We’d like to continue our series of stories that help you get to know the people and companies using Bareos – our customers, partners and the teams who trust open source for their backup and recovery needs. Today, we’re talking about one of our long-term Bareos Certified and Technology Partners: EDNT IT-Services, a family-run company from Germany. For more than 40 years they help organizations keep their infrastructure stable and their data secure. From cloud hosting and VoIP to modern backup solutions, EDNT’s goal has always been simple: make technology work reliably, without hidden complexity. Their portfolio also includes products that are built on Bareos, such as a Bareos-as-a-Service offering.
This story shows how EDNT works with Bareos, why open-source backup matches their beliefs, and what other organizations can learn from it. This is useful for those looking at open-source options, comparing managed backup services, or planning a move away from proprietary systems.
Open Source at the Core
Open Source isn’t just part of EDNT’s toolbox – it’s part of their identity. One of the people shaping this approach is Lucas Knapp, director of EDNT and an expert in Open-Source IT.
“We believe in independence from vendor lock-in and in solutions our customers can fully understand, audit, and control,” Lucas Knapp explains.
That philosophy shapes everything they do, from cloud infrastructure and communication platforms to data protection. Transparency, sustainability, and trust are the guiding principles behind every project.
When EDNT started looking for a backup solution that shared these values, Bareos was the obvious choice.
“We were looking for a robust, enterprise-ready backup system that matched our open-source philosophy,” Lucas says. “Bareos was a natural fit, robust, flexible, and developed in Germany with a clear open-source DNA.”
After extensive internal testing, EDNT integrated Bareos into its service portfolio as the foundation for the EDNT Managed Backup offering – available as Bareos-as-a-Service, on-premises, or hybrid. It’s been a while since Bareos first started working with EDNT. Since then, it has become an essential part of how EDNT delivers secure, reliable backup to its customers.Tailored Solutions and Certified Infrastructure
Tailored Solutions and Certified Infrastructure
“Our customers trust us because we can design, implement, and operate solutions that fit seamlessly into their existing IT landscape,” the team explains.
EDNT also has its own data centers in Germany that are certified by TÜV and ISO. These certifications show that the facilities meet strict international standards for quality and security.
Customers can use Bareos immediately, as EDNT provides the infrastructure, no need to prepare their own systems, they can start working with backups right away. The platform includes pre-configured environments, automated monitoring and secure replication between data centers. All of these features are fully compliant with European data protection standards.
Working with Bareos in Practice
When a new customer comes to EDNT for Bareos, the process begins with a consultation about their setup and goals. The team then looks more into recovery targets, compliance rules, and technical dependencies. Based on that, they design the backup environment and run a short pilot phase.
“Usually, the first working backup is running just a few days after the kick-off,” they say.
Most customers use hybrid environments – combining storage on-premises for fast recovery with replication to EDNT’s certified data centers for disaster resilience. Examples of common protected systems include VMware and Proxmox virtual machines, as well as PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, file servers and endpoints.
The most important things for us are that it is reliable, it recovers quickly, it is encrypted and it complies with GDPR. After deployment, EDNT continues to support customers with updates, monitoring, documentation, and restore testing.
One recent project involved migrating a customer from Veeam to Bareos.
“We ran both systems in parallel for several weeks and completed the transition with zero downtime or data loss,” the team says. “The customer gained full transparency and scalability without the complexity of license management.”
Results and What’s Next
Customers who switch to Bareos through EDNT often mention the same three things: transparency, performance and independence. They value being able to audit and extend the system themselves while relying on EDNT’s managed service for 24/7 availability and compliance. Features like incremental backup chains, flexible storage targets, and multi-client management are especially popular.
EDNT sees Bareos as a long-term strategic partner.
“Together, we want to strengthen open-source-based data protection in the DACH1 region and beyond,” they say. “The next big step is a Bareos hardware appliance – we’re already working on it.”
- “DACH” refers to the German-speaking region of Europe: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland ↩︎
This case shows how a managed service provider builds a clear, flexible backup platform using open-source technology, and how organizations can benefit from open, auditable and scalable data protection instead of being tied to proprietary systems.
About EDNT
EDNT IT-Services GmbH is a German IT and telecommunications provider with more than 40 years of experience in designing and operating complex infrastructures. The company delivers secure, scalable, and open solutions – including managed backup, cloud hosting, VoIP, and networking – all based on open technologies and certified data centers in Germany.
EDNT’s Bareos Services
EDNT offers a range of Bareos-based services for organizations that want a secure and professionally managed backup setup. Their portfolio includes Bareos-as-a-Service from data centers in Germany that are certified by TÜV and ISO. They also offer fully managed Bareos environments, on-premises and hybrid deployments, and flexible support packages for teams that run Bareos themselves.
Bareos Support & Service Packages:
https://www.ednt.de/blog/optimierter-support-fuer-bareos-backup-durch-ednt-it-services-gmbh.html
https://www.ednt.de/bareos-backup.html