Open source backup solution
Restic: built for fast,
secure business backups
Zmanda actively contributes to Restic, the modern backup program trusted by 30,000+ developers.
Zestic—Restic's enterprise fork—powers Zmanda Pro with advanced capabilities while our
improvements flow back to the open-source community.
What is Restic?
Restic is an open source backup program that solves modern backup challenges with forever incremental backups, content-defined chunking for efficient deduplication, and cryptographic verification of every restore operation.
The upstream restic project maintains over 30,000 GitHub stars with active development from contributors worldwide. It backs up data from Linux, BSD, Mac, and Windows to multiple storage types including self-hosted and cloud services—all through a single executable that requires no server setup.
Why restic works:
1. Content-defined chunking
Content-defined chunking uses incremental backups to transfer only changed blocks, not entire files. A 1GB database with 1MB of changes generates a 1MB backup, not 1GB. This is architectural efficiency that reduces network load by 95%+ after the initial full backup.
2. Cryptographic verification runs automatically
Every restore operation validates SHA-256 hashes against the backup manifest. You don't "test" restores to verify integrity—the protocol guarantees it mathematically. Corrupted chunks fail fast with specific error messages, not silent data corruption.
3. Backup deduplication
Backup deduplication operates globally across all snapshots. Multiple servers backing up identical files store one copy. A 100-server Windows environment backing up system files might deduplicate 80% of data. This compounds over time—year three backups consume minimal additional storage despite data growth.
Zmanda's Restic contributions
In 2022, Zmanda forked restic to create Zestic—adding enterprise capabilities while maintaining active contributions to the upstream project.
Developers at Zmanda rank among Restic's most active contributors, with konidev20 as the second most active contributor over the past three years, having resolved 22+ community issues.
Our actively maintained Zestic fork adds enterprise-specific features while staying current with upstream releases. We don't just use open source—we sustain it. Our contributions flow back to the community, not into proprietary forks.
Major contributions to the Restic
community by Zmanda
Zmanda’s contribution to Restic aren't cosmetic changes. Security descriptor
support alone prevents a class of restore failures that plague Windows backups.
Our Azure optimizations cut backup windows in half for customers with 50TB+
datasets. The community benefits from features we needed for production deployments.
Restic powers Zmanda Pro
When we rebuilt our backup platform Zmanda Classic to Zmanda Pro, we chose Restic as the core backup engine. Not because we had invested in our fork—because Restic's design outperforms proprietary alternatives.
Zmanda Pro extends restic's foundation with MySQL hot backup, PostgreSQL point-in-time recovery, Oracle RMAN integration, Microsoft 365 protection, and centralized management across hybrid cloud environments. The same forever incremental architecture that makes restic efficient powers enterprise applications and disaster recovery strategies.
Application-aware backups
MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft 365, and 40+ supported platforms.
RPO of <1 hour
Continuous backup monitoring with automated recovery orchestration.
Centralized management
Single console for thousands of endpoints across hybrid cloud.
Compliance reporting
Automated audit trails for HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, and government requirements.
Commercial support
24/7 technical assistance with SLA guarantees fixed, because you matter.
Our open source commitment
We don't just use open source—we maintain it. This matters for your data. Amanda Community Edition—our open source Linux backup software—has protected enterprise data since 1991. We've maintained it through market shifts, technology transitions, and business model changes.
When backup vendors get acquired or pivot their product strategy, your data becomes hostage to licensing negotiations or forced migrations. Open source protocols like restic and Amanda mean your backups remain accessible with standard tools. No proprietary lock-in. No ransom negotiations with private equity owners.
The Department of Homeland Security certified Amanda for government use. Universities and healthcare systems trust it for HIPAA and FERPA compliance. That certification reflects decades of code review, security audits, and production validation.
From open source to
enterprise ready
Restic solves backup fundamentals. Zmanda Pro delivers those capabilities with commercial support, enterprise features, and production-grade management tools.
We've migrated customers from Veeam, Acronis, and Commvault who were paying $200K+ annually for features Zmanda Pro delivers at $60K. The TCO comparison shows ROI in the first year.
Start a 14-day free trial with full feature access and zero commitments.
