Offsite backup for businesses: protect your data off-site
Your business generates critical data every day. Offsite backup protects it against ransomware, physical disasters, and human error. Automatic, encrypted, GDPR and NIS2 compliant.
What is offsite backup?
Offsite backup (or external backup) consists of automatically copying your business data to a remote site, physically separated from your production infrastructure. Unlike a local backup stored on a NAS or hard drive on your premises, offsite backup ensures your data survives even in the event of a total disaster at your primary site.
Offsite backup vs other backup types
Local backup (NAS)
On the same site as production. Fast daily restores, but vulnerable to disasters and ransomware.
Offsite backup
On a remote site (datacenter). Protection against physical disasters and cyberattacks. This is the topic of this page.
Cloud backup
A type of offsite backup using shared cloud infrastructure (AWS S3, Azure Blob, etc.).
Archiving
Long-term retention of inactive data. Complementary to backup, but not intended to ensure business recovery.
The key concept of offsite backup is the physical separation between production data and their security copy. This separation is what differentiates a simple backup from a true data protection strategy. The OVH SBG2 datacenter fire in 2021 brutally reminded us of this reality: thousands of businesses lost production and backups in one blow because everything was on the same site.
Historically, backup outsourcing involved the rotation of magnetic tapes (DLT, LTO) physically transported to a secure site. Today, modern solutions combine network replication to remote datacenters, end-to-end encryption, and immutability technologies for much more comprehensive and automatic protection. At NimbusBackup, we offer both approaches: digital backup to Equinix Paris datacenter and LTO tape archiving in a bank vault for the most demanding requirements.
Why outsource your business backups?
Five essential reasons that make offsite backup indispensable for any business, regardless of its size.
Protection against ransomware
60% of SMBs hit by ransomware cease operations within 6 months. Cyber attackers primarily target backups accessible from the network. An offsite backup, especially if it is immutable or air-gapped, remains out of reach of attackers and is your last line of defense.
Protection against physical disasters
Fire, flood, water damage, hardware theft... A disaster at your site can simultaneously destroy your servers and local backups. The OVH Strasbourg fire destroyed 30,000 servers in one night. Only businesses with offsite backups were able to resume operations.
Regulatory compliance (GDPR, NIS2)
Article 32 of the GDPR requires technical measures to ensure the security of personal data, including rapid restore capability. The NIS2 directive strengthens these requirements for essential and important entities. Offsite backup in a French datacenter is a direct response to these obligations.
Business continuity (DRP / BCP)
A credible Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) relies on offsite backups. Without an off-site copy, your DRP is just a theoretical document. With NimbusBackup, you can restore your entire infrastructure in less than 4 hours (RTO < 4h) thanks to externalized, tested, and documented backups.
Cost reduction
Outsourcing your backups allows you to share storage infrastructure, monitoring, and maintenance. No more need to invest in dedicated backup servers, storage arrays, or manage tape rotation in-house. A predictable cost per TB, no surprises — from €12/TB/month at NimbusBackup.
Criteria for choosing an offsite backup solution
Not all offsite backup offerings are equal. Here are the 7 essential criteria to evaluate before choosing your provider.
Data location
Where will your data be physically stored? Location has a direct impact on GDPR compliance. Hosting in France or the EU ensures compliance with European regulations. Storage outside the EU (US, UK) exposes you to legal risks (Cloud Act, access by foreign authorities).
Encryption
Encryption must be applied client-side (before transmission) and not only server-side. This ensures that even the provider cannot read your data. Require at least AES-256. The ideal is a zero-knowledge approach: only you hold the decryption key.
Immutability and air-gap
An immutable backup cannot be modified or deleted during its retention period, even by a compromised administrator. The air-gap goes even further by physically disconnecting the media from the network. This is the method recommended by ANSSI against ransomware.
RTO and RPO
The RPO (Recovery Point Objective) defines how much data you accept to lose. The RTO (Recovery Time Objective) defines the maximum downtime. These two metrics are fundamental for your disaster recovery plan. Verify that the provider commits contractually to these values.
Scalability and pricing
Beware of tricky pricing models: some providers charge egress fees (download), restore fees, or a high minimum commitment. Prefer a clear per-TB pricing, with the ability to increase or decrease volume without penalty.
