What is included in Paragon Protect & Restore Server?

Server image backup – Agent-based imaging of physical Windows servers.
Bare-metal restore – Rebuild failed servers using WinPE recovery media.
Exchange protection – Application-level backup of Microsoft Exchange databases.
Central console – Manage all backup tasks from one console.
Important – Physical agent protects Windows only, not Linux/macOS.
Core Capacity – Backs up to local, network, NAS, SAN.

What are the main benefits of Paragon Protect & Restore Server?

Paragon Protect & Restore Server is the physical-server edition of Paragon's centralized backup and disaster recovery platform for Windows environments. It captures full server images, protects Exchange databases, and restores failed machines from a single management console.

Fast recovery – Restore a downed server without manual rebuilds.
Exchange-aware backup – Back up mail databases without stopping production.
Storage efficiency – Deduplication and dual backup cut storage use.
Central management – Run all jobs from a single console.
Tested restores – GoForSure validates policies before disaster strikes.
Scalable setup – Add backup servers and storage in minutes.

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

What does Paragon Protect & Restore Server do?

Paragon Protect & Restore Server creates full disk images of physical Windows servers and stores them centrally for fast disaster recovery. It uses agent-based imaging in Paragon's pVHD image format and adds application-level backup for Microsoft Exchange, so mail databases stay consistent without taking the server offline. All jobs run from the Protect & Restore Console, which also handles scheduling, monitoring, and bare-metal restore across the infrastructure. The Server edition is one part of a modular platform that can be extended to protect VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines from the same console.

What is the difference between the Server and Workstation editions?

The main difference is the type of machine each edition protects and the application support that comes with it. Paragon Protect & Restore Server is licensed for physical Windows servers and adds Microsoft Exchange application-level backup, deduplication, dual backup, and archiving. The Workstation edition protects physical Windows workstations and focuses on image backup, data retention, and central management without the Exchange and archiving layer. Both editions share the same console and distributed architecture, so servers and workstations can be managed together as the environment grows.

Which systems and applications can it back up?

Paragon Protect & Restore Server protects physical Windows servers through an installed agent and backs up Microsoft Exchange databases at the application level. Backups can be written to local disks, network shares (UNC), NAS, and SAN storage, and the wider platform can also send virtual machine backups to ESX datastores. The physical-machine agent is Windows-only, so Linux and macOS servers are not covered by direct agent backup. For mixed sites, virtual workloads on VMware ESX/ESXi and Hyper-V are handled agentlessly by separate components of the same suite.

How does bare-metal recovery work in practice?

Bare-metal recovery rebuilds an entire failed server, including the operating system, onto new or repaired hardware from a stored image. You prepare WinPE-based recovery media with Paragon's Boot Media Builder, boot the failed machine from it, and connect back to the Administration or Backup Server to pull the image. The Recovery-ID feature lets an administrator set up the restore task centrally and hand the user a single ID, so the on-site recovery runs automatically without technical decisions at the machine. This is the workflow that turns a dead server into a running one without reinstalling Windows and applications by hand.

What limitations should you know before buying?

The most important limitation is that agent-based protection covers physical Windows machines only, with no native agent for Linux or macOS servers. Application-aware backup is provided for Microsoft Exchange, but other database or mail applications are not protected at that same application level. Backup destinations are local disk, network shares, NAS, SAN, and ESX datastores, with no built-in public-cloud backup target in this edition. Teams running heterogeneous data centers should plan to combine it with the suite's virtual components or another tool for non-Windows physical hosts.

Frequently asked questions about Paragon Protect & Restore Server

Does Paragon Protect & Restore Server need a separate backup server to run?

It uses a distributed architecture built from defined roles. The Administration and Installation Servers run together as the central Protect & Restore Server, while a Backup Server role manages the backup and replica storage. These roles can share one machine or be spread across several, and you can add more backup servers as data volumes grow, which lets larger sites scale capacity without overloading a single host.

Which Microsoft Exchange versions does it support?

It provides agent-based, application-level protection for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. Because backups run at the database level, mail stores stay consistent and there is no need to schedule a backup window that interrupts the production mail server. Exchange is the only mail platform protected at this application-aware level, so other messaging systems are captured only inside the full server image.