The 28 Best Backup and Disaster Recovery Software for 2024

Solutions Review’s listing of the best backup and disaster recovery companies is an annual sneak peek of the solution providers included in our Buyer’s Guide and Solutions Directory. Information was gathered via online materials and reports, conversations with vendor representatives, and examinations of product demonstrations and free trials.

Backup and disaster recovery solutions are vital for organizations that want to maximize uptime and protect themselves from threats, including cyber-criminals and natural disasters. Backup and recovery technology is also steadily advancing; as detailed in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions, “by 2022, 40 percent of organizations will replace their backup applications from what they deployed at the beginning of 2018.” This statistic shows how crucial it is that companies are up to date with their backup and disaster recovery plans; when your data is on the line, your backup technology has to be cutting edge.

Though backup practices have existed for years, there have been major changes and challenges in the space over the last two years. Today’s top vendors primarily focus on centralized management, overall ransomware resilience and detection, support for public cloud backup, instant recovery of databases and virtual machines, and subscription licensing. Additionally, leading vendors have begun to increase their investments toward developing capabilities to protect cloud-native workloads and include SaaS applications as part of their backup strategy. These changes speak to the cloud’s continued rise, significantly impacting the backup and disaster recovery market over recent years.

Note: The best backup and disaster recovery software is listed in alphabetical order.

The Best Backup and Disaster Recovery Software

Acronis offers backup, disaster recovery, and secure file sync and share solutions. The company also provides data protection in any environment, including virtual, physical, cloud, and mobile. Acronis True Image 2020 is personal backup software that enables users to duplicate their system, effectively capturing all of their data for system recovery or disk migration. Acronis Cyber Backup is aimed towards businesses of all sizes and offers proactive ransomware protection. Recently, Acronis acquired 5nine Software, CyberLynx, and DeviceLock. The vendor also released Acronis Cyber Protect.

Actifio enables Virtual Data Pipeline (VDP) technology and a “data time machine” for the enterprise, eliminating backup and restore windows and creating virtual, point-in-time copies of data on-demand for use by any business application. Instant data recovery means no delays in restoring data for any use. It’s enabled through a simple consumer-grade interface that is SLA-driven and application-centric in applying data protection. Actifio’s differentiated features in backup and recovery deliver functionality that can speed up backup modernization, improve recovery point and recovery time service levels, and apply granular protection at the application and VM level. It was recently announced that Google acquired Actifio to enhance Google Cloud data protection

Altaro provides users with Virtual Machine Backup and recovery solutions. The provider’s flagship product, Altaro VM Backup, has a straightforward UI that facilitates its use while being full-featured to create a robust backup strategy. The solution comes equipped with an outstanding support team determined to help clients succeed in protecting their environment. Everything can be managed and monitored from a single dashboard or by using the vendor’s online management console. Altaro VM Backup is an easy-to-use backup solution for Hyper-V and VMware. The solution boasts VM backup in less than 15 minutes.

Arcserve offers several different backup products, including Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP), Arcserve Replication and High Availability, Arcserve UDP Cloud Direct, UDP Cloud Hybrid, and a legacy offering. UDP provides comprehensive Assured Recovery for virtual and physical environments with a unified architecture and an easy-to-use console. The product enables organizations to scale their IT environments easily while delivering against recovery point and recovery time objectives, on-prem, or in the cloud. It also allows for the automated disaster recovery testing of business-critical systems, applications, and data, without business downtime or impact on production systems. Recovery testing can be fully automated or performed on a scheduled basis.

Asigra is built for cloud computing environments and designed to offer backup efficiencies by allowing enterprises to capture, ingest, and store less data. Designed for compatibility with public, private, and hybrid cloud architectures, the Asigra Cloud Backup solution is equipped with agentless software architecture, global deduplication, and data compression technology along with NIST FIPS 140-2 certified security. In addition, the vendor reduces recovery time objectives and eliminates silos of backup data.

Axcient offers a single solution that incorporates data protection, disaster recovery, archiving, and test/dev. The vendor provides two self-service platform options that can be managed by a single user: Axcient Business Recovery Cloud, which is the legacy solution, and Axcient Fusion, which was unveiled in 2016. Axcient Fusion is built to run on the public cloud, and both platforms offer one-hour and eight-hour RTO options. Axcient enables users to mirror their entire business in the cloud, thereby simplifying data access and restoration, failovers, and virtualization.

Barracuda Networks offers a complete cloud-integrated solution to protect physical and virtual environments that includes software, appliance, and offsite replication. The solution is simple to deploy, easy to manage, and offers users unlimited cloud storage. With an extensive range of supported environments and integration with copy file sync and share services, organizations can replace multi-vendor piecemeal backup solutions with an all-in-one appliance. The platform supports replication to another Barracuda appliance for private-cloud data protection or secure transfer to the Barracuda Cloud. In 2020, Barracuda acquired Fyde for an undisclosed amount.

