Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup

What is included in Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup?

Microsoft 365 coverage – Mailboxes, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Planner and OneNote.
Automatic backups – Run several times a day without scheduling.
Independent storage – Immutable copies held outside Microsoft's own cloud.
Granular recovery – Restore single emails, files or whole accounts.
Core Capacity – Choose from seven regional storage locations.
Important – Backups live only in Hornetsecurity's cloud, never on-premises.

What are the main benefits of Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup?

Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup is a managed service that copies your Microsoft 365 data, and optionally Windows endpoints, to storage Hornetsecurity owns and runs. It fills the gap left by Microsoft's limited built-in retention, so deleted or compromised content can still be recovered.

Closes retention gaps – Recovers data past Microsoft's 30 to 93 day limits.
Ransomware resilience – Immutable backups resist deletion by attackers.
Compliance retention – Custom periods help meet ISO 27001 and GDPR.
Self-service restore – Users recover their own mailbox and OneDrive.
Multi-tenant console – Manage every organization from one dashboard.
Data jurisdiction control – Pick the region where backups reside.

Data loss is expensive: How backups help you avoid outages
For more background on backup planning, read our guide:

What does Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup do?

It automatically copies your Microsoft 365 data several times a day to storage that Hornetsecurity owns and runs, separate from Microsoft's own cloud. Covered workloads include Exchange Online mailboxes with In-Place Archive, Teams chats, Planner, OneNote, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint document libraries, and Entra ID users and groups, plus optional backup of Windows endpoints. This matters because Microsoft's built-in retention is limited, usually around 30 days for deleted mailbox items and up to 93 days for other data, so anything purged after that window is gone unless you hold a separate copy. Restores can be performed granularly, down to a single email or file, or as a full account or SharePoint site.

Who is Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup best suited for?

It is built for organizations and managed service providers running Microsoft 365, not for home users, because backups are configured per tenant rather than per personal account. The multi-tenant console lets an MSP onboard several customer tenants and monitor every backup from one dashboard, while auto-provisioning adds newly created users to the backup set without manual steps. A four-eye approval option requires a second administrator to sign off before backup data can be deleted, which limits the damage a rogue or mistaken admin can do. For a company that has standardized on Microsoft 365, this removes the need to build and maintain backup servers internally.

Which Microsoft 365 data and platforms does it cover?

It backs up mailboxes including In-Place Archive mailboxes, Teams chats, Planner, OneNote, Entra ID users and groups, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint document libraries, and it can also protect files on Windows endpoints. Endpoint backup runs on Windows business editions only, Microsoft home edition operating systems are not supported, and it is coordinated through an Endpoint Backup Manager installed on a Windows server. The service does not support Office 365 Germany, Office 365 US Government, or Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China, so tenants of those types cannot be protected. If an item is not part of your Microsoft 365 plan, it cannot be backed up, because the data must exist in the source tenant first.

Can you store the backups on your own on-premises server?

No, backups are written only to Hornetsecurity's managed cloud storage, and on-premises or local backup targets are not supported. In practice you give up control over the storage target in exchange for a copy that sits outside your own environment, so it survives even if your local infrastructure is encrypted or destroyed. You can still control data residency by choosing which region holds the backups, with locations spanning Western Europe, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Storage and around-the-clock support are bundled into the per-user fee, so there is no separate storage bill to manage.

How is it different from 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup?

Both protect the same Microsoft 365 workloads and Windows endpoints, but they sit at different points in Hornetsecurity's range. 365 Total Backup is a standalone backup service in which Hornetsecurity provides and manages all of the backup storage as part of the per-user price. 365 Total Protection Enterprise Backup folds backup into the wider 365 Total Protection security suite, adding email spam and malware filtering, archiving, and compliance tools, but for Windows endpoint backup it expects you to supply your own Azure storage subscription. If you only need data protection without the email-security layer, the standalone backup product keeps storage management entirely on Hornetsecurity's side.

What should users check before choosing it?

Confirm that your tenant is not one of the unsupported types, namely Office 365 Germany, US Government, or 21Vianet in China, since those cannot be onboarded. Decide whether cloud-only storage fits your policy, because there is no option to keep a local or on-premises copy. If endpoint backup matters to you, plan for a Windows server to host the Endpoint Backup Manager and note that Windows home editions are excluded. It is also worth fixing the region you want your data stored in before setup, as this sets where every backup will reside.

Frequently asked questions about Hornetsecurity Microsoft 365 Total Backup

Does Microsoft already back up my Microsoft 365 data?

Microsoft keeps the service running and protects against its own infrastructure failures, but under its shared-responsibility model the customer is responsible for recovering their own content. Built-in tools such as the recycle bin and retention policies hold deleted items only for a limited window, roughly 30 days for mailboxes and up to 93 days elsewhere, after which the data is unrecoverable. A dedicated backup keeps an independent copy that outlives those limits.

Are the backups encrypted?

Yes. Backup data stored on Hornetsecurity's servers is encrypted with AES-256, and the copies are immutable, so they cannot be altered or deleted by outside parties or ransomware. Only administrative accounts inside 365 Total Backup can remove backup data, which is what stops an attacker from wiping your recovery point.

Does it back up platforms other than Microsoft 365?

It is purpose-built for Microsoft 365 and Windows endpoints, so it does not back up Google Workspace, generic file servers, or virtual machines. If you need to protect Hyper-V, VMware, or Proxmox virtual machines, that is handled by Hornetsecurity's separate VM Backup product rather than this service. The right choice depends on whether your critical data lives inside Microsoft 365 or on broader server infrastructure.