This article is designed to be a high-level overview of the differences between the Major versions of NovaBACKUP. The intended audience are those users that are unsure what they are missing out on from their current version.
You can see the full changelog at Current NovaBACKUP Version / Changelog
If you are upgrading from an older version to a newer one, please review the Installation Notes
20.1.x
- If you are experiencing trouble please see the NovaBACKUP Update Process
- Please read a general overview of the changes in 20.x here: The new NovaBACKUP release changes everything about data protection for you and your customers
- Improved job status file statistics during a backup
- Added ability to specify and enforce quotas for S3 compatible devices
- Added ability to stop and resume a backup job, with the ability to restore partial backups for S3 compatible backups.
- Added ability to disable backups to an S3 compatible device
- Replaced embedded Internet Explorer engine with Edge in order to display “In the news” task panel item on the “Home” tab
- Replaced embedded Internet Explorer engine with Edge in order to display job logs
- Improved cloud storage devices to support user names up to 40 characters
- Improved job logs
- Improved image backup and restore
- Displaying the amount of free space for S3 compatible devices in the Device tab of the
backup client desktop application - Improved performance of the backup client agent service when sending job logs to CMon
- Added support for Windows 11 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) when creating an
image backup - Added button and updated links to download the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) when creating an image backup boot media
- Added support for encrypted backups to S3-compatible devices was added.
- Added support for backup and restore of Hyper-V virtual machines to and from S3-compatible devices.
- Added support for backup and restore of SQL databases to and from S3-compatible devices.
- Added support for backup and restore of data from a UNC path to and from S3-compatible devices.
- Fixed issue which caused job failure if encryption + verification options were enabled together for Scheduled Image Backup jobs. Now you can utilize both of those options together, whereas prior the job would fail if both options were enabled.
- Fixed issue which caused some models of NVME or M.2 hard drives in the Scheduled Image Backup selection dialog not to be visible and not able to be selected to image.
20.0.x
- If you are experiencing trouble please see the NovaBACKUP Update Process
- Please read a general overview of the changes in 20.x here: The new NovaBACKUP release changes everything about data protection for you and your customers
19.x
- If you are experiencing trouble please see the NovaBACKUP Update Process
- Added create an image directly into VHDX format, which means your image backups can now be directly used as a Hyper-V machine within minutes. With this feature, recovering from a disaster can be faster and easier. The Microsoft VHDX format supports > 2TB drives & UEFI.
- Added support for Windows Server 2019 (and Hyper-V 2019)
- Certified for Windows 10
- Supports Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809)
- Supports Windows 10 April 2020 Cumulative Update (version 1909)
- Added support for Microsoft SQL Server versions
- Microsoft SQL Server 2017 (19.1)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2019 (19.5)
- Added support for Microsoft Exchange 2019 (19.5)
- Improved performance of import and restore operations for file-based backups
- Increased speeds when scanning, indexes are now stored with backup media
- Import now takes minutes (previous versions could take hours)
- Added Korean language support
- New NovaStor LogCollector.exe utility created for support requests
- New feature to collect logs for support tickets integrated in to the backup client in Help > Run Log Collector. (19.4)
- Updated Image Backup System
- Added direct to Microsoft VHDX and VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) feature to scheduled and on-demand image backup.
- Updated Image Backup Boot Disk creation to use the latest Windows 10 ADK
- Completely new boot media that fixes a large number of issues that have been reported.
- The software will no longer automatically hold any failed job for any reason, all completed jobs will be rescheduled according to their schedule settings
- Updated CMon with a New HTML User Interface
- Added the ability to add, view, edit, and delete network devices. (19.6)
- Added new user role permissions “View Storage Server Groups” and “Edit Storage Server Groups”. (19.6)
- Added the ability to select the storage server groups users are able to manage. (19.6)
- Removed Windows XP & Windows Server 2003 specific code and support.
- We removed old code in the engine to take advantage of newer libraries, allowing for a smaller footprint and more reliability.
- Removed FTP code and support in NovaBACKUP backup client version 19.1 and newer.
- Microsoft Support Policy EoL (End of Life) notes:
- Please see Microsoft Products Ending Support in the Microsoft Docs system. NovaBACKUP is only able to provide assistance for products that are still supported by Microsoft.
- As Per Microsoft’s Support Policy, the following Operating Systems are no longer supported by Microsoft as of January 14. 2020.
- Windows 7 (all editions),
- Windows Server 2008,
- Windows Server 2008 R2,
- Windows Small Business Server 2011 as this is built on Windows Server 2008 R2
- See the Microsoft Product Lifecycle page for more information.
- As Per Microsoft’s Support Policy, the following Programs are no longer supported as of October 13, 2020.
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 (all editions)
- NovaBACKUP 19 should still work, but any Technical Support will be limited.
18.x
- Added Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (and Hyper-V 2016)
- Added Support for Microsoft SQL 2016
- Added Support for Microsoft Exchange 2016
- Added native 64-bit backup client
- Added email notification options to the Virtual Dashboard
- Introduction of CMon
- Replaced Kroll Ontrack Single Mailbox Restore for Exchange with NovaStor Granular Restore
- Improved backup speed. Actual performance increase varies depending on the hardware and configuration, but is expected to average roughly 10% when backing up to external devices such as USB or NAS drives.
- Single pass image recovery scans the last full image backup, then goes through each subsequent incremental image backup to acquire any later file revisions for a seamless System Image recovery process.
- Removed Support for Windows Vista.
- You will not be able to install NovaBACKUP on Windows Vista with NovaBACKUP 18.7 and newer
- Removed Express Wizard from NovaBACKUP version 18.0 and newer.
17.x
- Windows 10 support (17.1.804)
- Support of VMware 6.0
- NovaBACKUP Alerts service
- Daily, Weekly and Monthly Summary Reports
- Updated Log Viewer
- Removed built-in Antivirus support
- Removed CD / DVD / Blu-Ray support (as backup target)
- Removed Support for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.
- You will not be able to install NovaBACKUP on Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP OS with NovaBACKUP v17.6, and newer.
16.x
- New NovaBACKUP Virtual Dashboard for managing advanced virtual machine backups / replication
- Ability to set a Holiday Schedule (disable backups on a particular date)
- NovaBACKUP Support Tab – Support portal included directly within the application for fast troubleshooting and notifications
- Removed Mirror and Bi-Directional copy options
15.x
- Added support for Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2
Installation Notes
The installer can recognize the previous 2 Major versions when attempting to update the software. If you currently have a version more than 2 Major versions you will need to uninstall that version to install the latest.
If you have a version listed on this page you will likely be able to keep your existing backup settings, restore index, and logs if you clear the checkbox during uninstallation.
If you have jobs created by the Express Wizard they will need to be recreated in versions 18.0 and newer.
If you have jobs targeting a FTP device, the code has been removed in versions newer than 19.1
If you are performing a manual Uninstallation, and are planning on installing an updated version, be sure to clear the checkbox during the Uninstall process: