What cloud backup solution supports a "backup server to cloud" configuration?

What online backup tool allows you to:

A) Back up Windows, Linux and optionally Mac desktops and servers to the cloud
B) Do so by first backing up to a central server or appliance
C) Allow restoring from that appliance when possible and if not go to the cloud

For now the best option I have seen is i365 by seagate with an appliance between the local computers and the cloud. I know Microsoft also has an i365 plugin for DPM, as well as an Iron Mountain plugin.

However, I feel that there must be a simpler way to do this. Can any of the "simpler" solutions like Jungle Disk or anything else going to s3, Mozy, Carbonite, Crashplan, etc do this? Thank you


Solution 1:

eFolder does this and they're awesome! You can use their software to backup all of your computers to a central location and then just backup that location to the cloud. They don't sell directly though, only through partners. So if you're a reseller, hit them up. If not, it shouldn't be too hard to find a good partner.

Solution 2:

I actually have this in place for a group of customers.

We achieve this by using Ahsay backup software.

  1. We have an account with our remote backup partner, which provides us with a managed, offsite location to replicate our data (it can also be replicated to another site you own with Ahsay's Replication Server).
  2. We install the client software(OBM) on the client machines. We set those to make a "local copy" of the backup on a NAS device we install onsite. Once the backup has completed to the local NAS, the software uploads the compressed, and encrypted data to our offsite partner.

If a restore is needed, we can pull the data from the local drive, or the web based interface, providing quick and easy restores from any location.

Ahsay can backup pretty much anything, on most platforms. The software also allows pre/post backup commands, and a very in depth scheduling system.

If you wanted a box solution, Ahsay offers that as well. The client software backs up to the NAS device, and that device streams the data to the offsite location.

Solution 3:

Barracuda Backup Servers do this quite well. Really happy with them so far (much much better for everyone than the ol' staple of Backup Exec and LTO tape drives).

Various sizes, flat rates per GB for off-site, block-level deduplication; nice Web interface, simple to setup; agent (for Windows: does Exchange, SQL, system state, files) and agentless (for SSH file transfers for Mac/Linux/UNIX). Restore tool, FTP, or Web browser-based for local or cloud retrievals.