Best Hybrid Backup for Business 2020: Solutions for the Entrepreneur

By Branko VlajinWriter
— Last Updated:
2018-07-02T09:12:28+00:00

Hybrid backup enables you to save a copy of your data to a local drive in addition to the cloud. Not only does it give you another layer of protection for your business data, but it also helps you quickly restore files because it’s faster to restore from a local device. That’s why we wanted to select the best hybrid backup for business options for you.

When we say “local device,” that includes your computer’s internal hard drive. However, storing your backup on your computer defeats the purpose of backing up your hard drive because an act of nature or a hard-drive failure will destroy your data and your backup of it.

It’s also best not to rely on one of our best data recovery software apps to help you retrieve your files, because it’s not certain they’ll be able to do that. You might not even be in the clear if you use SSDs, which have a failure rate of less than one percent but are more prone to data errors than HDDs.

It’s wiser to backup to the cloud and a separate location, such as an external drive or NAS device (you can learn more about them in our what is NAS explanation). If you don’t have an external drive and are at a loss as to which one to buy, consult our best external hard drive roundup for recommendations.

Having your data in the cloud and on a local drive is useful because it enables you to implement the 3-2-1 backup rule.

That said, if you’ve stumbled here looking for a great overall service, consult our best online backup for small business comparison. Otherwise, we’re going to talk about the criteria we’ve used to create our best hybrid backup list and then proceed with the entries. For more information about business backup, read our business backup library.

Best Hybrid Backup Solutions for Business 2020

  1. 1
    • Continuous Backup
    • Incremental Backup
    • External Drive Backup
    • NAS Backup
    • Server Backup
    100-1000 GB
    $ 1125
    Save 25 %
  2. 2
    • Continuous Backup
    • Incremental Backup
    • External Drive Backup
    • NAS Backup
    • Server Backup
    250 GB - 12.5 TB
    $ 829
  3. 3
    • Continuous Backup
    • Incremental Backup
    • External Drive Backup
    • NAS Backup
    • Server Backup
    Unlimited GB
    $ 1000
  4. 4
    • Continuous Backup
    • Incremental Backup
    • External Drive Backup
    • NAS Backup
    • Server Backup
    200-Unlimited GB
    $ 417
  5. 5
    • Continuous Backup
    • Incremental Backup
    • External Drive Backup
    • NAS Backup
    • Server Backup
    250-500 GB
    $ 2400

What Makes the Best Hybrid Backup for Business

All services on this list obviously support hybrid backup, but we’ll check what kind of options (if any) they offer when you enable it. Having those options is useful because they let you tweak your hybrid backup to your liking. 

Next, we will take a look at the value of the subscription plans. It’s best if you get a service with a lot of backup space so you can utilize hybrid backup to its full potential. The more you get for the price, the better. 

It’s also useful if a service has various plans you can choose from because, that way, it will be easier to find one that fits your business setup. If you need a lot of space, though, read our best unlimited online backup guide.

The service should be easy to use because most users don’t want to hassle with it, they just want to backup their data and move on. To accomplish that, the service should have a straightforward and enjoyable user experience. Plus, the service should work on most operating systems and make it easy to backup and restore files.

The last factor is cloud security. How strong it is depends on the level of file encryption, the TLS/SSL protocols that protect files in transit, security features of the data centers and more. 

We give bonus points to solutions that offer private, end-to-end encryption because it stops anyone but you from reading your files. Two-factor authentication helps, too, if someone manages to steal your credentials. If enabled, it requires you to enter a security code that you get via SMS, in addition to your username and password.

Best Hybrid Backup for Business: BigMIND Business

BigMIND Business comes from Zoolz, the company that also created Zoolz Home Cloud Backup and BigMIND Home. If you’re also interested in home backup, read our separate Zoolz Home review and BigMIND Home review

It includes Hybrid+ technology, which lets you perform hybrid backup and tweak settings to limit the size of your local backup, filter files that go to local backup and copy previously backed up files to Hybrid+. You can also choose to backup to your external device, local drive or NAS.

