Backup and recovery in Manchester —
immutable, regulator-grade, restore-tested.
Servnet designs and runs backup and recovery for Manchester businesses where data loss is not a recoverable event — Spinningfields FCA-authorised firms under Operational Resilience, SRA-regulated North-West law practices, NHS GM ICB-affiliated estates under DSP Toolkit, and mid-market firms targeted by ransomware. Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik or Veritas — sized for the workload, hardened against ransomware, restore-tested every quarter.
Why Manchester backup needs to clear a higher bar
Manchester concentrates the firms ransomware actors target most aggressively (regional law, healthcare, professional services) and the regulatory regimes that punish data loss most directly. Backup design for Manchester customers starts from "assume the production estate is compromised" and works backwards.
FCA Operational Resilience for Spinningfields finance
For M3 FCA-authorised firms, backup is a control under Important Business Service resilience — must demonstrate recoverability within the firm's declared Impact Tolerance and survive both ransomware and supplier compromise scenarios.
SRA client-confidentiality + record-keeping
For M3 / M4 law firms, backup feeds directly into SRA client-money + client-confidentiality + record-retention requirements. Retention has to be defensible; deletion has to be auditable.
NHS DSP Toolkit assertion 9.4 — backup and recovery
For NHS GM ICB-affiliated organisations, DSP Toolkit assertion 9.4 requires demonstrable backup and recovery aligned to data-sensitivity classification — our work lands directly against assertion evidence.
Ransomware-actor targeting of North-West law + healthcare
Manchester law firms and NHS GM trusts are among the most-targeted UK ransomware victim categories. Backup design assumes the production estate is compromised — immutable copies, air-gapped vaults, network-isolated recovery paths.
What Servnet backup delivers in Manchester
Veeam Data Platform deployments
Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam ONE, Veeam Recovery Orchestrator, Veeam for M365, Veeam Hardened Repository — full deployment, sized against the customer's data set and target RPO / RTO.
Rubrik Security Cloud + r7000
For Spinningfields and high-value Manchester customers requiring zero-trust, immutable-by-default backup with integrated ransomware investigation — Rubrik Security Cloud + Cloud Vault, r7000 appliance, Anomaly Detection module.
Commvault Cloud + HyperScale X
For larger Manchester enterprise customers — Commvault Cloud, HyperScale X appliances, Metallic for SaaS / M365 / Endpoint, plus Cyber Resilience for ransomware-isolated recovery.
M365 / Google Workspace SaaS backup
Independent backup of M365 / Workspace tenants (Veeam for M365, Druva, AvePoint, Spanning) — because Microsoft + Google don't back you up; they retain.
Air-gapped vault in second Manchester DC
Off-fabric, network-isolated vault — typically a second Manchester DC (Synergy Trafford if primary is Equinix MA1) — that an attacker who owns the production network cannot reach. Combined with object-lock / immutability on the primary repository.
Quarterly restore exercises
For regulated customers we run quarterly tested restores — pick a workload, restore to isolated infrastructure, validate integrity, time-box the operation, document result. Closes the loop for FCA / SRA / DSPT audit.
Manchester backup + recovery customers
- ▸Spinningfields financeM3 asset managers and accountants — Veeam or Rubrik against vSphere / Nutanix estates, immutable repositories, Operational Resilience-aligned restore validation.
- ▸M3 / M4 law firmsManchester legal practices — practice-management database backup, client-file retention, M365 mailbox + SharePoint protection, regulator-aligned restore validation.
- ▸NHS GM trusts + ICBManchester NHS trusts — clinical-system backup, DSP-Toolkit-aligned retention, HSCN-attached backup paths, isolated recovery infrastructure for ransomware scenarios.
- ▸GM Councils + Combined AuthorityManchester City Council and 9 GM authorities — backup of Crown Hosting / Azure Government workloads, NCSC-aligned retention, SC-cleared engineer attendance for sensitive restores.