Technical support
In case of disaster, you need responsive support, in your language, that understands your infrastructure. Check the support language, availability hours, response SLA, and whether restore assistance is available.
Certifications and compliance
Depending on your industry (healthcare, finance, critical infrastructure), you may need specific certifications: HDS hosting, ISO 27001 datacenter certification, NIS2 compliance. Verify that your provider can supply the necessary attestations for your audits.
Offsite backup: the different technologies
Several technical approaches allow you to outsource your backups. Each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on your infrastructure.
Backup agent (Veeam, Acronis, Commvault)
Software installed on each server or hypervisor that sends data to remote storage. Mature and feature-rich solutions, but expensive in licensing (per-VM, per-socket, or per-TB billing). For Proxmox, integration is not native and requires a third-party connector. See our PBS vs Veeam comparison.
S3 object storage
Scalable storage accessible via API (AWS S3 compatible). Flexible and inexpensive for raw storage, but requires an upstream backup solution to manage scheduling, deduplication, and restores. Egress fees (download) can be significant with major cloud providers.
PBS (Proxmox Backup Server) — this is what NimbusBackup offers
Native Proxmox solution: zero agents to install, block-level deduplication, client-side AES-256 encryption, automatic integrity verification. Integrated directly into the Proxmox VE interface. No per-VM license. This is the technology NimbusBackup uses to offer the most efficient externalized Proxmox backup on the market.
VM replication
Real-time or near-real-time copy of a VM to another site. Useful for high availability (BCP), but it is not a backup: data corruption or deletion is replicated immediately. Replication is complementary to offsite backup, not a substitute.
LTO magnetic tape
Proven technology for long-term archiving (30+ years). Very low cost per TB over the long term. Ideal for legal retention requirements. At NimbusBackup, our Magnetic and Magnetic Bank plans combine Meca (fast restore) and LTO (long-term archiving).
| Technology | Advantages | Disadvantages | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent (Veeam, Acronis) | Feature-rich, multi-hypervisor | Expensive licensing, not native to Proxmox | VMware / Hyper-V environments |
| S3 storage | Scalable, standard API | Egress fees, no native dedup | Unstructured data, archives |
| PBS (NimbusBackup) | Native Proxmox, block dedup, AES-256 | Proxmox-specific | Proxmox VE infrastructure |
| VM replication | Near-zero RPO, high availability | Not a real backup, replicates errors | BCP / High availability |
| LTO tape | Low cost/TB, 30+ years | Slow restore, physical management | Long-term legal archiving |
NimbusBackup: offsite backup for Proxmox infrastructure
Specialist in hosted PBS backup in Equinix Paris datacenter. An offsite backup solution designed by Proxmox administrators, for Proxmox administrators.
Native PBS, zero agents
Proxmox Backup Server is natively integrated into Proxmox VE. No third-party software to install, no per-VM license. Simply add our PBS as a remote datastore and your backups are offsite in 15 minutes.
Equinix Paris datacenter
Your offsite backups are stored exclusively in France, in the leading Equinix datacenter, on the RDEM Systems private network (AS206014). No transfer outside the EU, guaranteed GDPR compliance.
6 levels of protection
From basic offsite backup (€12/TB) to bank vault with LTO archiving (€149/TB), choose the level of protection suited to the criticality of your data. Each plan is detailed on our pricing page.
No hidden fees
No egress fees (download). No restore fees. No per-VM license. The per-TB price is the actual price. French support included in all plans. Additional volume at the same unit rate.
For a complete overview of our externalized PBS architecture:
Discover externalized Proxmox backupRDEM Systems also offers full Proxmox managed services and multi-provider dedicated server management.
Our 6 offsite backup plans
From basic offsite backup to bank vault with LTO archiving. Choose the level of protection suited to your needs.
Single Drive PBS
€12 excl. tax/TB/monthBasic offsite backup on Meca disk. Entry-level offsite backup.
- 1 remote site
- Meca
- AES-256 encryption
- PBS deduplication
Double Drive PBS
€22 excl. tax/TB/monthGeo-replication across 2 remote sites. Best protection/price ratio.