Carbonite offers enterprise cloud-based backup, recovery, and storage solutions. The Carbonite Data Protection Platform allows organizations to deploy the right form of protection for each type of data in their systems—from long-term backup to rapid recovery, data migration, and endpoint protection. The vendor’s Cloud Disaster Recovery centralizes data backup and recovery on all computers distributed throughout an organization’s locations. Agents automatically back up the data over the internet to a highly secure data center. Additionally, in December 2019, OpenText acquired Carbonite.

Cobalt Iron’s flagship SaaS-based backup solution, Compass, reduces complexity and the amount of time spent on backup. Additionally, the software improves overall data protection performance. The enterprise data protection platform offers four main product components: Commander, Analytics Engine, Accelerators, and Accelerator Operating System. With this solution, users can access a range of analytics, driven data management capabilities through a unified web user experience. Additionally, the solution offers ransomware detection, alerting and notification, remediation capabilities, and is available in AWS, Azure, Google, IBM, and Alibaba.

Code42 offers backup, disaster recovery, and data loss protection solutions. The provider’s data loss protection solution (Next-Gen DLP) detects insider threats, satisfies regulatory compliance requirements, automatically monitors file activity across computers and the cloud, and facilitates incident response. Additionally, Code42’s security, IT, and compliance professionals can protect endpoint and cloud data from loss, leak, and theft while maintaining a collaborative culture for employees. This solution is recommended for backing up user data in the cloud or on-prem for compliance and simple recovery.

Cohesity is a data management company that manages, protects, and extracts value from enterprise data. The provider’s flagship tool, Cohesity DataProtect, safeguards a wide range of data sources on a single web-scale platform. The solution can be deployed on-premises on qualified platforms in the data center, public cloud, and on the edge. Additionally, the platform utilizes a scale-out architecture that starts with a minimum of three nodes and scales without disruption by adding nodes to the cluster. Through this solution, users have the ability to use backup data directly on the platform without needing to restore it, which allows for the consolidation of other use cases, including dev/test and analytics.  Recently, Cohesity raised $250 million in Series E funding.

Commvault provides data protection and information management software to help organizations protect, access, and use all of their data economically. The vendor has a long list of supported public cloud providers, hypervisors, big data support, and database protection. The platform is primarily offered as a software-only solution, but Commvault also has an appliance option and an enterprise-grade SaaS offering for backup and recovery through Metallic. Commvault also acquired the data storage solution provider, Hedvig. The vendor’s software, solutions, and services are available directly through the company, as well as through a global ecosystem of partners.

Datto offers backup and disaster recovery appliances, Software as a Service (SaaS) data protection, and managed networking products. The provider has more than 5,000 managed service providers across the globe that sell its products. Datto also boasts nine data center locations worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Iceland, the U.K., Germany, Australia, and Singapore. Datto is offered for data on-prem in a physical or virtual server or in the cloud via SaaS applications. The vendor is completely channel-driven and recently released SIRIS 4, a business continuity and disaster recovery solution built for MSPs. In 2020, Datto went public and acquired Gluh.

Dell EMC‘s backup and recovery solution is a prepackaged backup suite made up of several different components available for individual sale. These include Avamar, Networker, and Data Protection Adviser, with options for cloud backup and archiving. Dell EMC‘s solutions give a full range of data protection, from archive to continuous availability for physical, virtual, and cloud environments. The provider enables digital transformation through hybrid cloud and big-data solutions built on a modern data infrastructure, bringing together converged infrastructures, storage, and servers. The recently launched all-in-one Integrate Data Protection Appliance combines Data Domain with Avamar and DD Boost for Enterprise Applications. 

Druva delivers data protection and management for the cloud era. Druva Cloud Platform is built on AWS and offered as-a-Service. Druva Phoenix simplifies data protection, improves visibility, and significantly reduces the risk, cost, and effort of managing complex data. The solution operates seamlessly and can be managed from one location, giving IT administrators full visibility and control over server backups and data composition. Druva is used worldwide by over 4,000 companies at the forefront of embracing the cloud. Additionally, Druva recently acquired SFApex for an undisclosed amount. 

FalconStor provides data protection and recovery. The tool automates complex recovery processes to ensure data can be recovered before business operations are impacted. Users can proactively detect and alert performance bottlenecks and health risks using a real-time analytics module with historical and real-time trends and reports and streaming analytics. FalconStor also enables wide area network (WAN)-optimized replication options for disaster recovery and remote office protection. Users can reduce or eliminate backup windows and recover data as well. 

Hitachi Vantara is a wholly–owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., and offers an expansive portfolio of products for integrating, managing, and analyzing data. Hitachi‘s portfolio of data management solutions is best suited for modern environments. It can help organizations quickly improve their key performance metrics, including business continuity, backup windows, operational recovery, and disaster recovery. The tool also provides data protection and recovery for complex enterprise architectures. Hitachi Vantara recently acquired Waterline Data and Containership.

HYCU specializes in multi-cloud data backup, management, migration, protection, and recovery for on-premises and hyper-converged (HCI), Google Cloud, Azure Cloud, and multi-cloud infrastructures. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., HYCU harnesses 25 years of sophisticated IT experience, insights from over one million users, and works with more than 25,000 customers worldwide. The result is alignment with industry leaders and a competitive advantage in the multi-cloud space. HYCU’s flagship products, a purpose-built Data Protection solution for Nutanix, a managed Data Protection as a Service for Google Cloud Platform and Azure Cloud, and HYCU Protégé, a Multi-Cloud Data Protection Solution offer one-click cross-cloud migration, disaster recovery, and consolidated management. 

