365 Environment and a 3-2-1 Backup

[petben]

We have 365 in Microsoft, we also pay a 3rd party to have a 'Cloud to Cloud' backup. BUT we all know about the reqwuirmeent for 3 data locations, so what does everyone do to satisfy this?

 

- Another cloud backup provider? Expensive.

- A cloud to onsite solution? This will require significant storage space and we are trying to remove onsite hardware.

- Does versioning satisfy this 3rd copy requirement? But then I have read about ransomware making 1000's of files version changes, hence rendering this useless.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[Steve21]

Bearing in mind the 3 locations is locations rather than services

 

Having a backup to two different locations via the same service still counts as part of that 3

 

steve

[k-strider]

We are google but the same theory applies.  - Synology offer the same tech for Microsoft 365as it does for Google workspace and its free.

 

what i have done is we have onsite 3 synology NAS boxes one is always on line and daily backs up our google workspace.

 

the other two i alternate switching on run the backup (takes 2-4 days) switch off... two weeks later do the same with the other.  rinse and repeat... i use patch Tuesday as my calendar day to remind me also to do this.  this gets me the offline copy because at any time only 2 out of the 3 will ever be online.  - i should move one Synology to another location we have sevral buildings... but i figured that the actual live google copy is in an other location anyway so what are the chances our site is phisically destroyed at the same time our real live data in google is also destroyed.

 

we are backing up < 20TB so its actually easy to do in small 4 drive Synology boxes without costing very much at all (i had to up the Ram by adding an 8GB stick to each otherwise the onboard 2 wasn't enough to cope with the active backup for google workspace) but it works really well... 

 

ive not used our backup synologys to restore anything rally other than testing, but have used our online live one a few times when people have "lost things" and the actually interface is easy for this.... i would say if i had to do big restores of lots of shared google drives from this i think it would be time consuming.... that's my only real worry

 

https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/feature/active_backup_office365

[petben]

the synology stuff looks interesting. I would be concerned of a backup taking 4 days. We already have a backup server that we could buy extra disks for, but (i think) synology wants its own hardware?

 

Has anyone any experience of Iperius? perpetual license for $200.

Iperius Backup - Disk image, ESXi, Hyper-V, SQL, Exchange - NAS, Cloud

 

Thanks

Edited November 10, 2025 by petben

[ThomL]

Iperius looks interesting, it's been part of the plan to buy a Synology device this year to act as backup for Office 365, but we do have a large backup server on-site that might be nice to use for this with Iperius... then again, maybe splitting these roles is a safer option, maybe at £200 it be better to do both...

[MYK-IT]

Redstor for Education

1545 - How Redstor complies with the 3-2-1 rule for backups

[petben]

47 minutes ago, MYK-IT said:

Redstor for Education

1545 - How Redstor complies with the 3-2-1 rule for backups

 

this looks good too, do you use Redstor? can you give an idea of pricing/size etc.

 

[MYK-IT]

22 minutes ago, petben said:

 

this looks good too, do you use Redstor? can you give an idea of pricing/size etc.

 

 

Yes, we use Redstor for Education.

 

Previously used Redstor for backing up on-site data only and a different product for M365 data backup - but moved both over to Redstor for Education when it was launched 18-months or so ago, as it offers unlimited backups of both on-site and M365 data (previously had to pay based upon amount of data space required e.g. cost prohibitive). Resulting in all on-site servers(data) and M365 data being backed up (at least) daily.

 

We also have a VEEAM backup server for on-premise backups too; but you could use a JBOD Server as an additional storage location for the Redstor for Education (onsite data) backups only - if required / deemed necessary - Either way, Redstor for Education as provided would meet the required RPA/NCSC/DfE Digital Standards.

 

Cost is based on Pupil count.

Edited November 10, 2025 by MYK-IT

[andy_b]

55 minutes ago, petben said:

 

this looks good too, do you use Redstor? can you give an idea of pricing/size etc.

 

 

Unlimited storage.  

 

Indictative costs are here https://www.edugeek.net/forums/topic/222667-cloud-backup-prices/page/2/#comments

 

But get a quote from a reseller - Redstor prices are high (we use Stone).

[localzuk]

I think the answer to this would be that your backup provider should be homing the data in multiple locations. So, someone like Redstor or Barracuda will themselves have multiple physical locations that provide those extra 2 locations.

[petben]

FYI - I just got an unlimited size, up to 1500 users - Redstor Basic Education Backup quote at £4,500, which I think is very reasonable. To get the 'Total' features which would include Entra backup is unfortunately another £2,500. Losing all those Entras users/groups/settings/policies would be a freaking nightmare, does anyone do anything worth sharing to back this this? There is the Entra Exporter PS module but (I think) that doesn't even have a restore option, just export...

[MYK-IT]

16 minutes ago, petben said:

FYI - I just got an unlimited size, up to 1500 users - Redstor Basic Education Backup quote at £4,500, which I think is very reasonable. To get the 'Total' features which would include Entra backup is unfortunately another £2,500. Losing all those Entras users/groups/settings/policies would be a freaking nightmare, does anyone do anything worth sharing to back this this? There is the Entra Exporter PS module but (I think) that doesn't even have a restore option, just export...

 

I've enquired about Redstor's total package, was an additional ~£2,000. As we have Veeam on-site too, I'm going to compare functionality/cost of adding Entra ID backup capability for VEEAM.

 

Free alternative, could be Introduction - Microsoft365DSC - Your Cloud Configuration, saving backups to SharePoint/OneDrive location which is then backed-up by existing Redstor Education Backup ⚖️

[mrstrong]

Do you have anything that compares their products e.g. Redstor Basic Education with Total e.g. a feature comparison, had a quick look on their website but 

couldn't see anything ?

[cheekycharly]

I went the Synology route, as it takes up little room and has built-in 365 backup functionality. If a disc goes or the device goes down, then no stress, as this is your third backup, so you have time to resolve it.

 

It's the easiest answer.

[Jawloms]

Anyone on LGfL, you get GridStor included which does cover the 3-2-1 and will also backup on-site servers, not just cloud stuff. For anyone not on LGfL and coming to the end of their Internet providers contract, I'd seriously look at switching to them. We recently switched and they've been outstanding.