As backup data grows over time, storage capacity can become a serious constraint — even when using incremental backups and well-defined retention policies. Eventually, adding more disk space becomes unavoidable to prevent failed jobs and interruptions in data protection workflows.
With traditional backup repositories, expanding storage often means creating new repositories and reconfiguring existing backup jobs. This approach can introduce unnecessary complexity, increase administrative effort, and even create retention gaps.
To address this challenge, solutions like NAKIVO Backup & Replication provide a Federated Repositories mechanism that allows administrators to expand backup storage by adding new repository members while keeping existing backup jobs unchanged. This makes storage growth more predictable and less disruptive.
👉 For a detailed walkthrough and technical examples, read the full article and explore how Federated Repositories work in practice.
What Is a Backup Repository?
A backup repository is a structured storage location in a third-party backup system used to hold backup data (recovery points) and related metadata. Each repository stores backup objects, which consist of full and incremental recovery points organized into chains. These recovery points represent the state of protected workloads at specific points in time and are essential for reliable recovery operations.
What Is a Federated Repository?
A Federated Repository (also known as a scale-out repository) is a logical pool made up of multiple backup repositories, called members. Instead of relying on a single storage target, backup data can be distributed across multiple repositories as storage needs increase.
When one repository member fills up, new backup chains are written to the next available member. Importantly, recovery point chains remain self-contained within a single repository member, ensuring data consistency and recoverability even if another member becomes temporarily unavailable.
This approach allows storage to scale horizontally by adding new repository members — without redesigning backup jobs or interrupting ongoing operations.
Key Characteristics of Federated Repositories
Backup storage can be expanded by adding new repository members
Existing backup jobs continue to run without reconfiguration
Each recovery point chain remains within a single repository member
Only incremental-with-full repositories are supported as members
Supported storage types include local folders, NFS shares, and SMB shares
Up to 128 repository members can be combined into a single federated repository.
Read the following informational article for IT admins about the Microsoft 365 admin center.
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