IBM offers a wide range of technology and consulting services, including predictive analytics and software development. The vendor‘s backup and disaster recovery solution, Spectrum Protect, is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It enables backups and recovery for virtual, physical, and cloud environments. The tool also offers VM protection with a searchable catalog and role-based administration. IBM Spectrum Protect is a suite of software offerings designed to help organizations manage and protect their data by simplifying backup administration. 

Infrascale offers an enterprise-grade disaster recovery solution that provides failover to a second site with the flexibility to boot from the appliance or cloud. The product is delivered as a physical or virtual appliance and includes disaster recovery software. Infrascale‘s dashboard simplifies data protection management by providing a single view through which the entire suite of services is deployed. An administrative dashboard, accessible from any browser or device, makes it easy to recover mission–critical applications and systems with pushbutton simplicity.

Micro Focus offers scalable solutions with built-in hybrid IT management analytics, security, and data management. The vendor merged with HPE in 2017 and now provides Data Protector, a comprehensive, centrally managed backup and recovery software for physical and virtual environments. Data Protector offers high-performing backup and recovery across various data repositories, applications, and remote sites in physical and virtual environments. It standardizes and consolidates backup and recovery processes so businesses can improve reliability, gain business resiliency, and reduce costs. 

NAKIVO offers a data protection solution for VMware, Hyper-V, cloud, and AWS EC2 environments. The vendor boasts five-star online community reviews, impressive customer support scores, and more than 10,000 global deployments. Over 150 hosting, managed, and cloud services providers use NAKIVO‘s software to deliver virtual machine Backup as a Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to their customers. The vendor also has over 4,200 channel partners in 140 countries. 

Rubrik primarily provides data protection and data management in hybrid IT environments with its flagship product, Rubrik Cloud Data Management (RCDM). The platform is a scale-out-architecture-based data protection tool with cloud integration, live mount for Oracle Databases, support for Office 365 backup, and support for SAP HANA backup. Additionally, in 2018 Rubrik acquired Datos IO, a company specializing in data protection of NoSQL databases. The vendor also offers Polaris Radar, a solution that provides ransomware detection and remediation. Rubrik‘s solution is recommended to buyers looking to protect highly virtualized on-prem environments and hybrid environments that leverage Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

SolarWinds MSP is an IT infrastructure management software provider. The vendor‘s data backup tool is called SolarWinds Backup and provides cloud-focused data protection services to both physical and virtual servers, workstations, business documents, and Microsoft Office 365. The solution is compatible with on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments. SolarWinds also offers storage in its global private cloud. The provider‘s other related capabilities include threat monitoring, mail protection and archiving, remote support, and remote monitoring. 

StorageCraft offers backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions for servers, desktops, and laptops. The vendor’s solutions reduce downtime, improve security and stability for systems and data, and lower the total cost of ownership. The vendor boasts four offices globally, 11,000 partners, and has backed up over one million devices. StorageCraft‘s business focuses on data protection and restoration tools that are offered via value-added and channel partners. However, it also provides scale-out storage, replication, recovery, integrated data protection, and more. The solution is supported by on-prem and cloud-based environments, as well as hybrid deployments. 

Unitrends Enterprise Backup provides a package of on-prem backup, backup to the cloud, cloud-to-cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) backup, and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) via integrated appliances and software–only offerings. The provider leverages high-availability hardware and software engineering with support services to provide all-in-one backup and continuity. Unitrends also offers hypervisor host-level security for VMWare, Hyper-V, and XenServer and more traditional security for physical servers and databases. Unitrends, a Kaseya Company also provides Recovery Assurance, available with Enterprise Plus, which delivers automated, application–level consistency sandbox testing of physical servers, Microsoft Hyper-V, or VMware vSphere VMs.  

Veeam Backup & Replication is a data protection and disaster recovery solution for virtual environments of any size. It provides fast, flexible, and reliable recovery of virtualized applications and data. The provider unifies backup and replication in a single solution, increases the value of backup, and reinvents data protection for VMware VSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual environments. Veeam offers free promotions for physical server backup and O365 Exchange Online. The solution also features data center functions, including tape support and snapshot storage integration, along with key deduplication backup integration. Recently, Veeam was acquired by Insight Partners for $5 billion.  

Veritas Technologies provides backup and recovery, business continuity, information governance, and storage management tools. Its NetBackup product is a single and scalable solution that can protect physical, virtual, and cloud workloads. Multitenant support is optional, and the solution is available on a converged platform that requires minimal administration, even in large environments. It eliminates point products and improves productivity within a business using centralized, policy-based management. Veritas also incorporates innovative technologies for data reduction and bandwidth efficiency while providing extensive indexing and search capabilities. To extend its digital compliance portfolio, Veritas acquired Globanet in 2020.