6 Best Backup Storage Devices: Recommended by IT Managers

Although the cloud service market is booming—hitting $679 billion in 2024 and projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2027, traditional backup storage devices have their time and place.

Compared to the cloud, backup storage devices offer a way to store data locally, which has a few key advantages, such as better on-site accessibility, full security control, and quick backup and recovery operations.

Since both have their advantages, most organizations, especially enterprises, have a mix of cloud and on-premise backup.

If you’re an IT manager searching for the best backup storage devices for your organization, our article can help. Below, our experts at Atera have researched and compiled a list of the best backup devices available today.

In this article, you’ll find:

• Three things to consider when buying a data backup storage device
• Best backup storage devices, backed up by reviews from other IT managers
• Key features, pros, cons, and the pricing for each backup storage device

Key considerations when selecting a data backup storage device

Let’s start with a brief overview of what you should consider when selecting a data backup device.

1. Understand the different storage types (DAS, NAS, tape storage, etc.)

To begin with, you should have a general understanding of the different types of storage backup devices. For enterprises, they’re generally divided into four categories:

• Direct-attached storage (DAS): Devices such as SSDs and external disk drives that are directly connected to servers or business laptops.
• Network-attached storage (NAS): Dedicated file storage devices that connect to a network and allow multiple users to access the data.
• Storage area networks (SAN): High-performance storage systems used in larger enterprise environments for scalable storage across multiple servers.
• Tape storage: Long-term (and cost-effective) storage solutions used for archiving large volumes of data.

Relying only on one backup method can put critical data at risk in the event of a hardware failure or security breach. This is why enterprises often have a mix of cloud and local/hybrid backup.

2. Know your requirements (Performance, capacity, security, etc.)

Having a clear idea of your requirements includes understanding your backup capacity, performance, security, and integration needs. 

This is what we recommend for organizations:

• Storage capacity: Estimate your current and future storage capacity needs. Most scalable enterprise backup systems range from one terabyte (TB) all the way up to ten petabytes (PBs).
• Performance: The performance of data backup systems is measured by their throughput, often cited in terabytes per hour (TB/hour). This can range from a few TB/hour for smaller solutions to over 100 TB/hour for high-performance, enterprise-level systems.
• Security: If you’re an enterprise, prioritizing security features, like data deduplication, role-based access controls, and data encryption, is imperative.
• Cloud management: Most vendors offer remote backup software to simplify backup management. If remote management is a key requirement for you, prioritize NAS and SAN backup appliances, as these systems are designed to support it.

6 best backup storage devices for IT decision-makers in 2025

Our review process is a bit different at Atera. Instead of doing generic product listicles, we compare dozens of products and look at what other IT professionals recommend on platforms like Gartner, Spiceworks, TrustRadius, and Reddit. 

This way, the hardware we recommend can be truly trusted by organizations. Based on these factors, the best backups storage devices for 2025 are:

• Synology SA6400 – Best overall backup storage device
• Dell PowerProtect DD Series – Best Dell backup system appliance
• Quantum DXi9200 – Best backup storage for high-speed environments
• Dell PowerVault – Best budget-friendly backup storage option
• HPE StoreOnce 5660 – Best backup device for large-scale deployments
• Quantum Scalar i3 – Best for ransomware-proof backup

We’ll review each of these in detail next.

Synology SA6400 – Best overall backup storage device

The Synology SA6400 is our choice for the best overall backup storage device for a few key reasons: it’s flexible on-demand expansion, fast connectivity, and high sustained throughput. It delivers over 6,500 MB/s sequential read speeds and can scale up to 1.9 PB, making it ideal for enterprises that require high performance and room for growth.

Synology’s backup solutions have been strongly praised by other IT managers, with one user saying, “They are the Apple of network attached storage — they just work. Hardware is not necessarily always bleeding edge, but support and software are light years ahead of the  competition.”

