Files & Folders
Back up selected directories with include/exclude path rules. Uses Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) on Windows for application-consistent snapshots.
Backup Overview
Device Backup gives you centralized control over backups across your managed fleet. From the Backup dashboard you can configure where backups are stored, schedule what gets backed up, monitor protection coverage, and restore data when you need it — whether that’s a single file, an entire system, a Hyper-V VM, or a SQL Server database.
What You Can Back Up
Section titled “What You Can Back Up”System Images
Full system state capture including OS configuration, drivers, registry (Windows), and boot configuration.
Hyper-V VMs
Export virtual machines with application-consistent or crash-consistent snapshots. Supports Resilient Change Tracking (RCT) for incremental backups.
SQL Server Databases
Full, differential, and transaction log backups with LSN chain tracking for point-in-time recovery.
Where Backups Are Stored
Section titled “Where Backups Are Stored”Breeze supports five storage providers:
| Provider | Best for |
|---|---|
| Amazon S3 (or S3-compatible) | Primary cloud storage — works with MinIO, Wasabi, Backblaze B2 |
| Azure Blob Storage | Organizations already on Azure |
| Google Cloud Storage | Multi-region durability |
| Local / NAS | Fast restores from on-site storage, USB drives, or SMB shares |
| Backblaze B2 | Cost-effective cloud archival |
You can configure multiple storage targets and assign different ones to different policies. For example, critical servers might back up to S3 with a local vault mirror, while workstations use local NAS only.
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”Backup is organized around five core concepts:
- Storage configurations — where backups go (S3 bucket, Azure container, local path, etc.)
- Policies — what gets backed up, on what schedule, and how long to keep it. Managed through Configuration Policies for hierarchical assignment.
- Jobs — individual backup or restore executions. Created automatically by schedules or triggered manually.
- Snapshots — point-in-time archives produced by completed backup jobs. You can browse their contents file-by-file.
- Restore operations — recover data from a snapshot to the original device or a different target.
The Backup Dashboard
Section titled “The Backup Dashboard”Navigate to Operations > Backup in the sidebar to reach the backup dashboard. It has seven tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Overview | Protection coverage, success rates, storage trends, recent activity, devices needing attention |
| Verification | Backup integrity checks, test restores, recovery readiness scores |
| SQL Server | Discovered SQL instances, databases, backup chains |
| Hyper-V | Virtual machines, checkpoint trees, VM backup/restore |
| Vault | Local and network vault mirrors for fast offline recovery |
| SLA | RPO/RTO targets, compliance tracking, breach alerts |
| Encryption | Encryption key management and rotation |
The Device Backup Tab
Section titled “The Device Backup Tab”Each device also has its own Backup tab (on the device detail page) for single-device actions:
- Run backup now — triggers an immediate backup for that one device. It’s disabled when the device is offline or has no backup policy assigned, and if a backup is already running it shows a friendly “already running” message instead of starting a second job. This is different from the dashboard’s Run all backups, which fans out a run across every protected device.
- Next run and Last success are shown in the device’s effective timezone (with the zone label), matching the schedule you set in the policy editor — not your browser’s local time. A schedule set for “03:00 in the device’s timezone” reads as
03:00 AMon the tab, not shifted to wherever your browser happens to be.
Quick Start
Section titled “Quick Start”New to Breeze Backup? Here’s the fastest path to protecting your first device:
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Add a storage target. From the Overview tab, open the storage configuration wizard. Pick a provider (S3 is recommended), enter your credentials, set a schedule and retention policy, and publish the configuration. See Storage Configuration for details.
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Create a backup policy. Go to Settings > Configuration Policies, create a new policy, and add a Backup feature link. Choose your backup mode (file, Hyper-V, MSSQL, or system image), select the storage configuration you just created, and assign the policy to devices, sites, or groups. See Backup Policies for details.
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Verify it works. Back on the Backup dashboard, click Run all backups to trigger an immediate run across every protected device (or use Run backup now on a single device’s Backup tab). Watch the job appear in Recent Jobs. Once it completes, go to the Verification tab and run an integrity check. See Verification & Recovery Readiness for details.
Backup Binary Architecture
Section titled “Backup Binary Architecture”Enterprise backup operations (Hyper-V, SQL Server, system image, cloud-to-cloud) run in a dedicated breeze-backup helper process that communicates with the main agent over HMAC-signed IPC. This keeps the core agent lightweight (~15 MB) while the backup binary includes the heavier cloud SDKs and backup tooling. The backup binary is bundled by the Windows MSI, the macOS .pkg, and the Linux and macOS shell-script service installs — so every supported install path can run backups out of the box. (Previously only the MSI and .pkg bundled it, which meant hosts set up with the shell-script installer couldn’t run backups until the helper was placed manually.)