Software for Local Backup with UnMapped Network Drives

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JacobFW

New Member
Dec 10, 2019
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So first off, sorry, I saw quite a few other threads on backup software, but I wasn't able to find anyone I needed. Sorry for adding another one.

The critical feature that I'm looking for is the ability to do incremental backups to a drive on another machine on the same network, but WITHOUT having that drive mapped as a network drive on the local machine. So it will likely require that some software be installed on both the server itself and the local machine

Additionally:
* Supports Windows 7/8/10
* Can be either free or paid (as long as the cost is reasonable and NOT subscription based)

The idea behind not requiring network drives is to prevent ransomware from getting hold of the backup. I've actually had several clients at work had this exact thing happen to them (not to mention all the stories on the news).

Appreciate any help you guys can provide.
 

gregsachs

Active Member
Aug 14, 2018
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Duplicati can backup both to and from UNC path.
Another option would be to install Minio (S3 clone) on backup destination and use that as the duplicate target.
I've been doing option B over VPN for over a year.
 

BeTeP

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2019
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You do not give ransomware enough credit. Most modern malware scans the network and decrypts locally saved/cached credentials.
So just not having your shares mapped as drives is not going to save you.
 

JacobFW

New Member
Dec 10, 2019
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You do not give ransomware enough credit. Most modern malware scans the network and decrypts locally saved/cached credentials.
So just not having your shares mapped as drives is not going to save you.
I think there might be a misunderstanding here. Ideally the client machine has NO access to the backup files. All communication is done between the programs on the client and server machine that do the backup.

Regardless though, do you have a suggestion for a backup solution that fits these needs?
 

NashBrydges

Member
Apr 30, 2015
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You haven't mentioned whether you want to backup a virtual machine or a physical machine so trying to speak to both.

Veeam makes products that can address your need for both virtual and physical. Veeam Backup & Replication will handle your virtual (without the need to install an agent on the VM). Of course your choice of hypervisor would matter here as well.

Veeam Agent for Windows is the other product that can backup a physical machine in the way you are looking for (assuming it is a Windows machine).

I've used both for many years because they simply work and work very well.
 

pcunite

New Member
Dec 10, 2019
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The critical feature that I'm looking for is the ability to do incremental backups to a drive on another machine on the same network, but WITHOUT having that drive mapped as a network drive on the local machine.
How about software that will fire a script at job start, the script maps the drive, then another script fires upon job completion, unmapping the drive? But yeah, the direct socket connection would be nice too.
 

Stereodude

Active Member
Feb 21, 2016
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SyncBackSE is my suggestion. It can work directly with UNC paths (no drive mapping necessary). It can run scripts / program before and/or after. It can also run on a schedule or at login or logoff. I use it to backup my server to another nightly.