- ▸Northern Quarter fintechAncoats / Northern Quarter scale-ups — AWS / Azure backup, M365 protection, SOC 2-aligned retention, restore-runbook readiness for FCA-authorisation submission.
- ▸Multi-site retailManchester-headquartered retail with North-West branch estates — central backup of branch POS, M365 / Workspace protection, central restore capability into branch infrastructure.
How a Manchester backup engagement runs
Assessment + design — weeks 1–2
Existing-backup audit, RPO / RTO targets per workload, ransomware scenario stress-test of current design, regulator-mapping if applicable. Output is a sized design and a 12-month implementation plan.
Hardware + software deployment
Backup repository hardware racked in agreed Manchester DC (Equinix MA1 / Synergy Trafford / Pulsant MAN) or branch site, software deployed, replication configured, immutability + air-gap configured, monitoring integrated.
First successful restore — week 6
No backup design is signed off until a real restore has succeeded. We pick a non-critical workload, restore end-to-end to isolated infrastructure, document timing and result, hand evidence to customer.
Ongoing operations + quarterly testing
Day-to-day job monitoring, restore-on-demand for tickets, quarterly tested restores documented for audit. For regulated customers we run a yearly DR table-top with the customer's leadership team.
Manchester backup + recovery — common questions
What does "immutable" actually mean for our Manchester backup data?
Immutable backup is data that even an admin with full credentials cannot delete or modify before its retention period expires. We achieve this via object-lock on AWS S3 / Azure Blob / on-prem object storage; via Veeam Hardened Repository (single-use Linux account, no SSH); via Rubrik immutable-by-default architecture; via Commvault Air Gap Protect. For FCA / SRA / NHS customers, immutability is not optional — ransomware actors specifically target backups, and a non-immutable backup is one breach away from useless.
How do you protect a Microsoft 365 tenant — surely Microsoft does it?
Microsoft retains, they don't back up. Default retention is short, restore granularity limited, a deleted / corrupted / encrypted item past the retention window is gone. For any Manchester tenant of meaningful size we deploy a third-party M365 backup tool (Veeam for M365, Druva inSync, AvePoint Cloud Backup, Spanning) with independent retention, point-in-time restore, tenant isolation from a ransomware-affected production estate.
Can you build us an air-gapped vault in a second Manchester DC?
Yes — typical design lands the primary backup repository in one Manchester DC (e.g. Equinix MA1) and the air-gapped vault in a second Manchester DC (Synergy Trafford or Pulsant MAN) with network isolation, immutable storage, credentials separated from production. For larger customers we add a third tier — offsite or cloud archive — for long-tail retention.
Do you do quarterly restore testing for a regulated Manchester customer?
Yes — for FCA, SRA, DSPT customers we schedule quarterly tested restores: pick a workload (rotated through the estate over the year), restore end-to-end to isolated infrastructure, validate integrity, time-box against customer's declared Impact Tolerance or RTO, document the result, file the evidence into the customer's audit pack.
How quickly can you recover a ransomware-encrypted Manchester estate?
Depends on estate size and design but for a typical 150-VM estate with Veeam or Rubrik and immutable repositories: critical-service restore to isolated recovery infrastructure within 4–8 hours of incident declaration, full estate recovery 24–72 hours depending on data volume. The cleaner the design (immutability, air-gap, tested restores, documented runbook), the closer we are to the lower end.
How do you price backup for a 100-VM Manchester firm?
Three components — software licence (Veeam / Rubrik / Commvault per VM or per TB), backup target hardware (typically £25–55k for a properly sized repository pair), implementation services (typically £15–30k for design + deployment + first successful restore). Annual support and quarterly restore testing on top. We model 3-year TCO on the first proposal.
Other services we deliver in Manchester
Need Manchester backup that holds up to a regulator review or ransomware incident?
Send the workloads and the RPO / RTO you need. We'll come back with a sized design and a like-for-like comparison across 2–3 platforms.