BigMind-for-Business-homepage-2019

That said, before you decide to subscribe to BigMIND Business, you can use its 15-day free trial to see if it’s a good match. If you do, BigMIND Business offers four plans that you can subscribe to: starter, standard, premium and smart archive. Тhey all give a discount if you pay in advance.

The “starter” plan gets you 250GB of backup space, lets you backup one server and have 10 users. That’ll cost you $15 per month. The “standard” plan, which costs $39 per month, lets you backup 250GB of data, protect 10 servers and have 100 users. It also adds unlimited network and external-drives support. 

The “premium” plan increases the maximum number of servers to 50 and the number of users to 500 for $37.50 per month. The last plan, “smart archive,” can accommodate the same number of servers and users, but provides 1TB of cold storage, which is a form of storage that is slow and works best for archiving files that you don’t need to restore often. It’s $40 per month.

Other Reasons We Like BigMIND Business

BigMIND’s desktop client works on Windows and Mac. Its starting window shows everything you need to know about your backup at a glance. Overall, it’s easy and simple to use.

The main view of the web client is the dashboard, and it also shows all the relevant information you need to get an overview of your entire business backup. Plus, it has powerful search options, and the web client is attractive and straightforward. 

BigMIND Business manages your encryption key by default. There’s no way to enable private encryption, which means that BigMIND can potentially decrypt your files, if it wants. If you’d like to learn more about this important feature, read our what is zero-knowledge explanation).

We like BigMIND’s security and other powerful features it provides with Hybrid+ technology, as well as how easy it is to use, but it’s big drawback is the steep price. 

However, even with that steep price, other services have more serious drawbacks, so BigMIND managed to rise above the rest, albeit by a small margin. If you’d like to know more about it, though, read our BigMIND Business review.

Pros:

  • Backup unlimited devices
  • Backup by file type
  • Hybrid backup

Cons:

  • No continuous backup
  • Hybrid+
  • Expensive


IDrive for Business

IDrive is our long-time favorite backup service, so it’s no wonder that it made this roundup. Whether it’s the home or business variant, IDrive doesn’t lack key features and provides them at a fair price.

Its hybrid backup lets you backup to your hard drive, external drive or a network drive (including NAS). There’s no way to tweak any other hybrid backup options, and you’ll need to backup your data to the cloud separately because there’s no option to do it automatically when you backup to a local destination.

IDrive-for-Business-homepage-2019

That’s far from the best way to implement hybrid backup, but IDrive for Business makes up for that with its great value. 

IDrive Business has six plans you can choose from, which gives you a lot of flexibility. The first two plans require you to pay for a year or two in advance, which gives you a 25-percent discount. The other four let you pay monthly, too. In addition to the backup space, all the plans provide the same amount of sync space.

The first plan, which gives 250GB of backup space, is $74.62 per year. The second gets you 500GB for $149.62 per year. The third plan lets you backup 1.25TB for $374.62 per year. If you want to protect 2.5TB of data, you’ll have to dish out $1,199.25 per year. Protecting 5TB will set you back $1,124.62 per year. The final plan is $2,249.62 for 12.5TB.

The prices might seem high, but they are actually a good value, considering how business prices go. Plus, all the plans let you backup an unlimited number of devices.

Other Reasons We Like IDrive for Business

IDrive’s desktop client is available for Windows and Mac, but not for Linux. If you want that, you should consider one of the services on our best online backup for Linux roundup. 

The client doesn’t feel modern or attractive, but it’s clear and easy to use. It also helps that it automatically selects common folders for backup.

You can also access and restore your backup using IDrive’s smartphone apps for Android and iOS. They can also backup your mobile data. Thanks to that, IDrive earned the top spot in our best online backup for mobile roundup. 

As far as security goes, the TLS/SSL protocol protects your files in transit, before they reach IDrive’s server (you can learn more about the protocols in our SSL vs. TLS comparison). Once they do, IDrive uses 256-bit AES encryption to protect your files at rest.

