There are many backup solutions, each with their own pros and cons. It is hard to find one, though, that lets you effortlessly switch between physical workstations, virtual machines, multiple sites, the cloud, and SaaS settings. NAKIVO, a U.S.-based solution provider, straddles the entire backup value chain with its wide range of offerings and multi-tier subscriptions. If you administer a physical, virtual or hybrid environment, you will find NAKIVO Backup & Replication useful, particularly so when backing up Microsoft 365 data. Find out more in this review.
This is a sponsored article and was made possible by NAKIVO. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence, even when a post is sponsored.
Download and Installation
It’s easy to download NAKIVO Backup & Replication after a simple registration. Make sure you use a corporate email address in the visitor form. If your Microsoft 365 service is tied to a Hotmail/Outlook.com/Gmail account, you will still require a domain-based account for downloading purposes.
The NAKIVO installation varies according to the OS and device type. On the download page, you can see several installers for Windows, Linux, VMware Virtual Appliance, Raspberry Pi, Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, and more. Here we demonstrate a complete Windows installation.
Before starting, ensure you’re at least on a dual-core x86/x64 machine with Windows 10 or 11 and 4 GB RAM. (More is better.)
While running the installer in Windows, you may sometimes face a repository error, which is actually quite easy to fix. There are some essential TCP ports which need to be filled here. Click “More options” to access them.
On a Windows machine, enter “4443” in the Director web UI port, which is similar to a host device. For the transporter port, enter “9446.” If you’re installing NAKIVO on any other operating system or hardware, these TCP ports will change.
Wait a few minutes for the installation to complete.
Once the installation is over, you will see an “installation was successful” message. Click “Finish & Open” to start the installed program. This will open in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox.
How to Use NAKIVO Backup for Microsoft 365
Learning to use NAKIVO Backup for Microsoft 365 isn’t that difficult. You’ll first need to create an account to log in to the product. Use any email address including Hotmail or Gmail. NAKIVO chat support is very helpful if you find any issues in syncing your email address.
After logging in, you will see a main wizard where you need to add an inventory item to get started. You can upgrade your license and account details from “Settings.” There is a complete guide accessible from one of the options below.
I did notice a problem with NAKIVO’s browser wizard encountering an “https error” on their recommended browsers which wasn’t thankfully a big concern, as the installer had tested malware-free.
How to Create Microsoft 365 Backup with NAKIVO
To create a simple Microsoft 365 backup in the NAKIVO wizard, follow the below instructions.
- In the “Add Inventory item” wizard, select “SaaS” to add a Microsoft 365 account to the inventory.
- In the “Services” step, you can specify the Microsoft 365 services you want to protect, including “SharePoint Online,” “OneDrive for Business,” and “Exchange Online” (which manages Hotmail/Outlook or corporate emails). You can choose one or all of these services to protect.
- For centralized identities management, make sure that your Microsoft 365 account is integrated with Azure Active Directory. You can do this manually and select “Use an existing Azure AD application” or automate the process by clicking “Automatically register a new Azure AD application.”
- If you choose to automate the process, you will find a code in the last page of the Wizard that is generated online. It will help you integrate with Azure services. Click an on-screen link there, which will lead to the following Microsoft device login URL where you must enter the code and sign in using your Microsoft credentials.
- You will also get a notification alert from Microsoft Azure that your device is trying to sign in to its CLI.
- You will see a message that your Microsoft 365 service has successfully authenticated with NAKIVO. Click “finish” to complete the process of adding the account to the inventory.
NAKIVO Benefits
Apart from Microsoft 365 integration, there are many other benefits to using NAKIVO Backup & Replication.
1. Backup of Entire Laptop (Workstation)
If you have a physical Windows laptop or PC, it is prudent to back up all of its data. NAKIVO makes it very easy: you only need the device’s IP address, username and password.
The entire Windows machine backup starts instantly.
2. Virtual Machine Backup for Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster
For those who want to run their Windows PC as a server for business, a solution like NAKIVO can protect your server data automatically through scheduled backups. For this, Microsoft offers a hardware virtualization offering called Hyper-V, which virtualizes a machine’s hardware to run multiple operating systems at the same time. You can either set the machine as a standalone Hyper-V host or use it as a failover cluster for instant recovery.
3. Amazon EC2 Instance and Other Backups
Apart from Microsoft 365, NAKIVO supports the backup of Amazon EC2 instances, Oracle databases, Nutanix, VMware workstations, Linux-based local repositories, SQL, and other online services. You can refer to the detailed product guides for more information.
4. Replication and Deduplication of Backup Profiles
When copying system configuration on multiple client devices or virtual machines, administrators want to avoid duplication of efforts. NAKIVO supports the import of a single system configuration file, which can be replicated on almost every device/OS (and even fine-tuned there).
5. Disaster Recovery and Ransomware Protection
One of the best features of NAKIVO is its support for offline backup using USB drives and detachable NAS. Two-factor authentication protections have been added in the event of an unforeseen ransomware attack. This creates a robust disaster recovery strategy that can be helpful in the most adverse of situations. Hyper-V and Amazon EC2 already have excellent backup protocols. With NAKIVO’s solution, you get an extra layer of assurance.
Licensing and Availability
There is a free 15-day trial with all of the NAKIVO Backup & Replication features. The minimum requirement is a Microsoft 365 business account with administrator privileges.
You also need to buy standard support, which costs $0.80 per user per month with a minimum of 10 licenses per order. So if you have 18 users in your company, it translates to a minimum of 20 licenses at $16 per month. Considering the sheer scale of device/OS backup, it’s quite an affordable deal.
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
