Differences in Azure backup and recovery solution

Question

Differences in Azure backup and recovery solution

zveratko 0

Hello, I am lost in Azure backup and restore solutions.

I know there is Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery, seems both ends up in Azure site recovery Vault. I need to do some after failure recovery of on prem VMs running on VmWare. But what to choose. I can probably choose between MARS(Recovery appliance knowns as Backup agent) and MABS on prem appliance, and seems that MARS just directly copy to Azure, while MABS store the copy also locally. But it looks like both have options for VM restore.

I just need to backup some servers on demand (after update) or monthly, and restore them. I would prefer to use cheapest solution possible. But not sure what technology to use at all.

Can anyone bring a light into this Azure technology?

Naveena Patlolla 4,805 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-08T21:46:00.38+00:00

Hello @zveratko,

Just want to check if the below answer worked for you or else please let us know if any help, we are always here to help whenever you need us.

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Naveena Patlolla 4,805 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-08T21:46:00.38+00:00

Hello @zveratko,

Just want to check if the below answer worked for you or else please let us know if any help, we are always here to help whenever you need us.

Please do not forget to "Accept the answer” and “upvote it” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members.it would be greatly appreciated and helpful to others.

Answer 1

Hi zveratko

Thanks for using the Q&A platform.

You're right, Azure has multiple backup and disaster recovery solutions. Kindly find a clear breakdown tailored to your case: backing up on-prem VMware VMs, preferably cheap, with monthly or on-demand restore capability.

Microsoft Azure Recovery Services:

Use case: Backing up files and folders on Windows machines only.

Storage: Backups are stored directly in the Azure Recovery Services Vault.

Local copy: No local backup, everything is uploaded to Azure.

Agent: Requires the MARS agent installed on each machine.

Microsoft Azure Backup Server

Use case: Ideal for full VM backups, including application-aware backups (e.g., SQL, Exchange).

Storage: First stores data locally, then backs up to Azure.

Local copy: Yes, keeps a local cache, enabling fast recovery.

Agent: Requires deploying the MABS server on-premises.

Restore capability: Supports full VM and application restores.

You want:

On-demand or monthly VM backup of VMware workloads
The option to restore full servers
At a low costa low cost

Recommendation would be to use Microsoft Azure backup server because:
-It supports VMware VM backups.

-Keeps a local backup copy (for fast restore).

-Offloads to Azure for cloud-based DR.

-Cheaper than Azure Site Recovery (ASR), which is designed for real-time failover, not backups.

Find additional information:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/site-recovery-overview
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/backup/?msockid=12385218f7e46a14179c4632f6f96b07

If the response was helpful, please feel free to mark it as “Accepted Answer” and consider giving it an upvote. This also benefits others in the community.

Regards,

Obinna.

Rahul Jorrigala 3,655 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-08T09:55:19.86+00:00

Hello @zveratko,

Just want to check if the above answer provided by @Obinna Ejidike worked for you or else please let us know if any help, we are always here to help whenever you need us.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And if you have any further query do let us know

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Differences in Azure backup and recovery solution

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