By default, IDrive will hold on to your encryption password, but you can create and manage your encryption key yourself if you enable private encryption when you first set up IDrive. You won’t be able to do that once you start the backup process. 

However, encryption doesn’t help if someone manages to steal your credentials. Because of that, you should create a strong password and enable two-factor authentication from the web client. Plus, you can remotely disable sync for the devices on your account. That helps if someone steals your device.

IDrive for Business provides good value, strong security and fine ease of use, but it is a cumbersome way to perform hybrid backup. Because of that, we’ve placed it second on this list. That said, it has a lot of other features, and you can learn more about them in our IDrive for Business review.

Pros:

  • Unlimited device backup
  • Block-level backup
  • Private encryption

Cons:

  • Limited continuous backup
  • Have to make two separate backups for hybrid
  • The clients need updating


CrashPlan

CrashPlan used to support home users, but now it only supports business users. That — and the fact that it supports hybrid backup — makes CrashPlan a good fit for this roundup.

Its hybrid backup implementation lets you backup to a local destination and the cloud, but it doesn’t let you backup to a NAS device.

CrashPlan-homepage-2019

That might turn away some users, but CrashPlan’s prices make up for that lack. Its single pricing plan is $10 per month per computer, which gets you unlimited backup to work with. Unlimited backup makes it easy to backup your files because you don’t have to think about how much space you have. Instead, you can just backup everything you need to. 

It’s also easy to add new computers to your backup plan. There’s a 30-day free trial you can use to test the service, too. Just keep in mind that, with this plan, you’ll pay for the number of computers that CrashPlan sees as “active” in your administration console, no matter if they have backed up any data or not.

Other Reasons We Like CrashPlan

You can use CrashPlan’s desktop client on Windows, Mac and Linux. There’s no support for mobile apps anymore, so if you’re away from your computer, your only choice is to use the web client.

The desktop client isn’t hard to use, but the backup operation could be simpler. CrashPlan backs up based on file location, which means you need to manually tag folders and files for backup. 

That takes more time and increases the chance that you’re going to forget to include a file. If you want to backup by file type, read our Backblaze for Business review. However, Backblaze doesn’t offer hybrid backup. 

CrashPlan uses AES 256-bit encryption to protect your data on its servers. The encryption starts before your files leave your computer, but CrashPlan will manage your encryption key by default. However, you can enable private encryption from the security settings of the desktop client.

In addition to that, CrashPlan enables you to use two-factor authentication to protect your credentials. For more details about CrashPlan’s security, read our CrashPlan review.

Pros:

  • Unlimited backup
  • Unlimited computers
  • Private encryption

Cons:

  • Doesn’t backup by file type
  • No mobile app
  • Can’t backup to a NAS device


Acronis Backup 12.5

Acronis Backup is one of the more expensive services on the market, but it’s also one of the most feature-rich. As such, it’s no surprise that it offers hybrid backup.

When you set a local device as your backup destination, Acronis Backup will let you enable backup replication to the cloud. You can have Acronis keep your data in the cloud for a set number of days, until you reach a quantity limit, or even keep it indefinitely.

Acronis-2019-homepage

Acronis Backup has standard and advanced versions. The advanced version provides more features but is more expensive. Both versions require you to pay for a year in advance, so we recommend that you use the 30-day free trial first to see whether Acronis is a good choice for you.

The fact that Acronis requires you to pay an additional fee for using its cloud storage with your backup — and that it is far more expensive than value-oriented online backup services — should help you make up your mind.

For example, if you want to protect 250GB of data for a year, you will need to pay $69 for the standard version or $99 for the advanced version, along with $299 for that amount of cloud storage space. That comes out to $368 per year for the standard variant. That’s not cheap, considering the amount of space you get.

Other Reasons We Like Acronis Backup 12.5

Acronis requires you to download a backup agent, but you can manage your computers either using separate workstation web clients or an administrator web client, which provides an overview of all your devices. 

