What Restow does
By Lucas Flores, IT Systeme Flores UG. Last updated
Restow backs up Microsoft 365 (mail, OneDrive, SharePoint sites and group calendars and conversations) and IMAP mailboxes, Linux and macOS servers and clients, SMB and NFS file shares and, as a preview, Proxmox VE, to storage you control. It deduplicates and encrypts everything before it is stored, reads a sample of every backup back to check it, because a backup nobody has restored is a theory, not evidence, and judges every new restore point for signs of ransomware. The fourteen pages below cover one part each, and each states its current limits next to the feature, not in fine print elsewhere.
Fourteen pages, one topic each
- Microsoft 365 and IMAP backup Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint sites, group calendars and IMAP: what's protected, how a source connects, jobs, alerts and the limits stated plainly.
- SharePoint Online backup SharePoint Online sites with their document libraries and lists, backed up through Microsoft Graph and restored into libraries and lists, in every edition.
- OneDrive backup The OneDrive of every protected user, incremental through Microsoft Graph, restored without overwriting a file, with restore checks, in every edition.
- IMAP mailbox backup Any IMAP mailbox over TLS with a shared login, a password per mailbox or a master user, restored by IMAP append. OAuth2 is planned.
- Server and client backup A Linux and macOS agent, append-only, jobs with exclusions, policies for backup windows and catch-up, stopping a running backup, and restore into a new folder.
- File shares (SMB and NFS) SMB and NFS shares backed up from the server with no agent on the file server, restored with their permissions, with restore checks.
- Proxmox VE backup preview VMs and containers on Proxmox VE 8.4 and newer, stop a backup, a check after every backup, boot tests and file restore. In every edition.
- Mail file import and export EML, MSG, MBOX and MailStore exports in, EML or MBOX out, plus the hash-chained archive, how mail gets into it and the GoBD layer. PST is planned.
- Non-destructive restore by default Granular or complete, into the same account or a different one, non-destructive by default, browsed person by person.
- Automated restore verification Why an unread backup is unproven, what is checked today, damaged versus unreadable storage and what the release checks cover.
- Ransomware detection Every new restore point judged for signs of ransomware, the newest clean one offered, retention paused until you decide.
- Storage: local disk, S3 or NFS Deduplicated, encrypted chunks in repositories you choose, a move that takes every repository along, optionally immutable. No Restow cloud.
- Encryption and key handling AES-256-GCM per organization, and exactly who can (and can't) read your data.
- Multi-tenancy for service providers Several administrators with roles in every edition, a way back after lost access, and many isolated tenants for providers.
What is in which edition
Backup, restore, restore checks, the archive with its hash chain, search and export, server and client backup, file shares, immutable backups, ransomware detection, Proxmox VE (a preview), stopping a backup from the web app, planned updates and several administrators with roles are in every edition, Community included. Business and Service Provider add archive capture beyond mail import (Microsoft 365 by Graph and IMAP or Google Workspace by IMAP sync, both near-time since 0.4.4), Exchange Online journal receipt and copies a mail provider forwards, enforced retention, legal hold, the audit log viewer with its export, and scheduled reports. Limiting a member to chosen tenants, managing several tenants and the all-tenants view of Jobs are Service Provider. Sign-in with Microsoft (Entra ID) is planned; account linking is still missing. The Windows agent is planned; the Linux and macOS agent already ships. For what is shipped, what the next releases bring and what is only planned, see the full roadmap, and the changelog for what each release added.
For what any of this costs, see pricing: backup and restore are never limited by edition or mailbox count; multi-tenancy (several tenants, delegated tenant administrators and a provider overview across tenants) is a Service Provider feature, see the pricing page for the exact split.
New to backup terms? The Learn section explains the 3-2-1 rule, retention, backup types and what Microsoft 365 keeps, with a glossary.