ESX.

Hyper-V

What it is: virtual machines running on MS Hyper-V 2.0 and 3.0.

Supported operating systems: Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2; Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2

MS Exchange

What it is: messaging systems powered by Microsoft Exchange Server.

Supported operating systems: Windows

Supported versions: MS Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016

MS SharePoint

What it is: content management systems powered by Microsoft SharePoint.

Supported operating systems: Windows (see a detailed compatibility table below).

MS SharePoint version Windows version(s)
MS SharePoint 2007 Windows Server 2008 R2
MS SharePoint 2010 Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
MS SharePoint 2013 Windows Server 2012

SIMS

What it is: databases created using School Information Management System products and FMS MultiView.

Supported operating systems: Windows Server editions.

Data backup options

Major data backup features are available on all of the supported operating systems.

  • One-time backups (initiated manually)
  • Regular backups (run on a user-defined schedule)
  • Flexible backup selection (exclusion filters, priority files)
  • Seed loading backups (for large data sets)
  • Pre- and post-backup scripts (for example, restart the system after backup)
  • A backup copy on a local drive or a network share for faster backups and restores (LocalSpeedVault)
  • Uninterrupted backups when there’s no Internet connection (LocalSpeedVault)
  • Archiving important backup sessions (they’ll never be deleted from the Cloud unless you choose so)
  • Detailed reports on the results of each backup session (available on the “Overview” tab)

Windows versions support an additional set of features:

  • The backup of open files (on Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows)
  • The creation of a virtual image of an operating system (Standby Image backup). Available on Windows 7 and 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows SBS 2011 and Windows 2012 / 2012 R2.
  • Speedy subsequent backups of large files (Backup Accelerator). Available on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2.
  • Automatically populating a backup selection for the Files and Folders data source based on preferred file extensions (Automatic File Selection).

Data recovery options

Most data recovery options work on all of the supported platforms.

  • One-time recovery (initiated manually)
  • Continuous recovery (synchronous with backups)
  • Flexible data selection
  • Choice of target location (original or new)
  • Detailed reports on the results of each recovery session (available on the “Overview” tab)

Windows versions support two additional features:

  • Recovering a failed system directly to bare hardware without a prior OS installation (Bare Metal Recovery).
  • Recovering a failed system to a virtual machine (Virtual disaster recovery). Please see the table below for the list of recovery targets and system compatibility details.
Recovery target Windows versions to perform recovery from
VMware vSphere Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2
Hyper-V Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server SBS 2011
Windows Server 2012 / 2012 R2
Microsoft Azure Windows 7 (not confirmed by Microsoft)
Windows 8 (not confirmed by Microsoft)
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
Amazon Cloud Windows Server 2008 (Standard, Datacenter, Enterprise)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (Standard, Datacenter, Enterprise)
Windows Server 2012 (Standard, Datacenter)
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Standard, Datacenter)

Data processing technologies

Backup data is processed locally on the client side and then sent to remote storage. Data processing isn’t platform-dependent so all users can benefit from advanced data processing technologies such as deep deduplication, delta slicing, directory hashing, compression, secure encryption, caching and so on.

Other options

The rest of the features are available on all of the supported operating systems.

  • Multi-lingual support. The Backup Manager can be used in any of these 7 languages: English, Dutch, Russian, German, Spanish, French, or Portuguese.
  • Custom branding. You can brand the Backup Manager for your end users removing references to the developer (this is done through the Cloud Management Console). Use a custom name, logo, color scheme, and icons.
  • Remote management. You can install the Backup Manager remotely through the Cloud Management Console and send remote commands to the Backup Manager devices of your end users.
  • Proxy connection. The Backup Manager can work from behind a proxy server.
  • Email reports. Enable the delivery of email notifications on the statuses or recent backup and recovery sessions. This can be done by an end user in the Backup Manager or remotely by a service provider or a system administrator.
  • Bandwidth usage control. Be sure your bandwidth usage will never exceed a specified limit.
  • Updates.There are 2 ways to update the Backup Manager to the latest version: by downloading the latest version and installing it on top of the current one or by letting the app update itself automatically.