The workstation web client takes more than a single click to set up your backup, but it’s attractive and easy to use, overall. Acronis’ administrator web client is similar to the workstation one, with the addition of the user manager view.

Acronis also provides mobile applications to access your computer backups while you’re on the go. The apps are simple and shouldn’t give you any issues.

Acronis Backup 12.5 also provides protection against ransomware with Acronis Active Protection, which constantly checks for evidence of ransomware infection. The only security downside is the lack of two-factor authentication. For that reason, make sure that you know how to set up a strong password.

Acronis is on the expensive side, but it offers many features to make up for it. If you’d like to learn the details about its features and see the complete pricing table, read our Acronis Backup review.

Pros:

  • Private encryption
  • Mobile backup
  • Advanced backup settings

Cons:

  • Very expensive
  • No two-factor authentication


Carbonite Safe Backup Pro

Carbonite Safe Backup Pro lets you backup unlimited computers, external drives and NAS devices. It also provides hybrid backup.

Carbonite Safe Backup Pro has three subscription plans, but the first one doesn’t include “Carbonite Safe Server Backup” which you need to have to enable hybrid backup. You can compare the plans on this page. All of them require you to pay for a year in advance. 

Carbonite homepage 2019

You can get a five-percent discount if you sign up for two years or 10 percent if you sign up for three. Even with that in play, the prices are steep. Because of that, be sure to use Carbonite’s free 30-day trial to see if what you’re getting is worth it.

The “power” plan lets you backup 500GB of data across multiple computers and a single server for $799.99 per year. The “ultimate” plan enables you to backup the same amount of data, but it also provides support for unlimited server backup. It will set you back $1,299.99 per year. You can increase your storage on both plans in 100GB increments for $99 per year.

Other Reasons We Like Carbonite Safe Backup Pro

Carbonite’s desktop app is straightforward. It shows the status of your backup and provides links to settings, and it also lets you access your restore and initiate the restore process.

You can also use the web client to manage your backup. It’s simple and clearly shows all your protected computers, servers and users at the bottom of the screen for an easier overview. 

Carbonite also has apps for Android and iOS that let you access files backed up from your computer, but it can’t backup your smartphone data. Overall, though, all of Carbonite’s clients are easy to use.

Carbonite manages your private key by default, but if you want to manage it yourself, you can opt in for private encryption during Carbonite’s installation. 

In addition to at-rest encryption, Carbonite uses the TLS protocol to protect files in transit to Carbonite’s servers. Plus, there’s two-factor authentication, which you can mandate for associates using your account.

We’ve placed Carbonite in last place due to its steep prices, its use of an outdated encryption and the lack of other features that would justify its price. That said, there’s more to Carbonite, and if you want to learn what that is, read our Carbonite Business review.

Pros:

  • Backup NAS & servers
  • Decent security features
  • Private encryption

Cons:

  • Very expensive price plans
  • Nonstandard encryption algorithm
  • Hybrid backup isn’t available for all plans


Final Thoughts

We’ve made this ranking according to how these services implement hybrid backup and how much you have to pay to get it. Other factors in the ranking involved decided if they provided even services that would benefit your business. 

We’ve placed BigMIND Business in the top spot thanks to its Hybrid+ technology, which makes it easy to tweak your hybrid backup plan. However, it’s expensive, and the only reason it beat IDrive was because of IDrive’s requirement that you need to make separate backups for cloud and local devices. For that reason, IDrive takes second place.

That said, if you don’t mind IDrive’s approach, you can enjoy its great prices. The same goes for CrashPlan, if you don’t need to backup a lot of computers and you don’t need to backup to NAS devices.

Acronis and Carbonite bring up the rear thanks to their steep prices. However, Acronis is a great choice if you can utilize its advanced features. If none of these services cut it, read our business backup reviews for alternative ideas.

What do you think about this roundup? Which service do you lean toward? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.