Case Study: Implementing Hardened Backup in Microsoft Azure.
In his article "Veeam Hardened Repository – What Is It and How It Protects Backups from Ransomware in 2026," published on our website, Dawid Młynarski uses the metaphor of a fire extinguisher – a backup that we only remember when a fire breaks out. He also explains why, in the era of ransomware, a simple "fire extinguisher" isn't enough and why you need Hardened Backup.
The theory sounds solid: data immutability, modification blocking, Write Once, Read Many technology. But how do you translate these concepts from presentation slides to a real-world IT infrastructure?
And more importantly, how do you do it in the cloud to gain an additional layer of off-site security?
We'll take a closer look at our latest implementation: Veeam Hardened Backup based on the Azure cloud.
The Challenge: Ransomware and NAS Backup Security
Our client, a mid-sized company, previously relied exclusively on on-premises infrastructure and backups sent to NAS. During the launch audit, we identified that this solution currently has critical vulnerabilities:
- Lack of logical separation:
If ransomware encrypts the local network, the NAS can also be infected. - Lack of physical separation:
A fire, flood, or electrical surge can destroy both the original data and the backups simultaneously. - Financial Barrier:
Building a second physical data center (DR site) is too expensive. - Regulatory Pressure:
Some companies must comply with the NIS2 directive, which emphasizes diversifying backup locations.
Goal: To provide an untouchable copy of data off-site without investing in physical hardware.
Solution: Immutable Cloud Backup (Azure Blob Storage)
In a cloud environment, the equivalent of a "hardened repository" on Linux is Azure Blob Storage with immutability enabled.
We based our implementation on three key steps:
Cost Calculation
The fear of a "cloud horror bill" is the most common barrier to implementation.
Wrongly. Azure Blob Storage costs are predictable, as long as we know how to calculate them.
We used the official Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate the budget for our implementation.
Creating a Container in Azure
We created a dedicated storage account in Azure.
A key element of the configuration was enabling versioning and enabling version-level immutability support.
Fig 1. Microsoft Azure panel view: Enabling the “Version-level immutability support” option for a new container.
Veeam Configuration:
On the Veeam Backup & Replication side, we added a new "Object Storage" repository. During configuration, we selected the "Make backups immutable" option.
For this company, we set this period to 30 days. What does this mean?
Every block of data sent to the Azure cloud receives a digital padlock.
For 30 days after the write, no one – neither a hacker nor an administrator – can overwrite or delete this file.
Fig. 2. Repository configuration view from Veeam B&R
The end result:
Implementing Hardened Backup has transformed the company's security architecture in several ways:
- Ransomware protection: Even if the local infrastructure is fully encrypted, the cloud copy remains intact thanks to the Object Lock mechanism.
- Compliance with the 3-2-1-1-0 principle: The company has three copies of data, on two different media: one off-site (Azure), one offline/immutable copy (Immutability), and zero recovery errors (We check backups daily).
- Privilege Separation: An attacker who gains control of the local domain controller (AD) has no control over the Azure account, creating an effective barrier.
Why connect Veeam with Microsoft Azure?
Implementing Hardened Backup in the cloud is a strategic move for several reasons:
- Speed of implementation: You don't have to wait for servers to be delivered.
We launch the secure repository at any time. - Scalability: Running out of backup space?
In the cloud, this problem doesn't exist – the repository grows with your data. - Compliance with standards: Azure has compliance certifications (including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO), which facilitates security audits.
Is Hardened Backup in Azure expensive?
Answer: No, with Azure's Pay-As-You-Go subscription model, you only pay for what you use, and costs are predictable.
What is Immutability in Veeam?
Answer: It's a data immutability technology that prevents data from being deleted or encrypted for a specified period of time.
Conclusion
Ransomware is evolving, but so are our defense methods. Implementing Hardened Backup in Microsoft Azure is a shift from "having a backup" to "having a guarantee of data recovery." It's an investment in business stability.
Not sure if your current infrastructure allows for Hardened Backup in the cloud?
Or perhaps you're concerned about the costs associated with Azure? Don't worry.
Contact us and get a free Azure cost estimate for your backup.
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