Questions

Any 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC, or Windows Server 2016 or later, that stays switched on and has spare disk space. It does not need to be a "server" in the hardware sense: a desktop in the corner is fine. A separate internal or external disk for the backups is a good idea.

Start by allowing as much as the files you are protecting. After the first backup only changes are stored, identical files across PCs are stored once, and everything is compressed, so growth is usually slow. How long you keep old versions is the main thing that decides it.

The first backup of a PC reads everything and takes a while. After that a run usually takes minutes. You choose when it runs, and you can cap the bandwidth the whole office uses.

Over office Wi-Fi, yes. From outside the office, only if that PC can reach the server, for example over your own VPN. A laptop that is away simply backs up when it is next on the office network.

BackupMate uses Windows' snapshot service, so files that are open are captured as they were at one moment. For any database, the safest habit is still to schedule the backup for when the program is closed, or to back up the program's own export or backup folder as well.

Not today. Windows only, for both the server and the PCs.

There are, and some are very good. If you are comfortable setting one up and looking after it yourself, you may not need us, and BackupMate is free for 3 PCs in any case. What a paid plan adds is a person to ask when a restore is urgent, set-up that does not need an IT background, and a company that is accountable to you.

Cloud backup is a good choice for many people, and it gives you an off-site copy that BackupMate alone does not. Offices choose BackupMate when they do not want their files with a third party, when their internet connection makes uploading everything impractical, or when they would rather pay once a year for software than every month per gigabyte.

That is far better than nothing. It depends on someone remembering, it usually keeps one version rather than a history, and a drive that is plugged in is encrypted by ransomware along with everything else. BackupMate runs by itself, keeps dated versions, and holds deleted backups for 30 days.

Yes. Up to 3 PCs, every feature, no time limit, no card. It does not include support.

It carries on for 14 more days. After that the first 3 PCs keep backing up and the others pause. Nothing is deleted, and you can restore any file from any PC at any time, licensed or not.

Yes, in full, within 14 days of your first purchase. See the refund policy.

Yes. Give us your GSTIN when you order and it appears on the invoice.

The guides are written so that you can. If you would rather we did it with you, ask; remote set-up help is available.

A folder of documents: seconds to minutes. A whole drive of hundreds of thousands of files: an hour or more, as with any backup product, because every file has to be created and written. BackupMate shows the files and gigabytes done and the time remaining as it goes. A network cable instead of Wi-Fi, and an antivirus exclusion for the folder being restored into, make the biggest difference. See Restoring files.

Search for it. In the restore window choose Choose files and folders and type part of its name; the whole backup is searched, not only the folder you have open.

Not unless you ask it to. By default, files that are already there are kept and only what is missing is restored. You can also keep both copies side by side, or choose to overwrite.

No. They never leave your network, and we have no access to your server. See the security page.

In the default mode, the backups cannot be opened without it, by anyone. If that worries you more than privacy does, choose the mode where the server keeps a copy of the key so that an administrator can always recover files. The security page compares the two.

Then the backups on it are at risk, like anything on a single machine. Keep a second copy of the server's storage folder on another disk. We are happy to advise on a simple routine for this.

Only to check, once a day, whether a newer version exists. That request says nothing about you and can be switched off. Details are on the security page.