Best Free Backup Software for Windows Server 2008(R2)

Quick navigation:

• Windows Server Backup Is Essential to Protect Your Server

• Use Built-in Server 2008 Free Backup Software to Create Full Server Backup

• Use Third-party Server 2008 Backup Software to Create System Backup 

• Your Turn

User Case

The answer is positive, Windows Server 2008 comes along with a free backup software - WIndows Server Backup, which allows you to backup once or schedule backup full server, system state, selected volumes or specific files or folders. 

But the scheduled task is limited to once a day or more than a day. Thus, if you want to create system image for server 2008 (R2) and schedule it weekly, it's a better choice to try one simple and effective backup software. And I'll introduce both of them in detail.

How to Use Free Backup Software in Windows Server 2008 (R2)

Windows Server Backup is a built-in free backup software for Windows 2008(R2), but it is not installed by default, you have to install it manually. Go to Start > Administrative > Server Manager > Features > Add Features > Windows Server Backup Features and click Install to start the installation process.

Then, follow the steps below to create a full server backup with server 2008(R2) backup freeware - Windows Server Backup. Please note that you need to be a member of a backup operators group or administrator group. And this software only backup volumes formatted with NTFS file system. More so, it does not support volumes greater than 2TB in server 2008(R2).  

Step 1. Type Windows Server Backup in the search box and select it from the result menu. Then, select Backup Once under the Actions tab. If you want to create a schedule backup, you can click “Backup Schedule”.

Step 2. Tick Differential options and click Next.

Step 3.  Tick Full Server and click Next.

Step 4.  Then, in the new window, click the inverted triangle and select a drive from drop-down menu as backup destination. You can choose any detected local disk or external drive.

Step 5. Tick Local drives to store backup imageand Next.

Step 6. Tick VSS copy backup(recommended) and click Next. 

Step 7. Finally, click Backup to perform Windows Server 2008 image backup.

Wait for the backup task to complete, it will take a long time, and the backup time depends on how much data you have. Then, you can create another backup with a different location, otherwise, the old backup image will be overwritten with the new one. Also, this applied to backup schedule. 

In addition, this software only supports schedule backup in “Once a day” or “More than once a day”. And the schedule backup task requires a  separate, dedicated disk instead of a partition. To enjoy more flexible backup features, please try one simple and effective backup software for server 2008, AOMEI Backupper Server, for example.

One Simple and Effective Backup Software for Server 2008 

AOMEI Backupper Server is a great Windows Server backup software that is widely used to backup server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022 and previous versions. And you can enjoy all the backup solutions (system/disk/partition/file backup) and multiple features to make this task simple and effective. 

Schedule backup. You can backup any items in daily/weekly/monthly, or use Event triggers and USB plug in.

Incremental and differential backup. You can use both of them to backup only changed files, which save much backup time and disk space. And it uses normal compression, automatic splitting and intelligent sector, which contributes to further reduce disk space you will use.

Automatic backup cleanup. You can enable automatic backup cleanup in the backup scheme to delete old backups regularly while keeping the latest backup versions. 

You are able to backup disk or partition with various file system, such as, NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, EXT2, EXT3. Meanwhile, it still works well in multiple backup storage, namely, local disk, external hard drive, USB drive, network drive, NAS, and cloud drive like OneDrive. 

And the entire process can be completed in a few simple steps. Thanks to its clean interface and user-friendly design, many users can use it smoothly, even novices can operate like a professional. Download it to have a try right now!

(Note: You can only use the free trial version within 30 days. For continous data protection, please upgrade server trial. And this page offers you 70$ discount.)

Step 2. Open AOMEI Backupper Server, click “Backup” and “System Backup” subsequently.

Step 2. Click the folder-shaped icon to select external hard drive or other storage device as backup destination. 

Step 4. In daily use, you need to set more advanced features to make this task simple and effective.

The schedule backup keep all the changes made on the system partition, but it may result in backup disk full issue due to accumulated backups and limited space. To avoid this, you need to enable incremental or differential backup, and by quality/by time/by daily/weekly/monthly cleanup methods, etc.

Besides, you are able to enable email notification, set high compression or customized splitting, etc.

Step 5. Confirm all the scheduled settings and click "Start Backup" to backup system in server 2008.

With a backup in hand, you can get your computer back easily and quickly. To restore server 2008, please go to the "Home" tab and then select system image you created in previous to start system image recovery.

And it's suggested to create a bootable media with this software, so you can boot your computer even if it fails. 

Your Turn

Windows Server Backup is the best free backup software for Windows Server 2008 (R2) to help you backup system, files or other items. And it allows you to schedule backup daily or more than once a day, which is not user-friendly for users to create a system backup, occupying much disk space every time and not compressing. 

In this case, it's suggested to use one simple and effective server backup software - AOMEI Backupper Server. With it, you can schedule backup system daily/weekly/monthly, and delete old backup image based on the selected cleanup methods, etc. To deploy system image to multiple computers simultaneously or use it on unlimited PCs or servers, try AOMEI Backupper Technician or TechPlus.