Published April 25, 2026
Part 1 compared each provider's own backup features with a centralized approach. This part assumes you want a tool above the providers and asks the next question: should it be built only for backups, or should backup sit alongside the rest of your operations?
Both are valid choices among cloud backup tools, and the better one depends on how your team works.
A backup-only tool does one job and is designed around it. Everything in the product, from scheduling to reporting to restore workflows, exists to protect data. Teams that need deep backup features, such as detailed recovery options or specialized data protection, often start here.
The strengths are depth and focus. A dedicated tool usually exposes more backup-specific controls than a platform where backup is one of many features, and the people who use it day to day are backup specialists.
The costs show up around it. It is another product to buy, learn, and maintain. Its view of your environment is about backups only, so you still need other tools to tell you whether servers are healthy, whether an alert reached the right person, or what a resource costs. Information ends up split across systems, and gaps between them are where problems hide. A server can look protected in one tool while a disk is quietly filling in another.
The second approach places backup next to monitoring, alerting, and infrastructure reviews in the same workspace. Backup may be less deep than in a specialist tool, but you see backup status in the same place as server health and alert coverage.
This suits teams that run lean. Fewer tools means fewer logins, a smaller set of permissions to manage, and a single place to ask "what is the state of this server?" It also makes it easier to spot servers that have no protection of any kind.
The trade-off is the mirror image of Option A: less depth on the backup side, and more reliance on one vendor for several jobs. If you have complex recovery needs, a platform may not cover them alone.
| What matters | Backup-only tool (Option A) | Operations platform (Option B) |
|---|---|---|
| Backup-specific depth | Usually greater | Usually narrower |
| Tools to maintain | One more | Fewer |
| Backup status next to server health | No | Yes |
| Unified alerting | Separate | Shared with monitoring |
| Learning curve | A new product | Same workspace |
| Best for | Complex recovery needs | Lean teams wanting one view |
| Confirms backups restore | Varies by tool | Usually not; check the tool |
Choose a dedicated backup-only tool if recovery requirements are demanding: strict compliance needs, specialized data, or restore workflows beyond copying servers. In that case, depth outweighs convenience.
Choose backup inside an operations platform if your main goal is making sure every server is protected and that someone notices when it is not, and you would rather not run another system to do it. This is a common situation for small and mid-sized DevOps teams.
Some teams use both. They run a platform for everyday coverage and visibility, and keep a specialist tool for the systems with the strictest needs. Whichever route you take, two checks apply on every cloud: confirm each server has a recent backup, and test a restore regularly.
Bigbell sits in the second category. Backup management is part of a workspace that also includes monitoring, alerting, and an infrastructure scanner, all reachable from the same place.
The backup management feature supports AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. You can schedule daily, weekly, or monthly backups with a retention period in days. Each run creates an image on AWS or a snapshot on Azure and Google Cloud, and removes the copies it created that are past retention. Backup discovery shows each server's number of backups and the days since the latest one, with "None" for servers that have no backups.
Because it sits with the rest of the platform, the scanner can flag AWS instances without a backup as a high-severity finding, and monitoring alerts can reach your team through channels such as email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat.
Be clear on the limits. Bigbell does not offer the depth of a dedicated backup product, does not test restores, and does not manage backups on DigitalOcean. For DigitalOcean, keep using its own backups and snapshots; Bigbell can still monitor Droplets as Linux servers through an agent. For a broader view, see our disaster recovery basics.
Book a demo and see backup status alongside monitoring in one place.
Is a platform with backup enough for compliance needs? That depends on your requirements. Check them against what the tool actually provides, including restore testing.
Can I use a backup-only tool and Bigbell together? Yes. Some teams use a platform for coverage and visibility and a specialist tool for demanding systems.
Does Bigbell manage DigitalOcean backups? No. Use DigitalOcean's own backups and snapshots there.
Can Bigbell monitor DigitalOcean Droplets? Yes, as Linux servers through an installed agent.
Which clouds does Bigbell support for backups? AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Does Bigbell test restores? No. Test restores separately.
What does Bigbell's scanner check about backups? It flags AWS instances that have no image or snapshot.
What is the main benefit of one workspace? You can see backup status, alerts, and server health in one place.
What should I check before choosing a tool? Which clouds it supports, how restores work, and whether it covers your recovery targets.
Does one workspace mean fewer features? Often it means less backup-specific depth, in exchange for seeing backups, alerts, and server health together.
Who benefits most from backup inside a platform? Lean DevOps teams that want one place to check coverage and receive alerts.
Can I switch later? Yes. Backups are copies of your servers in your own cloud account, so tooling can change as your needs do.
What is the biggest risk with any tool? Assuming it works without checking. Verify backup age and test a restore regardless of the product.
Does Bigbell replace a dedicated backup product? Not for demanding recovery needs. It covers scheduling, retention, and coverage visibility for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Can Bigbell alert me about backup gaps? The scanner reports AWS instances with no backup as a finding, and backup discovery shows servers with none.
What else does Bigbell monitor besides backups? Websites, Linux servers, and managed services on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
How should I test a restore? Restore one backup to a separate test machine, time it, and record the steps.
Is it worth reviewing my tool choice each year? Yes. Environments change, and a tool that fit a small setup may not fit a larger one.
