Azure Backup - Highlights

Azure Backup offers multiple components that you download and deploy on the appropriate computer, server, or in the cloud.  The following matrix from the official documentation provides a quick summary of the options & key terms (for a better view of the table, click here) -


Feature Azure Backup (MARS) agent System Center DPM Azure Backup Server Azure IaaS VM Backup
Benefits
  • Back up files and folders on physical or virtual Windows OS (VMs can be on-premises or in Azure)
  • No separate backup server required.
  • Application-aware snapshots (VSS - Volume Snapshot Service)
  • Full flexibility for when to take backups
  • Recovery granularity (all)
  • Can use Recovery Services vault
  • Linux support on Hyper-V and VMware VMs
  • Back up and restore VMware VMs using DPM 2012 R2
  • Application-aware snapshots (VSS)
  • Full flexibility for when to take backups
  • Recovery granularity (all)
  • Can use Recovery Services vault
  • Linux support on Hyper-V and VMware VMs
  • Back up and restore VMware VMs
  • Does not require a System Center license
  • Microsoft Azure Backup Server version 3 (MABS V3) which is based on DPM 2016  supports Windows Server 2019 & SQL 2017
  • Application-aware snapshots (VSS)
  • Native backups for Windows/Linux
  • No specific agent installation required
  • Fabric-level backup with no backup infrastructure needed
Limits
  • Backup 3x per day
  • Not application aware; file, folder, and volume-level restore only,
  • No support for Linux.
  • Register upto 50 MAB agents per vault
 Cannot back up Oracle workload.
  • Cannot back up Oracle workload.
  • Always requires live Azure subscription
  • No support for tape backup
  • Back up VMs once-a-day
  • Restore VMs only at disk level
  • Cannot back up on-premises
What is protected?
  • Files,
  • Folders,
  • System State
  • Files,
  • Folders,
  • Volumes,
  • VMs,
  • Applications,
  • Workloads
  • System State
  • Files,
  • Folders,
  • Volumes,
  • VMs,
  • Applications,
  • Workloads,
  • System State
  • VMs,
  • All disks (using PowerShell)
Where are backups stored? Recovery Services vault
  • Recovery Services vault,
  • Locally attached disk,
  • Tape (on-premises only)
  • Recovery Services vault,
  • Locally attached disk
 Recovery Services vault
Can be deployed in Azure? Yes
The Azure Backup agent can be deployed on any Windows Server VM that runs in Azure.		 Yes
Learn more about how to protect workloads in Azure by using System Center DPM.		 Yes
Learn more about how to protect workloads in Azure by using Azure Backup Server.		 Yes
Part of Azure fabric
Specialized for backup of Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machines.
Can be deployed on-premises? Yes
The Backup agent can be deployed on any Windows Server VM or physical machine.		 Yes
Learn more about how to protect workloads and VMs in your datacenter.		 Yes
Learn more about how to protect workloads in Azure by using Azure Backup Server.		 No
Use System Center DPM to back up virtual machines in your datacenter.
Target storage supported Recovery Services vault Locally attached disk,
Recovery Services vault,
tape (on-premises only)		 Locally attached disk,
Recovery Services vault		 Recovery Services vault
Supported on (Azure endorsed) Linux? No ( Windows-based agent only) File-consistent backup of Linux Guest VMs on Hyper-V and VMWare

VM restore of Hyper-V and VMWare Linux Guest VMs

File-consistent backup not available for Azure VMs		 File-consistent backup of Linux Guest VMs on Hyper-V and VMWare

VM restore of Hyper-V and VMWare Linux guest VMs

File-consistent backup not available for Azure VMs		 App-consistent backup using the pre-script and post-script framework

File-level recovery

Create a VM from a restored disk

Create a VM from a recovery point.
Recovery Services vault Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk storage Yes Yes
Tape storage Yes
Compression
(in Recovery Services vault)		 Yes Yes Yes
Incremental backup Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disk deduplication Partially Partially
Network security
(to Azure)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Data security
(in Azure)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Network compression
(to backup server)		 Yes Yes
Network compression
(to Recovery Services vault)		 Yes Yes Yes
Network protocol
(to backup server)		 TCP TCP
Network protocol
(to Recovery Services vault)		 HTTPS HTTPS HTTPS HTTPS
Backup frequency
(to Recovery Services vault)		 Three backups per day Two backups per day Two backups per day One backup per day
Backup frequency
(to disk)		 Not applicable
  • Every 15 minutes for SQL Server
  • Every hour for other workloads
  • Every 15 minutes for SQL Server
  • Every hour for other workloads
 Not applicable
Retention options Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
Maximum recovery points per protected instance 9999 9999 9999 9999
Maximum retention period Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency Depends on backup frequency
Recovery points on local disk Not applicable
  • 64 for File Servers,
  • 448 for Application Servers
  • 64 for File Servers,
  • 448 for Application Servers
 Not applicable
Recovery points on tape Not applicable Unlimited Not applicable Not applicable


Other key points -
* No charge for the data that is transferred.
* Provides application-consistent backups which reduce the restoration time
* Recovery Services vaults can be used for short-term and long-term data retention
* Azure Backup creates recovery points that are stored in geo-redundant recovery vaults. When you restore from a recovery point, you can restore the whole VM or just specific files.

When thinking about a backup strategy, there are two metrics that will help you formulate your plans:
1. Recovery time objective (RTO): How fast do you need to get your data back?
2. Recovery point objective (RPO): How current must the data be when restored? (In other words, how frequently must you back up? Daily? Hourly?)

Also see -
HOW TO restore Azure Virtual Machine From a Backup Snapshot

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