NinjaOne Backup — MSP360 vs. NinjaOne: What Changes for DTC Techs
Audience: T1 / T2 Use when: Onboarding a tech who's never used NinjaOne Backup before but has worked with MSP360, or as orientation before working a migration site.
The Big Picture
MSP360 (formerly CloudBerry) and NinjaOne Backup serve the same purpose — protect client data with local and cloud backup — but they are architecturally different. This page maps what MSP360 techs already know to how NinjaOne does the same thing.
Platform Comparison
| Concept | MSP360 | NinjaOne Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Agent name | MBS (MSP360 Managed Backup Service) | Lockhart |
| Console location | Separate MSP360 portal (backup.msp360.com) | Integrated in NinjaOne — no separate portal |
| Backup plans | Configured in MSP360 portal, pushed to agent | Configured in NinjaOne org, assigned via policy |
| Local storage | Any UNC path or mapped drive | NAS via UNC path in Storage Locations |
| Cloud storage | Client-owned S3 bucket (Backblaze or AWS) | NinjaOne-managed AWS (DTC has no bucket access) |
| Cloud credentials | DTC manages S3 bucket keys | NinjaOne manages — DTC doesn't touch cloud auth |
| Restore | MSP360 portal or agent UI | NinjaOne console — Device → Backup → Manage |
| Bare metal restore | Bootable media from MSP360 portal | Bootable media from NinjaOne console |
| Monitoring | MSP360 alerts to email / separate dashboard | NinjaOne alerts — integrated with Halo tickets |
| VSS | MSP360 manages VSS | NinjaOne manages VSS — same underlying Windows mechanism |
What Changes for Day-to-Day Work
No more separate backup portal. Everything is in NinjaOne. If you're used to opening a different tab for MSP360, you don't anymore.
No bucket management. With MSP360, DTC managed Backblaze S3 buckets — credentials, bucket creation, access keys. With NinjaOne, the cloud storage is NinjaOne's responsibility. DTC doesn't create buckets or manage cloud credentials.
Restore from NinjaOne console only. There's no agent-side restore UI like MSP360 had. All restores go through the NinjaOne console (Device → Backup → Manage → select revision → restore).
Error codes are different. MSP360 had its own error code system. NinjaOne's codes are documented in this book and in page 2008. Don't assume an error code means the same thing as it did in MSP360.
Lockhart is the service to watch, not MBS. On any device, confirm Lockhart is running (not MBS). After migration, MBS should be uninstalled — if you see MBS still running alongside Lockhart, that's a problem.
What Stays the Same
- The NAS is still the local backup destination — same hardware, same UNC path structure
- VSS is still used for open-file backup on Windows
- SMART monitoring for NAS drives is still the same (NAS admin panel)
- Retention policy concepts (daily, weekly, monthly) are the same — just configured differently
- The backup window (midnight daily) is the same
- The
dtcbackupservice account on the NAS stays the same
NinjaOne Backup — Where to Find Things
| Task | Where in NinjaOne |
|---|---|
| View backup status for a device | Device → Backup tab |
| Run a manual backup | Device → Backup → Run Backup Plan |
| Browse revisions and restore | Device → Backup → Manage |
| Configure backup plan | Administration → Plans → Backup Plans |
| Set NAS storage location | Administration → Organizations → [Org] → Backup → Storage Locations |
| View all backup alerts org-wide | Backup → Overview (global or per-org) |
| Create bootable restore media | Administration → Backup → Bootable Media |