How to Backup to OneDrive using BDRSuite

What is OneDrive?

Microsoft OneDrive is a Cloud Storage and document editing tool specialized in File Sharing & Collaboration. With Microsoft OneDrive, we can store documents, files, audio, videos –, and anything you wanted to. Files stored in OneDrive can be easily shared with anyone for collaboration and can be accessed from any location, anytime, and on any device.

Many users with active subscriptions to OneDrive have asked us(Vembu) to use their OneDrive cloud storage as the Backup Repository for Vembu BDRSuite.

BDRSuite – A Complete Backup & Disaster Recovery Solution

“BDRSuite is designed to protect data that span across Data Centers/Private Cloud (VMware, Hyper-V, Windows, Linux, Applications & Databases), Public Cloud (AWS), SaaS (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), and Endpoints (Windows, Mac) ”.

In this post, we will look into the steps to backup your data in diverse IT environments to OneDrive using BDRSuite.

How to use OneDrive as a Backup Repository for BDRSuite

BDRSuite supports a wide range of scalable storage targets as backup repositories – Block Storages – Direct, NAS, SAN, and Object Storages – AWS S3, Azure Blob, & S3 Compatible storage like Wasabi, etc. Along with these, BDRSuite also supports hosting the backup data on OneDrive and GoogleDrive.

Steps to configure OneDrive as a Backup Repository in BDRSuite:

1. Enabling Drive Sharing to the OneDrive folder
2. Mapping the shared OneDrive folder to the Vembu BDR Backup server/Offsite DR Server

Prerequisites:

1. Download and Install OneDrive for Windows application on one of your local Windows machines. Refer to how to deploy OneDrive for desktop here
2. Make sure you have enough storage space on your Windows machine where the Drive for desktop is installed as the backup data will be temporarily cached here and then will be sent to OneDrive. You can also change the local cache files directory if required
3. Make sure you have an internet connection to sync the backup data to OneDrive

Note: If you plan to use OneDrive as a backup repository in BDRSuite we suggest configuring only files/folders backup only. This is because, to leverage the business continuity features like Instant Boot VM, Disk Mount, Restore to Azure, etc, we always recommend configuring image-level backups (VMs/Physical machines) to block storage repositories.

Step 1: Enabling Drive Sharing to the OneDrive folder

1. Create a folder inside your OneDrive folder to store the backup
• You can create a new folder inside the ‘OneDrive’ folder
• You can use an existing folder inside the ‘OneDrive’ folder
• You can directly use the ‘OneDrive’ folder to store the backup data
2. Right-click on the folder where you want to store the backup data and click on Properties. Click on the Sharing tab in the folder properties dialog box and click on the ‘Share…’ button
3. Copy the network path after sharing the OneDrive folder

Step 2: Mapping the shared OneDrive folder to the BDRSuite Backup server/Offsite DR Server

1. Login to the BDRSuite Server (Backup Server/Offsite DR Server). Navigate to the Backup Server Tile -> Block Storage Repository menu
2. On the Backup Repository Configuration – Block Storage page, click on the option ‘Manage Network Drive’ and click the button ‘Add Network Drive as Storage Volume’
3. On the Add Network Drive dialog box, enter the following details and save the OneDrive folder to the BDRSuite Folder
• Drive Path – Enter the network path you copied after sharing the OneDrive Folder
• Display Drive Name – Provide a Drive letter to identify the drive on BDRSuite Server
• Username & Password (Optional)

Note: Make sure you read all the information provided on the Add Network Drive page when adding your OneDrive folder as a backup repository.

4. Now, the added folder needs to be created as the repository. Click on the option ‘Create New Block Storage Repository. The OneDrive folder volume will be listed with other local storage volumes. You can choose the OneDrive Folder volume, provide a name for the repository, and click ‘Create’
5. OneDrive is now successfully added as a Backup Repository in the BDRSuite. You can now select the created repository to store the backup data during backup configuration

To know more about backup configuration, click here

Be sure to download and explore BDRSuite in your environment with our fully-functional 30-day free trial version

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