The only question that matters is who can delete it.
A copy stored inside the thing it protects is not a copy in any sense worth paying for. A synchronised folder reproduces a deletion at the same speed it reproduces the work. A cloud platform\'s recycle bin empties on a schedule somebody else chose. A retention policy protects you exactly as far as whoever holds the administrator account permits, which is the arrangement an intruder inherits the moment they hold it too.
Every line in this family is sealed under AES at 256 bits, guarded while it travels, and parked beyond reach of the tenant, of the network, and of the credentials it covers. That separation is the entire product. What remains is scheduling.
Two platforms carry this family. The machine lines, Microsoft 365 and the rehearsal sit on N-able Cove. The Google, QuickBooks and directory lines sit on Dropsuite. Which platform holds which line is written into the sheets below, on the principle that you are entitled to know whose vault your material rests in.
Four lines, by how much of the machine you want back.
- Working Documents takes the files and folders from a Windows machine twice daily, and any version from the preceding four weeks comes back in seconds. It is the cheap line for a computer whose documents are precious and whose operating system is replaceable.
- The Whole Machine is a full system copy for Windows, macOS and Linux computers, with the selection and schedule set to fit the machine. It holds 500 GB of pooled storage per line and, on Windows, supports bare metal recovery onto replacement hardware.
- Physical Servers and Virtual Servers are the same discipline for the machines a business actually runs on: full system copies, database aware for the common engines, restorable as a single file or as an entire server, with 2000 GB of pooled storage per line and bare metal recovery.
- Every machine line can write to a local copy as well as the cloud vault. The local one exists for the ordinary Tuesday, when a folder is needed back before a meeting. The vault exists for the day the building, the fleet or the administrator account is gone.
Four lines, for what does not live on a machine at all.
- Microsoft 365 takes in Exchange mail, then Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive behind it. Seven years are kept on the mail and a single year on the file workloads. Shared mailboxes are free of charge, which matters because that is usually where the invoices and the letters from counsel actually sit. Every licensed person adds a terabyte to the pool.
- Google Workspace takes in the mail, My Drive, the Shared Drives, and the contacts, calendars and tasks behind them. The mail is captured twelve times a day, the drives three times, and the rest once. Restores are granular: one message, one mailbox, or everything at once.
- QuickBooks Online is bought against a company file, and it exists because Intuit gives no undertaking that a set of books can be recovered. The copy is continuous, a restore or a replication takes one click, and there is no storage ceiling. Loan out companies, foundations and production entities each count as one.
- Entra Directory copies the configuration underneath everything else: the users, the groups, the roles, the applications and the policies. Microsoft keeps thirty days of it. This line keeps it without limit, monitors changes as they happen, and rolls an unwanted one back rather than reconstructing it from memory.
The line that proves the rest of them.
Every provider in this industry says restores work. Almost nobody demonstrates it until the day it is needed, which is a peculiar way to treat the only feature anybody is buying.
Restore Rehearsal carries out an automated test restore every week or every month, as you prefer, and issues documented proof that it worked. It converts an assumption into a dated record: useful for an insurer, useful for an auditor, and useful for the person who has to answer whether the household is actually covered. Bought per protected system, so you can rehearse the systems that would end the week and leave the rest.
| Built on | N-able Cove, across all five lines |
|---|---|
| Working Documents | Windows only. Files and folders, taken twice daily, four weeks of versions |
| The Whole Machine | Windows, macOS and Linux. Full system copy, 500 GB pooled, bare metal recovery on Windows |
| Physical Servers | Windows and Linux. Full system copy, 2000 GB pooled, bare metal recovery |
| Virtual Servers | Windows and Linux virtual machines. Full system copy, 2000 GB pooled, bare metal recovery |
| Databases | Exchange, SharePoint, SQL, Oracle and MySQL handled on the server lines |
| Where it sits | The cloud vault, plus an optional copy kept locally on the machine lines |
| Encryption | AES at 256 bits, sealed at rest and guarded in flight |
| Restore Rehearsal | A test restore run automatically each week or each month, with proof issued |
| Billing units | Per Windows computer, per computer, per server, per virtual machine, per protected system |
| Built on | N-able Cove holds Microsoft 365. Dropsuite holds the Google, QuickBooks and directory lines |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | Exchange mail, with Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive alongside it |
| Microsoft 365 retention | Seven years on the mail; one year on the file workloads |
| Microsoft 365 extras | Shared mailboxes carry no charge; a terabyte pooled per person |
| Google Workspace | The mail, My Drive, the Shared Drives, contacts, calendars, tasks |
| Google Workspace cadence | Twelve captures a day of the mail, three of the drives, one of everything else |
| QuickBooks Online | A continuous copy of each company file, restored or replicated in one click, no storage ceiling |
| Entra Directory | Unlimited retention beyond the 30 days Microsoft holds, real time change monitoring, rollback of unwanted changes |
| Custody | Kept beyond the reach of the tenant, network and credentials it covers |
| Billing units | Per licensed person, per licensed person, per company file, per tenant |
Where this family stops
Retention is the figure quoted per line above and nothing longer. Pooled storage is pooled across your account rather than guaranteed per machine, and an unusually large estate is discussed rather than silently throttled.
A copy is not a defence. It brings back what an incident destroyed; it does not prevent the incident, which belongs to detection and response, and it does nothing to stop material walking out, which belongs to sensitive documents. Bare metal recovery on the workstation line works for Windows alone, and you should read that here rather than find it out later.