Oh, email. Love it or hate it, it’s the backbone of business communication. For sysadmins, making sure those messages are safe — for legal reasons, compliance, or good old peace of mind — is serious business. Thankfully, there are tools that help you archive and back up those billions (yes, billions) of messages floating around.
TL;DR:
Reddit sysadmins have spoken — these 9 tools are the best for email archiving and backups. They help meet compliance standards, ensure long-term storage, and can scale from small teams to large enterprises. Whether you deal with Exchange, Gmail, or custom mail servers, there’s a tool here for you. Read on to keep your emails safe forever (or at least until the heat death of the universe).
Why Email Archiving Matters
Email isn’t going anywhere. From random cat GIFs to million-dollar contracts, everything passes through inboxes. Proper archiving helps with:
- Compliance — Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and FINRA require you to hold onto messages.
- Legal protection — Keep records when disputes arise.
- Storage efficiency — Free up server space by moving old messages offline.
- Disaster recovery — A backup saves your bacon in outages or attacks.
Reddit’s sysadmin community is full of wisdom, salty humor, and strong opinions. Let’s see what they recommend when it comes to rock-solid email protection.
Top 9 Email Archival & Backup Tools Reddit Sysadmins Love
1. MailStore Server — Feature-Packed, Loved by Many
Why they love it: It’s fast, easy to set up, and reliable.
MailStore is basically the golden child of email archiving on Reddit. It supports Exchange, M365, Gmail, IMAP, and more. Has powerful search built in and plays nice with compliance needs too.
Best for: Small-to-mid-sized businesses that want pro features without enterprise-level complexity.
2. Google Vault — For GSuite Users, It’s Already There
Why they love it: It’s already included in many Google Workspace plans.
If your org runs on Gmail, Google Vault is your built-in archiving buddy. It lets you retain, search, and export messages easily. Even deleted emails can be recovered if retention rules are in place.
Best for: Organizations fully invested in Google’s ecosystem.
3. Altaro Office 365 Backup
Why they love it: It’s simple and does what it says.
Altaro backs up not just emails, but also OneDrive and SharePoint. It runs daily backups and lets you restore mailboxes, folders, and individual emails quickly. Redditors like its clean UI and quick support.
Best for: M365 shops needing full data protection beyond email alone.
4. GFI Archiver — Solid Pick for On-Prem Servers
Why they love it: Great for Exchange and local network control.
GFI Archiver is designed with compliance in mind. It archives emails, calendar entries, files — you name it. Has auditing and reporting features too. Reddit users often pair it with GFI’s other IT tools.
Best for: Companies running traditional on-prem setups.
5. Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365
Why they love it: Trusted by fans of rock-solid backups.
Veeam is a backup legend, and their M365 email solution is no slouch. It lets you back up mailboxes to your own storage — cloud or on-prem — rather than relying only on Microsoft’s retention policies.
Best for: Enterprises needing more control than what Microsoft provides by default.
6. Zimbra Archiving and Discovery
Why they love it: Open-source fans, this one’s for you.
Zimbra offers both free and paid versions. Their archiving solution works with the Collaboration Suite and adds full email retention, tagging, and search. It’s a bit DIY-ish, but powerful once set up.
Best for: Tech-savvy orgs with in-house Linux talent.
7. Hornetsecurity Email Archiving
Why they love it: Compliance-focused and cloud-based.
This European service offers 10-year retention policies, journal-based archiving, and encrypted storage. Popular among Reddit users dealing with GDPR or similar regulations. Sleek dashboards, too.
Best for: Businesses needing strict legal compliance, especially in the EU.
8. Barracuda Email Archiver
Why they love it: Combines security + archiving in one.
Barracuda’s solution helps prevent data loss while offering smart retention policies and easy search. Some Redditors also use it for message journaling. A popular choice among SMEs and large orgs alike.
Best for: Security-conscious environments with mixed email platforms.
9. Backupify — SaaS-Focused Simplicity
Why they love it: Set it and forget it style backup for Google and Microsoft.
Backupify quietly backs up emails, files, and more in SaaS environments. It’s easy to deploy and doesn’t require complex settings. Redditors like how hands-off it is, especially for MSPs managing multiple clients.
Best for: MSPs or SMBs who just want backups to “work.”
How to Choose the Right One?
Still unsure? Here’s a quick checklist:
- Email platform: Are you using Microsoft, Google, something else?
- Storage location: Do you want data on-prem or in the cloud?
- Regulations: Need to comply with HIPAA, GDPR, SEC, or others?
- Budget: Some tools are free, while others are priced for enterprises.
- IT skill level: Are you ready to tinker or do you want plug-and-play?
Pro Tips from Reddit Sysadmins
- “Always test restores. Backups you can’t restore are just fancy digital paperweights.”
- “Use journaling + archiving to get a full legal copy of all messages.”
- “Retention policies are your friend — but be careful with auto-deletion.”
- “Encrypt backups. Bonus points if you enable 2FA wherever possible.”
The Future: AI & Smart Archiving
Some modern tools are going beyond cold storage. They now use AI to detect risks, auto-tag content, or summarize huge email chains. Smart archiving is on the rise. But it all starts with rock-solid backups.
Wrap-Up
Email archiving and backup may not win you a cool nickname in the office, but they’ll save your hide when things go sideways. Whether you go with MailStore, Google Vault, Veeam, or Barracuda — just pick one that fits your needs and actually use it.
Remember: Email is forever… unless you forget to back it up.