- 2 remote sites
- Meca
- Geo-replication
- Maximum resilience
AirGapped Drive PBS
€34 excl. tax/TB/monthPhysical isolation against ransomware. Drives disconnected from the network.
- Physical air-gap
- 3-drive rotation
- Anti-ransomware
- ANSSI recommended
Drive Bank PBS
€69 excl. tax/TB/monthBank vault storage. Maximum physical security for critical data.
- Bank vault
- Air-gap
- Controlled access
- Sensitive data
Magnetic PBS
€89 excl. tax/TB/monthHDD + automatic archiving on LTO tape for 30+ year retention.
- HDD + LTO
- Automatic archiving
- 30+ year archiving
- Legal compliance
Magnetic Bank PBS
€149 excl. tax/TB/monthLTO in a bank vault. Maximum protection for regulated businesses.
- Meca + LTO
- Bank vault
- 30+ year archiving
- Maximum security
All plans include: AES-256 encryption, French support, zero egress fees
Who needs offsite backup?
Offsite backup is relevant for all businesses that cannot afford to lose their data. Here are the profiles that benefit the most.
SMBs and mid-market companies
Small and medium businesses are subject to the same GDPR obligations as large corporations, but rarely have a dedicated IT security team. Offsite backup provides them with professional-grade protection without heavy investment: no hardware to purchase, no specific skills required, a predictable cost from €12/TB/month.
CIOs and infrastructure managers
For a CIO, offsite backup is the cornerstone of the disaster recovery plan (DRP). It allows documenting realistic RTO and RPO, proving compliance during audits, and sleeping soundly knowing that the company's data is protected off-site.
Hosting providers and MSPs
IT service companies and hosting providers manage data for multiple clients. Multi-tenant offsite backup allows them to offer white-label offsite backup, ensure data separation between clients, and enhance their offering with a documented DRP.
Regulated industries (healthcare, finance, critical infrastructure)
Businesses subject to specific regulations (HDS for healthcare, banking regulation, critical infrastructure operator status) have enhanced data protection obligations. The NIS2 directive further broadens the scope of affected businesses. Our bank vault plans meet the strictest requirements.
Proxmox administrators
If you use Proxmox VE, NimbusBackup is the most natural offsite solution. The PBS protocol is native — no agent, no third-party connector. Block-level deduplication drastically reduces the required bandwidth and storage. Check out our complete Proxmox backup guide to get started.
How to set up offsite backup
5 steps to go from a vulnerable local backup to professional offsite protection.
Audit your data
Start by inventorying your data: total volume, daily change rate, criticality of each application. Define your RPO objectives (how much data can you afford to lose?) and RTO (how long can your business be interrupted?). This audit determines the choice of plan.
Choose the protection level
Based on the criticality of your data and regulatory constraints, choose between a simple offsite backup (Single Drive), geo-replication (Double Drive), air-gap (AirGapped Drive) or bank vault (Drive Bank). For long-term archiving, add LTO tape (Magnetic or Magnetic Bank).
Configure the PBS connection
With NimbusBackup, setup is simple: add our PBS as a remote datastore in your Proxmox VE (fingerprint + authentication key provided). Our team guides you through every step. The entire process takes about 15 minutes. No agent to install, no complex configuration.
Schedule backups
Define the backup frequency (hourly, every 4 hours, daily) based on your target RPO. Configure retention (number of snapshots kept). Thanks to PBS native deduplication, even frequent backups consume little bandwidth and storage space.
Test restores regularly
A backup that is not tested is not a backup. Schedule quarterly restore tests to verify the integrity of your backups and measure your actual RTO. NimbusBackup assists you with these tests and can provide a compliance report for your audits.
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial:
Read the complete Proxmox backup guideNeed personalized guidance?
Our experts help you choose the offsite backup solution suited to your infrastructure and regulatory constraints.
FAQ — Offsite backup for businesses
Answers to the most frequently asked questions about offsite backup for businesses.
Start your offsite backup today
Offsite backup in a French datacenter, encrypted, immutable, and GDPR compliant. From €12/TB/month. No commitment.
No commitment • French support included