Usually installed on on-premises Windows machines, the MARS agent sends their files, folders and system state directly into a Recovery Services vault.
Also called MARS, MARS.
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Terms in this definition
- Agent
A specialised form of Microsoft Copilot set up for one particular job, pairing instructions with knowledge and skills. You can create one in Copilot Studio, SharePoint or Agent Builder, and administrators control them from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- System state
Windows Server's OS configuration, covering things like the registry, boot files and Active Directory. MARS is able to back it up, but a restore needs Windows Server Backup.
- Recovery Services vault
Where Azure Backup and Site Recovery keep their data; it offers soft delete, immutability and multi-user authorisation, but is the wrong choice for cheaply archiving files you already have.
Related terms
- Azure Backup security PIN
Short-lived PIN, valid for five minutes, created from a Recovery Services vault's Properties. Hybrid backups through MARS, MABS or DPM ask for it before critical actions such as stopping protection with data deletion or changing the passphrase; Azure VM backups aren't covered.
- Backup vault
Vault type in Azure Backup aimed at newer workloads, for instance managed disks, Azure Blobs, AKS and Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Protecting Azure VMs, Azure Files or MARS backups requires a Recovery Services vault instead.
- VMSnapshot extension
Installed automatically by Azure Backup the first time an Azure VM is backed up, this extension orchestrates file- or application-consistent snapshots so the MARS agent isn't needed.
- VSS
The Windows snapshot service that MARS relies on to take consistent copies. On its own it does not provide backups.
- Windows Admin Center
Browser-based management for Windows Server. Besides registering servers with Azure, its extensions can configure Azure Extended Network, Azure Network Adapter and Azure Backup (using MARS).
- Windows Server Backup
The Windows Server feature that applies a system state recovery from MARS to the server; restoring files and folders does not require it.
See Microsoft Azure Recovery Services agent in the full glossary