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Article · Apr 14, 2015

How Carbonite Server Backup supports Windows Server 2012 environments

How Carbonite Server Backup supports Windows Server 2012 environments

Color illustration showing computer servers.

Microsoft is ending support for Windows Server 2003 in just 61 days – and that means many small businesses are kicking their migration efforts into high gear.

If your small business is like most others running Windows Server 2003, you’re making the move directly to the latest and greatest version of the Microsoft’s flagship server operating system – Windows Server 2012 R2. And rightfully so.

Windows Server 2012 boasts vast improvements over Server 2003 that make it the right choice for this day and age. Some of the highlights include the addition of Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology, improved cloud connectivity and better security.

Organizations that make the move to Windows Server 2012 will also have the peace of mind that comes from using software that’s fully supported by Microsoft. That means they’ll continue to receive necessary security updates, patches and feature enhancements. All the latest third-party applications running on Windows Server 2012 will be fully supported as well.

How Carbonite Server Backup can help
Data protection plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition to Microsoft Server 2012. By backing up with Carbonite Server Backup at key milestones throughout migration, your data will be secure and accessible at every step. And that’s just one of the ways that Carbonite Server Backup can support you as you make the transition to a Windows Server 2012 environment.

Here’s a quick look at some of the ways Carbonite Server Backup will continue to support and protect your IT infrastructure long after the migration to Windows Server 2012 is complete:

Hyper-V virtualization
More small businesses are turning to server virtualization technology,  and Microsoft has been steadily improving its Hyper-V hypervisor while gaining market share versus the incumbent leader, VMware. Hyper-V is better suited for small businesses than VMware in some key areas, including cloud-enablement and cost. Hyper-V ships free with Windows Server 2012.

As your business moves forward with Windows Server 2012 and Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization, you should know that Carbonite Server Backup is there to support you all the way. On the backup front, Carbonite Server Backup offers complete snapshot protection with full backup capabilities for your virtual machines. You can also use Carbonite Server Backup to optimize your recovery point objectives (RPO) by scheduling more frequent incremental backups.

When it comes to restoring data from backup, Carbonite Server Backup offers the choice of recovering an entire virtual machine, or picking and choosing which files to recover with granular restore. And you can restore the data to any machine, regardless of whether it has a hypervisor.

Rethinking your applications
As businesses like yours begin the process of upgrading, they are likely to rethink the applications they are running across their entire IT infrastructure – not just the server operating system.

For example, you might consider upgrading your database software to Microsoft SQL Server 2014 because support for SQL Server 2005 is ending in 2016. You might also consider upgrading to Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 and SharePoint 2013. Carbonite Server Backup fully supports all of these popular applications.

At the same time, more small businesses are going live with Microsoft Office 365, and as part of that effort you may be considering a move to Microsoft Exchange Online. Carbonite Server Backup offers complete mailbox-level backup and restore of Exchange data hosted in Office 365.

Carbonite Server Backup simplifies data protection for IT administrators by enabling backup and recovery of individual Exchange mailboxes. Rather than restoring an entire Exchange database to recover corrupted or deleted individual user data, IT administrators can quickly search for and restore specific Exchange mailboxes both locally and in Office 365.

Carbonite Server Backup also offers powerful and simple customization capabilities. Administrators can easily apply the powerful customization of Carbonite Server Backup – network utilization, storage capacity, retention periods, cloud and local backup targets, and more – to Office 365.

Carbonite Server Backup can help administrators manage user data more effectively. For example, admins can store local copies of Exchange data to stop incurring license fees for terminated employees. Or they can take advantage of cross-user data restore capabilities that allow people to move data between accounts and/or move from local to Office 365.

Additionally, Carbonite Server Backup offers hybrid backup for both local and cloud environments. That means there is no need to work with separate vendors to protect local and cloud environments because Carbonite has you covered. Get started now with a free 30-day trial: Try it now.

Author

Mark Brunelli

Senior Writer

Mark Brunelli is a Senior Writer on the Corporate Marketing team at Carbonite. He blogs about Carbonite happenings and IT industry trends.

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