About backing up Microsoft Cluster Servers

Last published : Apr 02, 2026
To protect all data in the cluster, which includes file shares, databases, and the cluster quorum, back up the following:
  • Local disks, Shadow Copy Components, and System State on each node. The cluster quorum, which contains recovery information for the cluster and information about changes to the cluster configuration, is included in the System State backup.
  • All shared disks, including the data in the Microsoft Cluster Server folder on the Quorum disk.
  • Virtual servers, which may contain data or contain applications such as Microsoft SQL Server or Exchange Server. Use Backup Exec database agents to back up databases.
    Note: For offhost backup jobs that use the hardware provider, the Backup Exec server and the remote computer must be in different cluster groups. The cluster applications cannot support device logical unit numbers (LUNs) that have duplicate signatures and partition layouts, therefore, the snapshots containing the LUNs must be transported to a host, or remote computer, that is outside the cluster.
The Backup Exec Management Command Line Interface (BEMCLI) can be used with Backup Exec when Backup Exec is installed in a cluster. The only limitation is that you cannot use the BEMCLI to specify a device for backup. You can use the BEMCLI to target a storage pool, but not a specific device in that pool.
See Backing up data.
See Editing backup definitions.
See Adding a stage to a backup definition.