What’s best, all of this is backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

Dell PowerProtect DD Series – Best Dell backup system appliance

The Dell PowerProtect DD Series includes three models: DD6410, DD9410, and DD9910. With the DD9910, you get up to 130 TB/hr throughput and logical capacities of up to 97.5 PB, or up to 293 PB when paired with Dell’s Cloud Tier.

Compared to previous Dell backup appliances, the PowerProtect DD offers up to 38% faster backups and up to 44% faster restores. This is how one IT manager described this Dell product: “Data domain is probably the best storage product Dell has… yeah restore speeds can suck and it’s expensive, but features like DD boost really do make it efficient.”

Quantum DXi9200 – Best backup storage for high-speed environments

Quantum recently announced the Quantum DXi9200, which is the latest addition to the popular DXi9000 Series of backup appliances. Compared to the prior DXi91000, the DXi9200 is two times more expensive but has double the performance, up to 68% denser packaging, 2.2 PB usable capacity in 12 rack units, and significantly lower power consumption.

Also stated by BusinessWire, the DXi9200 is mainly known for its efficiency and flexible scalability. The DXi9200 has a 110 TB entry capacity and can scale in 55 TB increments. 

If the DXi9200 feels like overkill for your organization, Quantum has a great comparison table for all of their different data backup appliances:

Dell PowerVault – Best budget-friendly backup storage option

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly backup storage option, Dell’s PowerVault is our recommendation. While it’s not made solely for backups, its tape-based architecture and integrations with different backup software make it suitable for long-term data archiving. The PowerVault comes in three models: ME5012, ME5024, and ME5084. The maximum storage capacity for them ranges from 5.80 PB to 7.39 PB.

One Reddit user advised on this model: “Dell PowerVault series hardware is good – uses IBM mechanics. Hard to beat. Make sure to save some budget on backup software that automates cataloging, schedules, rotations, and tape lifecycles.”

HPE StoreOnce 5650 – Best backup device for large-scale deployments

If you’re looking for a backup appliance for a large-scale deployment, the HPE StoreOnce 5660 is a smart choice. It’s designed for enterprise data centers and scales from 36TB to 1.7 PB locally and up to 5.2 PB if you’re using it alongside the HPE Cloud Bank Storage. Not only does it have high maximum storage capacity, but it also offers backup speeds of up to 105 TB per hour.

When used together with HPE’s cloud app, you can manage backup and disaster recovery operations across both on-prem and cloud environments.

Quantum Scalar i3 – Best for ransomware-proof backup

The Quantum Scalar i3 is designed for mid-sized IT environments that require a powerful tape backup solution. It’s commonly used as a ransomware-proof backup alternative to traditional disk or cloud backup solutions. The Scalar i3 can start as a single 3U system and scale up to 1,125 TB. As data volume increases, it can scale in 25-slot increments, reaching up to 36 PB in just 48U.

One reviewer commented on this model: “I like Quantum units. Very reliable, and depending on the model, you can actually replace the tape drives with newer units. I use a Quantum Scalar i3 with a license for 25 tapes and 2 drives. The unit can tape up to 3 drives. Had LTO5 drives in it at one point and upgraded them to LTO 7’s.”

Why are back up storage devices important? The 3-2-1 backup strategy explained

The 3-2-1 backup strategy is a time-tested backup and disaster recovery methodology that ensures data is available in the event of hardware failure or cyberattack.

It follows three key requirements:

• Three copies of data: Maintain three copies of data in total, the original one and two backups. The data should be updated daily or even more frequently.
• Two different storage types: To reduce the risk of simultaneous failure, store the data on two different types of storage (e.g., external NAS or tape).
• One offsite location: To protect against physical disasters, keep one of the copies in an offsite facility.

Although the 3-2-1 backup strategy has been the backbone of data protection for decades, most IT pros and sysadmins still endorse it.

Instead of relying on one storage type for your data (e.g., cloud storage), the 3-2-1 methodology encourages diversification in data protection, which can be done through backup data storage devices. The diversification is why they’re still important for organizations in 2025.